Most startup businesses usually begin with high hopes and expectations to win over their customer’s trust. Some achieve this in a relatable period to while others fail to do it simply because of the lack of resources, not prospering with your initial idea, quality of service, and a lot more other reasons.
While all of these circumstances are correctable, the one that remains on top is the financing. It’s the real fuel for your business that determines if it’s going to be a success or not.
To get your startup company all up and running, you simply need resources. And to attain this, you need fundraising! Which itself is a challenge, but can eventually kick start your efforts if done right.
In this post, we’ve mentioned a few tips that can help you source the required funding for your startup.
Google Ads
Google Ads remains on top if you want the maximum ROI on your website. But what if you don’t have the capital at all?
Thankfully, Google has a nonprofit Grant system where they award thousands of dollars worth of in-ads credit to businesses. The program has already served more than 20,000 startups in 50 countries, meaning that more than $2 million in completely free advertising has already been spent.
Once you start getting traffic and sales on your business, you can opt for the Google Adword account and start making CPC-based campaigns. To apply to Google Ad Grant, you have to fulfill some requirements like acquiring a 501(C)3 certificate or hold a charity status outside the U.S, and some more. You can check the full eligibility criteria here.
Social Sharing on different Platforms
Social media is filled with tons of opportunities and if you research closely, you can find good leads on these platforms too. Social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn give you a lot of opportunities to kick start your business. They offer free Ad credits and a lot of others programs that can help you on your cause.
Plus, especially on Facebook, there are a lot of different Groups and Pages where you can submit your business and get free advertising.
Direct Mail Marketing
Despite the popularity of Social media, email marketing stays on top in terms of getting the maximum ROI. Emails are free of cost, don’t require a lot of capital, and are easy to track and modify.
The trick to running an effective email campaign is to have a conveying message that encourages your reader to click your link. To get the most of your emails, a direct mail fundraising campaign can help you a lot. On average, 42% of direct mails is opened and read by your audience. Plus, they take 21% less cognitive effort to process if compared with other campaigns.
Here are some important points you can cover for direct mail.
- Low Dollar Contribution: Direct mails are an effective way to attract low-dollar contributions. It is also a great way to build a reliable email list so that you can retarget them in the future.
- Campaign Design: The design plays an important role in grabbing your audience’s trust. You don’t want your campaign to be political or something that is flashy and only follows some four-color envelope. Design a strategy in mind from which you and your audience, both can take benefit from.
- Personalize: One of the key highlights of direct mails is that they are personalized. You can send personal notes, but you can make sure that there’s a personal touch with each mail you deliver.
- Action: Don’t just stick with one strategy. Always perform A/B testing and check which campaign gets you the most ROI. Then copy-paste the same for the rest of your campaign cycle.
Media Partnership
Working with local media outlets can also be of great help to your business. While this strategy isn’t always free, you have to spend some capital in order to get your business coverage. But when it’s done right, it can be the sole proprietary image of your organization.
There are also some secure media sponsors who work in a sort of collaborative environment. You will feature their logo in your brand and in return they will do the promotion. Some of the free media sources in this category include:
Local Radio Station
Newspaper, Blogs, and Magazines
Television
Press Release
Also called a news release, is a great way to engage your audience in the written form of communication. There are tons of websites where you can submit a press release like newspapers, publications, blogging sites, magazines, TV stations, and more.
The idea behind a press release is to share your business or write stories about your event. For best result, an editor must engage an audience with a perfect pitch and angle them to your main website. When you find a balance between the right of focus and a unique idea, you can easily make your element show off in the headline.
Start a Pitch Competition
Participating in a pitch competition is one of the best ways to raise funds, especially if you’re just starting out. Because your business is new, people will take more interest in what you’re offering. Pitch competitions can also help you find partners and investors for your business.
A lot of the time, there are startup membership events where you can participate. They often require an entering fee or desk fee, but you can easily deliver your startup concept once you find the eligible criteria.
Conclusion
The ecosystem for early startup financing can be tricky. Most businesses fail in this stage as they don’t have a strategy for a rainy day. Employing a tactical strategy with the right businesses guide can surely help with the survival of your business.
However, you shouldn’t always rely on your funding sources. To stay competitive in the game, change your funding schedule as soon as you accomplish your startup goals.