Digital Marketing Strategy for Growth: Startups Vs. Big Companies
Did you know that a startup takes almost 4 years to become profitable? But a more interesting fact is that only 40% of startups turn profitable. What about the rest? Research reports also reveal that only 33% of startups run for a decade and 20% fail in their first year.
While there are several reasons for that, one of the most obvious ones is the tough market competition. Is there a way to move forward through the founding years till it becomes profitable? Yes, there is and it’s called digital marketing.
A solid digital marketing strategy is a valuable tool for startups as it keeps them floating in the market by making them more noticeable and reachable. However, startups should understand that their digital marketing strategy will differ from their established counterparts primarily because their list of to-do things is long and resources are limited, unlike large companies.
So how to work around it? How do the digital marketing strategies of startups differ from established enterprises? What are the things that startups need to take care of? This article answers all your questions and details the differences in the digital marketing strategy of a big company and a growing business.
But first, know the similarities.
Understanding the differences is crucial, but it’s also important to know the similarities because big or small, certain things are common to all businesses, regardless of their size.
➟ Audience approach
Connecting with your target audience is a critical aspect of marketing. Big or small, every business needs a deep understanding of its customers to stay in the game.
➟ Data-driven
Data now drives marketing more than ever. Marketers and businesses must leverage this data to formulate strategies.
➟ Clear Objectives and KPIs
To have an effective and efficient strategy, it’s important to establish a clear roadmap with clear objectives and well-defined KPIs for your company.
DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY DIFFERENCES – STARTUP VS. BIG COMPANY
1. Marketing Objectives
In terms of marketing objectives, startups, and larger companies take different roads from one another. For a startup, expansion is essential to the viability of the new business. Since it’s doubtful that the market has heard of you, creating awareness is the goal here.
Startups should devote time and resources to Top-of-the-Funnel (TOFU) and Middle-of-the-Funnel (MOFU) marketing strategies. They should try to capture the interest of target audiences and develop consideration by educating them. The marketing pipeline goes like this:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Credible recognition
- Lead generation
- Conversion
For established businesses on the other hand, audience reach could entail using historical developments related to its growth, or highlighting the difference it has made in making lives better for its clients. Retention, loyalty, and advocacy are the key motives here.
However, if an enterprise is trying to promote a lesser-known product in the market, then the marketing pipeline could be the same as that of a startup.
2. Brand Building
The biggest problem with most startups is that they emphasize more on selling products rather than building brands. But they need to understand that in the long haul, brand building is the sail that will help them navigate the profit winds.
Regretfully, a lot of startups waste time, money, and effort trying only to increase revenues. Because of this, their long-term digital marketing initiatives are unsuccessful. Startups cannot leverage their current portfolio of brands to create a new one, unlike large corporations. So, the key here is to focus on brand building through meaningful narratives and smart advertising via storytelling.
Larger firms, on the other hand, can strengthen their brand by highlighting their heritage, key milestones, and the success stories of their clients as it is easier for large companies to integrate customers into their brand narrative and showcase how they connect with their customers on a deeper level.
3. Marketing Channels
Having a strong presence across the right marketing channels can make all the difference and when done right, it can garner attention from the right kind of audience. Companies (both big and small), however, should consider certain things before selecting their channels. They need to learn about:
🡺 Platforms where their clients often spend their Internet time.
🡺 Marketing platforms that are most effective for their niche sector.
🡺 The kind of digital marketing material that they need to produce regularly for the selected channels.
🡺 The kind of paid campaigns that they want to run.
➡️ Channels for Startups
For small businesses and startups, the most viable option is creating a strong online presence through low-cost channels and a well-optimized website. Startups should start by establishing a strategic social media presence on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Through these channels, startups can directly engage with the target audience by sharing relevant, valuable content. This should be coupled with a well-built website incorporated with the right keywords. If writing is a strength, leverage SEO-driven content marketing to further boost visibility and attract ideal customers.
The goal is to create a multi-faceted digital strategy that leverages low-cost, high-impact channels and enables startups to reach the target market effectively. Startups also need to think about how they can use Marketing Automation to move leads down the funnel and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) to optimize their website to increase conversions.
➡️ Channels for Big Businesses/MNCs
What about well-known brands and large corporations? They can have ad campaigns driven by brands plus conversion optimization as larger corporations are more likely to have the monetary privilege to invest in more extensive programmatic advertising campaigns across numerous websites and media platforms.
4. Marketing Budget
Budget is a highly subjective object in the digital marketing industry, especially in the modern era where there are a plethora of channels and countless ways available to invest your money. In that context, it is always going to be an issue.
But despite that, big and small businesses invest in digital marketing due to its efficacy and efficiency. The difference then lies in optimum budget utilization.
➤ Startup Strategy
Startups should use the budget to build a robust infrastructure for digital marketing like building an SEO-friendly website with proper keywords and producing content like social media posts and articles to increase organic traffic.
Besides this, resources should be used for designing lead-generation strategies via ad campaigns. Also, consider the cost of hiring the right manpower. Startups should consider spending on the right tools and platforms that enable them to generate more with less.
➤ Budget Strategy of Big Companies
For big companies, the wise use of budget should be on conducting A/B tests on paid search and social campaigns to determine which strategies yield better outcomes. They need to spend on tools that will help them track, measure, and monitor performance across all digital marketing channels to maximize ROI.
5. Digital Marketing Partner
Last but not least, there is always the choice to find and work with a digital marketing partner. Let’s then look at this strategy.
Startups should remember that digital marketing is more than articles and blog posts. Content formats have changed along with the techniques. Keeping up with the vastness can be a problem for startups as they already have a lot on their plate.
So, the wise choice is to find and invest in a digital marketing partner where they will find the perfect mix of resources, strategies, and talents.
Big companies on the other hand can afford to have their in-house marketing team. But they should remember that maintaining an in-house team demands investment while going for a reliable, experienced partner can be cheaper and more effective.
While big companies have the liberty to go for either, for startups, hiring services of a digital marketing agency sounds more practical.
The Takeaway
Irrespective of company size, businesses today need digital marketing strategies for their survival in today’s menacing marketing conditions. However, the digital marketing strategy of a startup differs largely from its established counterpart due to several reasons including limited resources.
That’s why startups should know their needs, fix their budget, and work accordingly while big companies can take the liberty of using their resources for experimentation with evolving techniques.