How to Build a Personal Brand as a Startup
Jul 30, 2020
10 min read
The influx of digitization and the proliferation of globalization might have made it very easy for entrepreneurs to enter an industry as having a brick and mortar shop is no more necessary. But there are many challenges you will have to face if you are a startup in the modern era, and this is why you will have to adopt various ways to level the playing field and fuel the growth of your business. Building a personal brand is one of those ways.
The need to build a personal brand for startups has never been more critical than today. We live in a world of social media and the internet where anyone can become an expert, build an audience base, and start attracting clients for their firms. And this is what most of the people are doing on the digital platform.
A study conducted by Upwork shows that the number of freelancers is increasing at the rate of 3X every year. By the end of 2027, freelancers will be a big chunk of the overall workforce pie of the U.S. This clearly shows that more and more people are flocking to startups, and with more startups, the competition will reach to the neck-wrenching level. And in such situations, there is only one thing that will allow you to distinguish yourself from others, i.e., personal branding.
Why will startups need to focus on personal branding?
If you are commencing a business around your expertise, then building a personal brand comes as a default option, or we can say that it comes naturally to you. If you are your firm's face, creating your brand is the best thing you can do.
Your company's brand sets you apart from other industry players and leaves a lasting impression in the minds of the customers who interact with your business. But if your business lacks a compelling personal brand for attracting the audience and giving them a unique experience, you will find yourself struggling to build a profitable and successful startup.
Even if you are building a firm with its brand, you will still need to focus on personal branding. This is important because, in the modern era, people are more interested in being connected with a person rather than a company.
Thus, even while building a broad audience for your brand, you will be enhancing your own company's exposure. You can take the example of Elon Musk, who has more Twitter followers on his personal account than all of his three companies. The same goes for Richard Branson (Virgin) and Gary Vaynerchuck (VaynerMedia).
The most unique ways to build your personal brand as a startup
Understanding your true value
Your value isn't determined by which company you work for or what your job role is. It is determined what you can bring on the table. You will need to be clear about what is the thing that you can offer in the best possible way and excel at it in each and every situation. In the corporate world, we always focus on finding a niche market and categorizing the target audience. It aids a firm in zeroing down the available list of potential customers and uses a better targeting approach.
If you are not specific about the type of work you can do or what you are good at, then you will be lost in the crowd, and you will never be able to leave a lasting impression in your customers' minds. Simply build a value proposition around what you can do and what you have to offer the market.
Building a personal image
If your company's brand covers your image, you will never be able to come out of that cloak and create a particular image. Your image will indeed act as a springboard for your firm's success, and they both are correlated, but still, hiding behind the brand won't work while trying to build a personal image.
There are various ways of building a personal image. You can start by only taking a professional headshot and using it at multiple digital platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and even in your company profile. In addition to this, you will need to cultivate an email signature that will be unique to you. The email signature will need your social media icons, contact information, the website address of your company, and professional headshot.
Deliver on your value and get testimonials as a reward
If you are the only one talking about your value, then there is something wrong with your personal branding strategy. Let other people talk about your importance as well because later on, these people will act as your brand ambassador, and they will influence others to join your audience base.
One of the best ways to let other people talk about your values is by consistently delivering on your value and surpassing your target audience and customers' expectations. This will help you build a network of loyal brand ambassadors and thus be referred organically by them.
You can also ask your professional network to give you testimonials and allow them to highlight what you are good at and how you are working to grow your startup.
Work on your online presence
Working on your online presence is the best thing that you can do to build an online presence. There are various tools out there that you can use to check your availability on a myriad of online platforms.
You can begin your journey of building an online presence through LinkedIn as it is a professional platform that helps people connect with like-minded experts in their industry. But this doesn't mean that you should limit your online exposure to LinkedIn only. From Facebook to Twitter, all these social media platforms will enlarge your network and strengthen your personal branding efforts.
In addition to this, make sure that your personal website, apart from your official business website, showcases all your attributes, achievements, contribution to the industry, and work. But make sure that the website you are using for personal branding is in sync with your company's brand.
