One of the biggest challenges that most start-ups face is building brand awareness and exposure. Breaking into a new market, let alone disrupting an existing market, is a difficult task for many reasons. As a young start-up, it is not uncommon to have only a few customers, minimal brand recognition and little upfront capital at your disposal. Hence why it is important to rely on alternative outlets and creative tactics to help get the ball rolling.
Maximising brand awareness and exposure results in a variety of short to long-term benefits which are critical to the success of your start-up. These benefits include increasing brand visibility and reputation, increased website traffic and leads, increased investor and partner interest as well as building a high profile and brand that will attract strong talent and recruits.
Whilst there are a variety of strategies that entrepreneurs can utilise to maximise their start-up’s exposure, one the most effective solutions for building brand awareness is receiving good media coverage through high-profile media outlets. Whilst this may be easier said than done, using the following tactics will certainly put your business in a better position to get effective media coverage.
- Submit a Press release. This is considered the most effective and fastest way to get media exposure. The trick here is to ensure you select a newsworthy event or trending topic which is specific to the industry in which you operate in to build relevant and quality exposure. For extremely young and new start-ups, using public PR platforms can be an excellent place to submit your press release to thousands of potential news platforms all at once.
- Reach out to individual journalists. Working with an individual journalist is a great way of building a relationship with a public platform with whom you can push future start-up announcements. It is also a great opportunity to generate a more detailed piece of content such as an interview or editorial that can help increase your brand exposure. The main challenge here is typically finding a willing journalist who is interested in your start-up and keen to work alongside you to help grow your network and brand exposure.
- Get involved in local activities. Getting involved in local events that are relevant to your business is not only a great way to continually build networking opportunities and reach out to potential clients, but also a great way to stay connected with any associated media channels that will help get your brand and reputation exposed to a larger audience.
- Be social media savvy. Effective branding and customer targeting strategies through various social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, can not only help save you money but can also build brand awareness and reputation. Many journalists and media outlets monitor social media platforms for new and exciting stories.
Uber, GoPro and Snapchat are good examples of how successful start-up companies utilised a variety of creative tactics to produce amazing results.
Call Lateral today to have a conversation about your new start-up and how to reach your potential!
