Starting a tech business is exciting but tough. Really tough. And that’s before even getting started on how to market it! We know, we’ve been there!

Many set up a new business, offering a fantastic product or service, and then wonder why the customers (and revenue) don’t come running. You need to attract, engage and retain customers, who are most often found online.

What’s your method for appealing to your target market? How do you intend to reach them? That’s where digital marketing comes in.

To make life a bit easier, we’ve broken down our top ten marketing tips to help any startup tech business electrify their marketing efforts and reach the top.

1. Get Social

Managing all social media channels at once is an overwhelming prospect. And how do you know which ones are best for your business? While LinkedIn works best for some, Instagram works better for others. Help!

Don’t tear your hair out just yet though, there are tools available. Some allow you to post on multiple channels at once and some have a shared inbox for responding.

Not sure which tool to use? Buffer has a free version for three accounts, or, if you have more than that, you can try MeetEdgar or Later which both offer low cost solutions.

Ideally you should tailor each post by platform depending on the audience. But, unless you outsource your digital marketing, do you have time for that? Either way, here are some points to consider with marketing via social media:

• If you’re a B2B (business-to-business), LinkedIn is your friend. Post as yourself as well as the business for better chances of getting your post in front of more people and to get extra engagement with the post. LinkedIn ads can be expensive. But, the right type of post on LinkedIn is worth the spend and has the potential to have excellent reach with the right audience. Read more on digital marketing for tech and B2B businesses in our blog.
  • For B2C (business-to-customer), it really depends on the area of your tech industry. If your business targets sports fans or tech geeks, Twitter is a good place to start. Or, if your consumer base is Gen Z, looks like you’re going for TikTok! (Electric Sheep has some moves… in case you need inspo).
  • If you are doing video, shoot in portrait mode (phone cameras are perfect quality for most videos) and then you can use them on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts to maximise exposure. A highly successful medium for most industries, including tech.

2. Expose Yourself

Welcome paid advertising! Search ads, often called PPC (or pay-per-click) are great for consumers looking for a specific product. However, if your tech is brand new, chances are people don’t know they need it yet, so you’ll be needing a wider net to ‘catch’ them.

YouTube ads are also fantastic for explaining what your tech does and getting exposure. They do require carefully crafted scripts and smart editing though. And the costs can be higher than other platforms, so it’s always worth testing other social platforms too.

Remember, think audience before jumping into which ad platform to use. TikTok may be the thing right now but Instagram may be where your audience is waiting for you. Get experimenting until you find your niche.

3. Everyone Loves a Freebie

Is it free? Great, we’ll take ten!

If you are starting out you’ll need to entice people in until your name is well and truly out there. Consider an exciting special offer or unmissable free trial. No credit card required tends to work the best – we’re not handing over our card details until we’ve seen the goods!

4. Think Outside ‘the Box’

It’s a busy world out there, full of tech businesses like yours. Break through the noise and be original. Stand out. When Dollar Shave Club entered the market with their funny ad, they made sure to be noticed. Sure, the business concept was great but there are loads of concepts that never get off the ground because people simply don’t know about them. If you offer something original, promote it! There’s more chance of PR coverage and social sharing.

For example, here at Electric Sheep we built an innovative and unique game for a client where users jump over the competition, which produced 160 leads in no time. Nothing like it had been done in our client’s industry and it was the perfect head-turner and certainly got people talking. How can you stand out from the herd? Speak to us, we’ll find a way.

5. Build Trust with 5 Star Reviews

Get those 5 star reviews and testimonials in at the earliest possibility. Trust is a major factor in purchase behaviour so gathering positive reviews after a purchase is one of the best ways to build trust. You could incentivise this with a free month or similar to get as many reviews as possible whilst you’re still starting out.

6. You’ve got a Friend in SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can be a tricky business. But, it can also be the game changer you need to get your tech business seen and give your website a boost. A little knowhow on your audience, keywords and how to create content can take you far.

SEO can seem daunting for smaller tech companies and startups. You need to find the correct resourcing and knowledge to stay on top of the game in a competitive SEO world. The easiest and most effective way by far? Ask us at Electric Sheep to do all the hard work for you. We’ll get it right first time.

7. Don’t Leave Email Automation Behind

Email is one of the most effective channels to use with often the highest returns. But, it only works with an email database. Add an incentive to subscribe to a newsletter or similar on the website or offer free trials to build your database. In order to fully utilise that database make the most of email automations.

Often overlooked and usually time consuming, email automation is easy to ignore. But let us tell you, they are well worth the initial investment. Email automation is a truly useful and successful method to move users from free subscribers to paying customers, or to encourage paying customers to upgrade.

8. Track, Track and Track some more

If we had a penny for every client who hasn’t set up tracking correctly… well, we’d be rolling in it. Without tracking data, how can you know which ads or other marketing methods are working? Anyone can set up Google Analytics and Tag Manager free of charge to help track interactions on your website. You could even go one step further and use free platform Looker Studio to build out a live dashboard of results, so you don’t even need to investigate the results, you can see simply everything you need in real time.

9. Bonus Tip for SaaS businesses

Here’s a little bonus tip. Saas (Software as a Service) businesses can add free analytical service, HotJar, to their website. It records website visitors so you can see exactly how they are engaging with the website. And, if there are any issues that need addressing, the paid version is reasonably priced too and offers more functionality. The free service is a great starting point though.

10. Stand out from the Flock

How do you choose between agency and in-house digital marketing? Our blog on outsourcing digital marketing services explains in full detail. In short, your in-house digital marketing team may have expertise and resources but Electric Sheep digital marketing agency has the extra skill set of marketing day in and day out, across a range of industries, alongside use of the latest tech and the extra manpower to achieve electric results, faster.

With all the AI tools around now there are certainly things that can be done quicker than ever before, but, to get personalised, branded and unique content that has a more powerful impact, you’ll still need human expertise. Read our blog on marketing in AI to explore a more in-depth investigation on the topic.

Ready to amp up your tech businesses? We’d love to chat and find a strategy to grow your tech business and achieve your dreams.