Don’t forget blogging
For most digital marketers out there, blogging is the best way to build a brand, but it can prove to be a magic wand for building a personal brand. After ensuring that you have a seamless, enticing, and engaging website, you will need to master the art of increasing your blog audience. If you succeed in increasing the number of followers by blogging, you will be able to strengthen your personal brand.
Some of the useful tips that you can use to build a personal brand through blogging:-
- Repurposing your articles and blogs
- Syndication of articles and blogs
- Joining like-minded online communities and sharing your content
- Equipping your blog with social sharing buttons.
- Writing content related to influencers and asking them to share your content.
But make sure to post content regularly after building a large base of followers and make the most of the best SEO practices and catering your followers with what they are looking for.
With personal brand building becoming an integral part of the overall business strategy for startups, you will need to start working on it without delay. In the end, you will be attracting more people towards your business and increasing your sales.
At Saffron Edge, we work on your 360-degree branding and make sure you and your business have exponential growth and positive image throughout.
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Mapping Content To Your Buyer Journey
Are you expecting a profitable customer experience on your website? Your content marketing strategies would do more than just what is expected if properly implemented. If you are still battling to win buyers from your e-commerce stores or traditional online businesses then inventing the content mapping formula could be the only remedy. Mapping relevant contents that would add distinction and clarity to your customer's journey, hence softening the whole process. How does it work? Content mapping helps businesses in several positive ways, right from the point of brainstorming for the right content until the point of actualization of your aims. The buyer’s journey is more like a framework that recognizes the buyer’s advancement via the point of research through decision making. And finally, the point of purchase culmination, and is triggered by the right content mapping strategy. In order to achieve the best content mapping strategy, there are several criteria that are necessary to fall in place. Some of these criterion includes; Your Persona pain, problems and queries Every one of your personas will have a marginally distinctive buyers excursion paving the way to making a buy or speculation with your business. All things considered, the inquiries each of those personas ask all through the procedure will contrast between them - and will likewise be different over the three phases of the purchaser's journey, too. This stage somewhat focuses at the mindsets of your personas, what is their various reasons for visiting your platform, what benefit would they derive from your content and the percentage of satisfaction they would get from the solutions offered to them. Keeping in mind that personas are looking for instructive, seller unbiased content that is engaged around a specific issue within reach or potential open door. In this stage, your audience are most inclined at knowing if you have the solution to their problems and whether at all it is solvable by chance. Your Content type or Format Your content type has more role to play in this stage of buyer’s journey. Generally speaking, contents in specific stages of a buyer’s journey is sure to perform better and faster than a bunch of others. One astonishing thing about this stage is this, a good number of people are more comfy and would rather choose topics in advanced education. Therefore, content types such as e-books, tip sheets and guides tend to be the widely used since it undoubtedly produces a great result. If you should talk about the consideration stage, lots of personas have seemingly identified their individual worries and are now convinced to read more on the curative solutions to them all. Do you optimize your buzzwords? Content mapping journey is more like another different subject in an institute's course outline for a year. The reason is that it seems to appear smaller but in actuality has more extensions that imagined at the beginning. The word “Buzzword” comes into play in this stage of buyer expedition. Buzzwords are those words that fires up the whole content structure, you can alternatively refer to it as a call-to-action word. Since it serves more of that purpose when incorporated in a content. Some good examples of Buzzwords are “Learn”, “identify”, “choose”, “hire”, “troubleshoot” etc. Incorporating these words into contents would helps to create customer/audience awareness. ...
