With limited budget at their disposal, startups have to decide what is worthy of their budget, “branding” or ‘marketing”. The answer to this question is whichever is likely to bring you sales. Yes, it is a myopic view, but you can ignore it at your own peril.
Marketing reaches out to your audience producing direct results. Branding is more holistic in nature and has to be cultivated. Moreover, it comes into play only when you’re addressing a sizable market.
But how do you manage with a limited marketing budget? It is not easy to raise money in the market. With limited amount of options, startup owners have to spend very wisely. One wrong decision, one wrong hire can spell the death of your company.
However, with the choices available to the modern marketer, making the correct choice is not easy. Can you really go by your gut feeling when the future of your company depends upon your decision? Considering the risks, it is much better to test the waters before taking any marketing decision.
It is not a bad idea to test multiple marketing channels before you settle on anything. Predicting market behavior is difficult at best unless you have the numbers at your disposal. By running multiple marketing campaigns in parallel you can test out tune into the channel that works for your product.
It does not cost a lot to set up a test marketing campaign. Every campaign can be allotted with a separate SuperReceptionist number that can be used to understanding customer response. Once you have understood customer response adequately, you can then choose the best marketing channel for your product.
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