Startups and small businesses that lean solely on sales for lead generation may want to consider marketing. Although sales builds deep knowledge of the problems you’re solving and insights into how to communicate effectively with customers, it leaves missed opportunities for lead generation. There’s a ton of traffic through search engines, answer engines, and other untapped marketing channels. So, if you want constant, always-on lead generation, rethink what you’re currently doing on your website, content, social media, and general approach.
Let’s explore these essential digital marketing tactics in detail below.
1. A Polished Website Goes a Long Way
The phrase “fake it until you make it” is quite literal for startups. You don’t have the luxury of time, resources, or extensive experience to win over every prospect. And the last thing you need is to lose a sale because someone flagged you as unqualified after a bad experience with your website (and ghosted you afterwards).
Many startups overlook the importance of a well-designed website. Remember, potential buyers are researching you just as much as you’re researching them. Customers want to know that you will solve their problems. Investors want to know you’re the real deal. And when all else is equal across your competitors, a website will help you stand out.
2. Better Business Starts With Better Content
Writing content can feel daunting. You may struggle with writer’s block, competing priorities, or simply not knowing where to start. The best approach? Block out time each day to write. Start small, then gradually increase your time commitment.
So why is writing so beneficial?
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Boost: Publishing valuable content improves your website’s search engine ranking, helping attract more organic traffic.
- Answer Engine Optimization Boost: When SEO is done right, you’ll get the indirect benefits of AEO: even more qualified leads! That’s because answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity leverage search engine results to generate their answers.
- Deeper Subject Matter Expertise: Writing forces you to articulate and analyze your customers’ pain points in greater detail. These insights can enhance your sales conversations, website messaging, and overall marketing strategy.
- Better Business: As you write, you’ll refine how you explain your business. You’ll uncover clearer, more compelling ways to communicate your value proposition. You may even redefine your unique selling point (USP), improving your competitive advantage.
Writing is a powerful tool for strengthening both your digital presence and sales. However, please don’t do it blindly; make sure you know what people are searching for and that the keywords are converting. Connect with a digital marketing partner to uncover these opportunities.
3. Establish a Strong Social Media Presence
Social media does two things:
- The first is the network effect. You’ll gain more reach, which increases opportunities for engagement.
- The second is that you’ll meet prospects where they are. Your prospects are doing their due diligence, searching not only on Google and Bing, but also on social media platforms. They’re looking for social proof, signals that you’re active, and whether your brand meshes with theirs.
Additionally, if you’re leveraging social media as part of your content marketing strategy, it gives you insight into the quality of your articles. For example, you can triage poor-performing articles from search by ruling out content quality and focusing on the meta title and/or description.
4. Start with a “Crawl” Approach
Common sense dictates that you should follow a crawl, walk, and run approach (CWR): start small and prove something works before doing more. In marketing, CWR lets you pivot alongside changing buyer demographics, especially among Zoomers and Boomers, and test marketing initiatives like those listed above without wasting time and budget. In the age of AI and AEO, and how much marketing has been impacted, CWR is indeed the smart, simple, and scalable thing to do for all things marketing!
The Bottom Line
Businesses that focus on sales must start thinking about marketing. It’s an untapped area that is always on and can get you organic growth. Get your website, content, and social media down, and do so in a phased approach for maximum effectiveness.
Ready to kickstart your digital marketing and take your sales to the next level? Contact Uplancer today for your free marketing consultation!