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11 SaaS email marketing tools for 2024
Introduction In the fast-paced realm of B2B marketing, a strictly designed Software as a Service (SaaS) dispatch marketing strategy stands as a foundational element for business creation and growth. This companion delves into the nuances of SaaS dispatch marketing, unraveling its significance, presenting established strategies, and pressing essential tools for success. Technical SEO for SaaS dispatch marketing has surfaced as a linchpin in contemporary B2B marketing, furnishing businesses with a direct avenue to engage guests and prospects. This companion serves as a compass, navigating through the complications of SaaS dispatch marketing, starting with a profound disquisition of its significance. From there, it seamlessly transitions to practicable perceptivity, offering proven strategies that empower businesses to harness the full eventuality of their dispatch juggernauts. also, the companion spotlights the critical part of using the right tools, emphasizing the need for a strategic selection of platforms similar to Mailchimp, Sender, Omnisend, or CampaignMonitor. For businesses, managing their SaaS account efficiently becomes paramount for sustained growth and client satisfaction. Why SaaS Dispatch Marketing is Pivotal? SaaS dispatch marketing is vital for several reasons, serving as the favored communication channel for a different range of cultures. According to statistics, 74 percent of baby boomers, 72 percent of Gen Xers, and 64 percent of millennials consider dispatch to be the most particular channel for communication from brands. exercising dispatch ensures a direct and individualized connection with your target followership. Personalization and Targeting Dispatch allows for the creation of segmented lists, enabling the delivery of targeted dispatches to specific groups. substantiated and targeted content enhances engagement and resonates with donors. Brand mindfulness and Engagement Providing precious content through dispatch contributes to increased brand mindfulness and engagement. Regular communication fosters a strong bond with paying guests, erecting lasting connections. Cost-Effective Marketing SaaS dispatch marketing is cost-effective compared to traditional styles, barring advertising, printing, or media space charges. The affordability of dispatch juggernauts allows businesses to allocate coffers more efficiently. Campaign Monitor reports that 64% of small businesses leverage email marketing as a means of reaching out to their customers. High ROI With an average ROI of 36 for every 1 spent, dispatch marketing offers an exceptional return on investment( ROI) of 3600. The cost-effectiveness coupled with high returns makes it an economic marketing channel. Generating Excitement Strategic dispatch marketing juggernauts produce excitement around new features or updates, contributing to stoner expectations and engagement. The top 11 email marketing tools for 2024. ActiveCampaign: Elevating SaaS Marketing Efficiency ActiveCampaign stands out as a top choice for SaaS marketing, offering a versatile B2B, B2C, and eCommerce platform. With features like machine learning, drag-and-drop email builders, and omnichannel marketing, ActiveCampaign empowers businesses to grow while delivering exceptional customer experiences. However, its complex user interface and customer service might pose challenges. Sendinblue: A Comprehensive Marketing Solution Sendinblue emerges as an all-in-one marketing solution, providing essential tools for reaching and converting audiences into customers. With features such as a drag-and-drop editor, SMS marketing, and unlimited sending, Sendinblue is a go-to option for SMBs seeking complete marketing and business growth. While it boasts reasonable pricing and quick email delivery, improvements in the UI and newsletter templates are areas to consider. Omnisend: E-commerce Focus and Automation Omnisend is tailored for eCommerce, offering easy-to-use automation features for SMS marketing and eCommerce marketing. Compatible with various eCommerce platforms, Omnisend integrates loyalty review and helpdesk platforms to trigger marketing campaigns based on customer behavior. The platform provides practical triggered email and automation but may benefit from increased flexibility and customization in email marketing. Mailmodo: Reinventing Email Marketing with AMP Emails Mailmodo, a new-age email service provider, brings interactive AMP emails into the spotlight, delivering an app-like experience to recipients. With a drag-and-drop template builder, automation, and real-time analytics, Mailmodo positions itself as an effective tool for reinventing email marketing. While it offers pre-built widgets and a more affordable option, limited language support and a lack of a free plan may be considerations. ClickFunnels: Complete Platform for Marketing Efforts ClickFunnels offers a comprehensive platform encompassing website, blog, online store, CRM, email marketing, and more. With unlimited email sequences, A/B split testing, and an affiliate program, ClickFunnels provides