Wondering how to promote your startup on budget? Read our ideas to make the most of your startup promotion even if you don’t have a lot of resources or money to do so.
1. Give something away for free
One of the best ways to get people to try your product is to give it away for free. This allows potential customers to try before they buy, and shows them that you have confidence in what you’re offering. You can even pair this strategy with social scheduling tools, like Hootsuite alternatives, to automate promotional posts about your free trials or giveaways across multiple channels.
Free trials are a great way to get people to sign up for a service, but you can also use this tactic to get people to sign up for your email list or to try a new feature you’ve added to your app.
Giving something away for free is a great way to get people talking about your company and to get your product in front of a lot of potential customers.
2. Run a social media contest
Social media contests are a great way to increase engagement on your social media profiles and generate new leads.
To run a social media contest, all you need to do is create a post that promotes the contest and encourages users to like, comment, and share the post to enter. You can also require users to follow your profile or tag a friend in the comments to enter.
In the caption of the post, be sure to include all the details of the contest, including what users need to do to enter, what the prize is, and when the winner will be chosen.
Once the contest is over, be sure to announce the winner in a follow-up post and thank everyone who participated.
3. Create a viral loop
A viral loop is a process that encourages your current customers to refer new customers to your business. It’s a great way to leverage your existing customer base to drive growth.
The key to creating a successful viral loop is to make sure that your customers are incentivized to refer new customers. This could be through a discount, a free product, or some other type of reward.
You’ll also want to make sure that the process is as easy as possible for your customers. The more steps they have to take, the less likely they are to refer new customers.
One of the best examples of a viral loop is the one that Dropbox used to grow its user base. When you referred a friend to Dropbox, both you and your friend would get an extra 500 MB of storage space. As a result, Dropbox was able to grow its user base from 100,000 to 4 million in just 15 months.
4. Get your users to tell their friends about you
Word-of-mouth is a powerful thing. People are more likely to trust a recommendation from a friend than they are to trust an advertisement. That’s why getting your users to tell their friends about you can be a great way to grow your startup.
There are a lot of different ways you can encourage your users to spread the word about your product. You could offer a referral program that rewards them for getting their friends to sign up. You could also make it easy for them to share your product on social media.
Whatever method you choose, just make sure that you’re giving your users an incentive to tell their friends about your product. After all, no one is going to go out of their way to promote your startup for free.
5. Use a referral program
Referral programs are a tried-and-true growth hack that can help you get more customers, fast.
The idea is simple: you reward your existing customers for referring new customers to your business. This can be an incredibly cost-effective way to generate new leads and sales.
There are a few different ways you can set up a referral program. You can offer a discount to both the person making the referral and the person they refer. You can offer a cash reward. Or you can offer a free gift.
The key is to make sure that the reward is high enough to incentivize people to make referrals, but not so high that it eats into your profits.
Many startups use ReferralCandy here, since it automates referral rewards while also supporting affiliate and influencer campaigns, making it much easier to scale word-of-mouth without extra manual work.
6. Do some content marketing
Content marketing is a great way to drive traffic to your website, generate leads and establish your startup as an authority in your industry. Plus, it can be a very cost-effective growth hacking strategy.
The key to successful content marketing is to create high-quality, valuable content that your target audience will find useful. Some examples of content you might create include blog posts, videos, infographics, whitepapers, e-books and more. For example, if you’re in HR tech or employee engagement, sharing insights from an employee commitment survey can make your content more relatable and data-driven.
Once you’ve created your content, you can promote it across your marketing channels to reach your target audience. Over time, content marketing can help you build a loyal audience and drive sustainable growth for your startup.
7. Guest post on other websites
If you’re not ready to build a blog on your own website, guest posting on other websites is a great way to get your content in front of a new audience and to build backlinks to your website.
Backlinks are important for SEO. The more backlinks you have from high-ranking websites, the more likely it is that your website will rank higher in search engine results.
When you’re just starting out, it can be tough to get other websites to publish your content. But, if you can provide value to their audience, it will be easier to get your content published.
Start by finding websites that are relevant to your industry and that have a large audience. Then, reach out to the owner of the website and pitch them your idea.
8. Create an infographic
Infographics are a great way to share a lot of information in an easily digestible format. They’re also highly shareable, which makes them a great tool for growing brand awareness.
Use your infographic to tell a story about your startup. You could illustrate the problem your business is solving, or you could create a timeline of your startup’s growth.
Once you’ve created your infographic, you can share it on social media, publish it on your blog, or even submit it to infographic directories to get more eyes on your content.
Pro tip: When you create your infographic, make sure to include your logo and a link to your website at the bottom. This will help you get more traffic and leads from your infographic.
9. Do some SEO
SEO is a great way to get free traffic to your website. Search engines also value websites that demonstrate user trust and compliance. Using tools like Seers.ai can help ensure your site is GDPR-compliant, which not only protects your business legally but also improves your brand reputation and organic performance.
The best part about SEO is that it can help you get targeted traffic. If you target the right keywords, you can get people to your website who are already looking for a product or service like yours.
There are a lot of elements to SEO, but the basics are pretty simple. You need to make sure your website is optimized for the right keywords, and you need to get backlinks to your website. If you’re serious about long-term growth, it’s worth investing in effective SEO strategies that help you rank higher, build authority, and stay ahead of competitors.
If you’re not sure where to start with SEO, you can use a tool like Moz to help you.
10. Create a SlideShare presentation
SlideShare is an extremely popular site for sharing presentations.
The site has over 70 million users, and it’s a great way to get your content in front of new people.
Create a presentation that provides valuable information and data about your industry. Don’t make it a sales pitch.
You can include data from your own research, or you can curate data from other sources. Just be sure to give credit where credit is due.
You can also use SlideShare to repurpose existing content. If you have a blog post that’s performed well, turn it into a presentation.
Be sure to include a call to action at the end of your presentation to drive people back to your website.
11. Create a YouTube video
Video content is one of the most popular and most effective content marketing tactics. In fact, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands and businesses they support.
YouTube videos can be a great way to drive traffic, increase brand awareness and even generate leads for your startup. The key is to create high-quality, engaging videos that provide value to your target audience.
You can use a video agent to create how-to videos, product demos, customer testimonials, explainer videos, and much more. Just make sure your videos are well-produced and that you optimize your YouTube channel for SEO to increase your chances of getting found.
12. Create a free tool
Free tools are one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website and introduce people to your brand. They’re also a great way to collect leads.
Think about the problem your product solves. What’s the first step your target customers take when they’re looking for a solution? What’s something small you can do to help them get started?
For example, if you sell a product that helps people lose weight, you could create a free weight loss calculator. If you sell a product that helps people build websites, you could create a free tool that grades your website.
The key to a successful free tool is to make sure it’s something that’s easy to use and that solves a real problem. And here’s the hidden advantage: once you have a tool, you can use cold email to send it directly to prospects. Instead of pushing a sales pitch, you’re offering immediate value, making it one of the rare cold emails people actually appreciate.
Conclusion
Remember, growth hacking isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy. What works for one startup might not work for another. That’s why we recommend testing multiple growth hacking strategies to see what works best for your business. Remember to track your results and optimize your campaigns for future growth.
