In the fast-paced world of start-ups, effective digital marketing strategies are crucial for boosting customer engagement without breaking the bank. We’ve gathered insights from marketing managers and CEOs, offering their top strategies from leveraging video content and community to consistent posting that builds trust. Discover the twelve cost-effective digital marketing tactics that have proven to significantly increase engagement for small start-ups.
- Leverage Video Content and Community
- E-Blast with GIFs Boost Engagement
- Cultivate a Community on Facebook
- Host Monthly Live Online Shows
- Engage and Build an Audience with Webinars
- Blog to Attract Organic Traffic
- Convert Text to Engaging Videos
- Re-target Ads for Precise Engagement
- Partner with Social Media Influencers
- Encourage User-Generated Content
- Go All-In on Social Media
- Build Trust with Consistent Posting
Leverage Video Content and Community
Two things to consider are videos and community engagement. In 2022, 82% of global internet traffic consisted of video content. There are platforms that are solely dedicated to hosting videos, as well as those that have a video-focused approach. Secondly, community engagement involves people sharing their thoughts, daily experiences, and moments through groups and platforms, which can significantly boost the sales of any product.
Jonathan Rosa, Marketing Manager
E-Blast with GIFs to Boost Engagement
Meridian Engineering sent an e-blast to our target audience of engineers, architects, land planners, and contractors using the Constant Contact platform. The content promoted our new drone survey technology using a Canva GIF template, highlighting the features, capabilities, and benefits for upcoming transportation, remodel, and commercial projects needing design.
We even included YouTube links of the equipment in action in that e-blast. The result was that our spring, summer, and fall were booked out with survey projects, and we met our survey department’s revenue goals for the year.
Lyndy Lovelady, Marketing, Meridian Engineering
Cultivate a Community on Facebook
Having had to pivot and start a new agency myself several years ago, as a small start-up with a low budget, one technique I found particularly effective was building a community.
I did this through Facebook groups, setting up a business community to help other local businesses get exposure and free marketing by interacting with each other’s business pages. When members could see the mutual benefit, this encouraged them to interact and invite other local businesses. This also helped many local businesses refer to each other and gain more sales through the group and the technique employed.
As a by-product of this, our audience and reach grew, and we gained more local clients without having to spend money on ads.
Matt Williamson, Managing Director, Lynx 19 Ltd
Host Monthly Live Online Shows
One of the most successful strategies we implemented for increasing customer engagement was through a live online shopping show. Being a small business, we thought this would be too expensive to pull off.
It wasn’t. With two iPhones, some mics, and a YouTube channel, we were able to run a show with over 2,500 people watching. It was so successful that we now run this same type of show each month. Customers anticipate it each month.
Jeff Michael, Ecommerce Business Owner, Moriarty’s Gem Art
Engage and Build an Audience with Webinars
For a small start-up, hosting webinars can be a cost-effective way to boost customer engagement and build up your audience. They are low-cost and can engage your current audience.
It may be hard to build an audience for webinars in the beginning, but you can attend other webinars with well-known brands that can help you capture new audiences. Webinars can also help you capture audience contact information, so you can be more targeted with your marketing efforts.
Taylor Scher, SEO Consultant, TaylorScherSEO
Blog to Attract Organic Traffic
A cost-effective digital marketing strategy for small startups is blogging. By creating a blog on your website and regularly publishing valuable content, you can attract organic traffic, improve SEO, and engage with your target audience. Promoting blog posts on social media and through email newsletters helps drive traffic and encourages sharing. Guest blogging and interactive content can expand your reach and diversify your content strategy.
It’s crucial to track and analyze performance to refine your approach over time. Blogging establishes your authority, fosters community, and is budget-friendly, making it an effective engagement-boosting strategy for startups.
Madison T, Ecommerce Manager, My Supplement Store
Convert Text to Engaging Videos
A cost-effective digital marketing strategy that has proven effective for small startups involves leveraging text-to-video editors. These tools enable the conversion of written content, like blog posts or product descriptions, into compelling videos with no expensive video production resources, such as hiring a cameraman and renting equipment.
By adopting this approach, startups can efficiently create engaging marketing videos, catering to the preferences of modern audiences and diversifying their content strategy, ultimately leading to increased customer engagement through visual storytelling.
Myroslava Bovhyra, Account Manager, Elai
Re-target Ads for Precise Engagement
A cost-effective digital marketing strategy for a small startup to obtain the desired results is retargeting ads. Analyzing different parameters like customers’ online shopping behaviors, interests, and demographics enhances engagement by redirecting tailored ads to a targeted group of people.
Retargeting effectively assists in reaching potential customers and spreading awareness among buyers about the brand, reinforcing its value. Analyzing conversion data from these campaigns refines future strategies for better results and building long-term relationships with clients.
Faizan Khan, Public Relations and Content Marketing Specialist, Ubuy UK
Partner with Social Media Influencers
One cost-effective digital marketing strategy that significantly increased customer engagement for our small start-up was leveraging social-media influencers.
By partnering with influencers who had a strong following in our target market, we were able to reach a larger audience and generate more interest in our products. These influencers created engaging content featuring our brand and shared it with their followers, which not only increased brand awareness but also encouraged their followers to engage with our company.
This strategy was cost-effective because we didn’t have to invest in traditional advertising channels, and the results were impressive in terms of customer engagement and conversions.
Alex Stasiak, CEO and Founder, Startup House
Encourage User-Generated Content
For a cost-effective digital marketing strategy, user-generated content (UGC) has been incredibly impactful for DasFlow. We encouraged our customers to share their experiences wearing our athleisure apparel on social media.
This strategy not only provided us with authentic content but also significantly increased customer engagement. People seeing real customers wearing and enjoying our products created a sense of trust and community around our brand. This approach is low-cost but highly effective in building brand credibility and fostering a loyal customer base.
Nicolas Krauss, Founder and CEO, dasFlow Custom Sublimation Apparel
Go All-In on Social Media
Focus on one channel of your marketing. For us, we decided to go all-in on our social media marketing. This led not only to better content but also to improved engagement from our clients, as our team was creating and building a community with our social media. Because of this, we now have avid social media fans and are constantly building a new community!
Diane Howard, RN and Founder, Esthetic Finesse
Build Trust with Consistent Posting
Post consistently on X about the topics your customers are interested in. Allow for up to 24 months of activity before the tactic pays off. Curate news, express opinions, and engage with industry leaders. Over time, you’ll become a trusted voice in that industry.
Robert Brill, CEO, Brill Media