marketers with a robust toolkit. While praised for a simple learning curve and effective data tracking, some users may find the backend functionality complex. Klaviyo: Simplifying eCommerce Marketing Klaviyo stands out as a simple and effective eCommerce marketing platform, integrating seamlessly with various eCommerce software. Offering features like predictive data, real-time customer profiles, and precise multi-channel attribution, Klaviyo simplifies email marketing for eCommerce businesses. However, customization improvements and a more user-friendly platform for desktop and mobile are areas for consideration. Benchmark: Feature-Rich Email Marketing Tool Benchmark, a lesser-known but powerful tool, boasts alluring landing page creation tools, AI-powered marketing automation, and dedicated IP protection. With features like unlimited sending, A/B testing, and automated customer journeys, Benchmark competes with established players. Despite server issues and basic signup form design, Benchmark offers very detailed tracking information and native split testing. HubSpot: Complete Marketing Automation Tool HubSpot, a comprehensive marketing automation tool, comes equipped with a CRM, landing page-building tools, omnichannel marketing automation, and adaptive testing. With features like email marketing, SEO recommendations, and behavioral event triggers, HubSpot is recommended for B2B service companies. While it offers effective customer filtration and categorization, occasional crashes and a higher cost may be considerations. MailerLite: Affordable and Automation-Friendly MailerLite stands out as an affordable platform with features like a drag-and-drop editor, email automation builder, and unlimited automation even on the free tier. Recommended for beginners and small projects, MailerLite offers effective email broadcasting. While providing unlimited automation, the platform could benefit from increased integration facilities and non-repeating background options for landing pages. Constant Contact: Starter-Friendly Content Marketing Constant Contact, known for its simple drag-and-drop email builder, offers features like social media marketing, SMS marketing, and event marketing. With A/B testing and unlimited sending, Constant Contact caters to starters and small businesses. While teams can create tags and lists, occasional glitches and the need for improved monitoring parameters are areas for consideration. MailChimp: AI-Assisted Email Marketing MailChimp, a popular email marketing and automation tool, leverages AI-assisted data analysis for personalized recommendations. With features like content automation, customer target and segmentation, and multiple third-party software integrations, MailChimp enhances email marketing campaigns. While delivering streamlined reports, MailChimp may benefit from increased automation features. Enforcing three Types of Emails A successful SaaS dispatch marketing strategy involves three primary types of emails acclimatized for different stages of the client trip. Marketing Dispatch Target leads with concurrence-grounded content, including lead nurture juggernauts, newsletters, and deals juggernauts. Example HubSpot's substantiated resource- participating emails. Lifecycle Dispatch Focuses on druggies after subscribing, encompassing onboarding, free trial to paid subscription juggernauts, and client fidelity sweats. Example Calendly's clear onboarding dispatch furnishing direction to new guests. Transactional Dispatch Concentrates on service-related emails like account recovery, billing, and product exertion. Example Direct API- grounded emails for instant delivery of critical information. 16 Stylish SaaS Dispatch Marketing Strategies In the Software as a Service( SaaS) realm, dispatch marketing strategies, integrated with the ABM framework, are vital in driving engagement and transformations. There are sixteen proven strategies to optimize your SaaS dispatch juggernauts. Plan Lifecycle parts use client data to strictly member your dispatch lists. Consider factors similar to assiduity, demographics, deals cycle, values, and region. This substantiated approach ensures acclimatized content that resonates with specific followership parts, boosting engagement and conversion rates. Incorporating account based marketing principles can further enhance the personalization. Choose the Right Time dissect literal data to pinpoint optimal days and times for transferring emails. Considering different time zones is pivotal for global culture. Timely delivery enhances the chances of your emails being opened, read, and acted upon, contributing to overall crusade effectiveness. Review Dispatch Data Regularly Regularly cover dispatch list performance, subscriber geste, and the success rates of different dispatch types. This ongoing analysis provides precious perceptivity, enabling you to upgrade your strategies, optimize content, and effectively acclimate to evolving client preferences. Focus on Simple Juggernauts First Initiate your dispatch marketing trip with straightforward juggernauts, keeping B2B ABM goals in mind. Welcome emails, onboarding sequences, and newsletters