How to Market Your Service-Based Start-Up
When you already have a customer base, marketing becomes a whole lot easier. You have cash with which to create a buzz, a better understanding of exactly who your target audience should be, and hopefully people who are willing to give you good reviews. However, as a start-up, marketing can be a little more challenging. If you’re struggling to reach customers to try your service, then take heed of some of this advice.
Could Promotions Work For You?
One sector that are masters of building up brand awareness are the iGaming sector. If you’re looking for new casinos online then there are hundreds of different sites clamoring for attention, meaning it’s harder than ever to stand out. This is great news for those not in the iGaming sector, as it means we can steal some tips from those who do manage to rise above the crowd.
An area where these companies stand out is in their use of promotions. As a service-based business, free spins, chip bonuses, and promotions to ‘spend’ in-game, cost these companies nothing. A potential customer takes advantage of the free spins, plays the game, and becomes a customer. The iGaming company only ‘pay’ if they achieve their goal of creating a new customer. As a service-based company, these sorts of promotions are invaluable to you. If, for example, you’re starting a car wash business, then offer a free valet when you buy an outside car wash. Although you’ll be taking a cut on the price you get paid per hour, you’ll be making new customers who will go on to tell their friends about their great experience.
Location, Location, Location
If your service is carried out in person, then marketing for you will be a little more niche. Many service companies operate entirely online and so a lot of their marketing will be SEO-based, driving traffic to their website. If you have to interact person to person with customers, then advertising to those local to you is the best way to go. Whether you choose to find a local newspaper, pop an ad in a shop window, or take part in a business fair is up to you, but ensuring you’re targeting people in your location is key.
Of course, you want to appear high up in the search rankings, but remember that you have the added benefit of people searching for a location when they look for your sort of service. For example, if someone in Maryland wants an architect to design them an extension, they aren’t just going to search for ‘architectural services’, they’ll likely search for ‘architectural services in Maryland’, or similar. This means your niche is likely to be a little less saturated and you won’t have to spend so much time on the web end, leaving you more time to focus on the local end.
Reviews Are Everything
If you take this advice and manage to secure yourself a customer, then your number one priority should be ensuring that they receive the best service possible. The next priority after that should be ensuring that they leave you a glowing review. Getting that first customer through the door, or onto your site is the hard part, but once you’ve got a small customer base, their opinions about your service are going to be the thing that propels you to new heights. Look after your customers and they’ll look after you.