are abecedarian. These juggernauts lay the roots for establishing connections with your followership, setting the stage for more complex juggernauts. Combine Promotional and Educational Emails Strike a balance between promotional and educational content, maintaining a rate of 31. While promotional emails drive transformations, educational content positions your brand as an assiduity authority, fostering trust and furnishing value beyond deal pitches. Engage Your List with Contests Foster stoner commerce by incorporating contests into your dispatch juggernauts. Contests not only engage your followership but also produce excitement around your brand. This interactive approach enhances brand involvement, encouraging subscribers to laboriously share and remain connected. Use" Smart Unsubscribe" apply a" Smart Unsubscribe" point that allows subscribers to choose specific dispatch orders. This empowers druggies to conform to their dispatch preferences, reducing the liability of unsubscribes. By esteeming stoner choices, you maintain a more engaged and satisfied subscriber base. Shoot Emails Grounded on point operation conform your emails to druggies grounded on the features they constantly use. This substantiated approach ensures that your communication is applicable, furnishing value that aligns with the specific requirements and preferences of individual druggies. Epitomize Emails to Increase Open Rates Move beyond introductory personalization by incorporating detailed reports, analytics, and substantiated product tips into your emails. individualized content increases open rates by demonstrating a deep understanding of your donors and delivering information that directly addresses their interests and requirements. Shoot NPS and client Satisfaction checks Hand client satisfaction situations through Net Protagonist Score( NPS) and satisfaction checks. This data-driven approach allows you to produce parts for promoters, detractors, and neutrals, enabling targeted strategies to enhance client fidelity and address specific issues. A/B Test Your Emails Continuously optimize your dispatch juggernauts by conducting A/ B tests on different rudiments. trial with variations in subject lines, content types, and tones to identify the most effective performances. Data-driven perceptivity from A/ B testing empowers you to upgrade your strategies grounded on real-time feedback. Use Branding in your Hand Enhance brand visibility and recall by incorporating harmonious branding rudiments into your dispatch autographs. This ensures that every communication reinforces your brand identity, contributing to a cohesive and memorable brand image in the minds of your subscribers. Figure Nurturing Emails for Each Stage Develop acclimatized lead nurturing emails for each stage of the client trip, including free-to-paid upselling, onboarding, and client retention. This methodical approach ensures that your email companion druggies seamlessly through their relations with your product or service, maximizing client satisfaction and fidelity. Automate Behavioral Alarms influence behavioral triggers to automate targeted emails. Behavioral triggers, similar to specific stoner conduct or quiescence, significantly enhance the effectiveness of your juggernauts, achieving a 497 enhancement compared to batch emails. robotization ensures timely and applicable communication grounded on individual stoner geste. Promote Periodic Billing Encourage druggies to conclude periodic billing plans by emphasizing the value and savings associated with monthly subscriptions. This strategic approach enhances client retention and contributes to predictable profit aqueducts for your SaaS business. Work on Micro transformations Focus on micro transformations alongside primary transformations. Encourage lower stoner conduct at different stages of the client trip. This approach makes engagement more accessible for druggies, creating incremental ways that lead toward the ultimate conversion, whether it's a purchase, subscription, or another asked action. Conclusion SaaS delivery marketing necessitates a careful combination of authoritative content, carefully targeted activities, and a consistent commitment to audience engagement. This dynamic method enables organizations to realize the full potential of dispatch marketing by directing client retention, increasing conversions, and strengthening brand loyalty. Additionally, the best seo saas companies that incorporate account based marketing best practices into their content can further optimize their dispatch marketing efforts. By meticulously following these tried-and-true techniques, a tenacious SaaS dispatch marketing structure evolves, one that adapts to the audience's ever-changing demands. This adaptability drives long-term growth and success, ensuring that firms not only reach but exceed their objectives. In essence, it is a strategic synergy that converts dispatch marketing into a force, forging an unbreakable bond with the audience and pushing the company to long-term success. ...
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How To Set Up A Google My Business Page For A Law Firm?
Suppose you want your customers to know your business's primary location from your online website? How are you going to plan and propose that to the search engines? Displaying information about the whereabouts of your business is a process or one of the online tools available for companies to inform search engines about their products and services. Google My Business Page is the tool that enables you to add your business location on Google Maps and Search for customers to know more about your business. Although, as a business, you must follow Google guidelines, you can add location details, pictures, and significant hotspots that may attract your target audience. The sole purpose of setting up a Google My Business page for your firm is to verify the place of your operations so that it becomes easy for customers to find you and gain information. Did you know 48% of online buyers say that they use Google recommendations on what they should buy? Google My Business can help you get more customers as several users search on Google to find local businesses around them. Google My Business is completely free for business firms to use to their advantage and does not require you to incur any cost while listing your business online. One of the prime advantages of this tool is professional services, like lawyers, as they get local advertising on search engines quite quickly. Google witnesses 5.8 billion searches every day. Most of them have a local search interest; this means that a large population of online users search for products and services available in their local area. Google My Business page can help you in driving that local traffic to your website. Since every other business, a law firm, also tries to adopt different strategies to overpower its competition and sustain itself globally. Still, Google My Business is often regarded as an underrated approach to reach the target groups. It has been an essential digital marketing tactic that helps you get customer reviews on your website based on your online profile and location, which is quite helpful for a lawyer to obtain new clients. It is normal to quote that a customer now searches online and purchases from that business listed on the web. So if there's a need to appoint a lawyer, Google My Business can display your name as a relevant search based on the customer's search query. Thus, we can say that appearing on the web is of utmost significance as your potential customers would be able to search for your services with just a click. Further, when they visit your website, they'll be able to dig in more information about your business. It is because Google My Business helps you do so! Advantages Of Google My Business Tool Suppose you open up a browser to search for a law firm for your insurance claim. You end up selecting a lawyer near your place and checking their reviews, and based on that, you visit them for consultation. See how easy that was- that's how Google My Business works! Come Into Sight In Google Maps/Listings: Google My Business enables you to have a local pack listing of your business over Google Maps, so you can easily find the name and location once you search it. It helps your law firm increase its visibility across platforms and becomes the first noticeable customer. The information that is accessible to the customer can be related to the location of the business, contact numbers, opening times, reservations and appointments, or details about the services offered. Many other companies use GMB tools to positively impact their target audience that resides within the service area. <!-- --> Expecting Customer Reviews A service feedback or a customer review is highly important for every business to analyze if the customer is interested and satisfied with the product/service. Leaving online reviews on your webpage helps other customers to determine your customer-engagement potential, based on which they make purchase decisions. Positive reviews also enhance the local SEO as they act as testimonies of the present customers and impact your client conversion rate and overall sales. Helps To Analyze Your Web Page Insights Google My Business further provides deep insights about your business website, aids your understanding of the market factors that affect your services, and strategies that impact the customer engagement process. You can gain access to statistics related to several views on your website, the effectiveness of campaign drives, etc. These reports specifically focus on where you lack business to resort to purposeful strategies to cater to these problems. Lawyers can make use of the insights to realize the performance of the website. Customer Trust Along with the tactical advantages that your business gets, you get to earn the trust of your customers by becoming a relevant search listed on the search engines. Most customers click on a website if it is listed on or around the top of the table on search engines since they are backed up by considerate evaluation and analysis. Enhanced Brand Image One of the prime advantages of customer review is that they can rate the quality of your products and services. Star ratings collectively contribute to your business's market image and influence your prospective clients' purchase decisions. It creates a hallmark for your service and aids to gain a competitive advantage as well. A Google My Business Page For Your Law Firm Creating a GMB page is quite simple and requires a few details for the initial setup. The following are the detailed steps to build your own Google My Business page for your law firm - Enter Primary Details - Reach out to the homepage of Google My Business to start the process and fill out crucial details about your law firm, such as - The firm name Location of the business (to find your firm's location on Google Maps) Email and contact numbers for customers Website Link Types of services offered. These details are necessary to initiate your listing via Google My Business as it is used to describe your brand on search results. Specify Service Area A law firm needs to list its service area as customers outside the service location can click on your website and contact you for an appointment. Further, they may feel disappointed if you refuse to provide the service or cater to their request based on their location, resulting in a negative impact on the business image. Therefore, it is better to optimize and manage the location to ensure that only those customers connect to you who you geo-target for your business. Register Your Business Listing After specifying the service location of your business, the next step is to verify your business listing to Google. It is done so search engines can make your website visible to everyone. It is of utmost significance for a law firm to prove and verify its physical existence, which is why Google often sends a postcard that is necessary to substantiate your business listing. And here you have it- Your Google My Business Account! However, some would still find the process a tad strenuous. We at Saffron Edge will surely pitch in to provide you with expert assistance to successfully set up your GMB page so your law firm can progress with a revenue-driven approach. Our legal marketing services have helped many businesses to reach global heights and earn profits by enabling their local listing page. To know more, contact our team today and book an appointment! ...
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Creating Timeless Brands That Last Longer
Putting our most successful strategies at work with branding experts who can tell your story better.
Talk to Experts