After advising and marketing for tech companies for over 13 years, and for as much as I value my own profession, there is no escaping this path: Start by getting your first 10 customers. No joke. That is harder than it looks. You can do this via social media, cold calling, personal networks, door-to-door sales.
Then get the next 100. By then you'll know a lot about what kinds of people use your product. What do they have in common? What do they love? What do they tell their friends?
Only after you truly understand this does it make sense to do "marketing"-in the sense of buying advertising. Marketing actually encompasses all these things, but most people think of it as buying ads, so I like to clarify.
Then once you have all those users, talk to them. A lot. Use the phone, email, surveys, in person visits to know them intimately. Try to anticipate their needs. Get them to refer you to their friends by having an incredible experience. That is the single most cost effective way to grow a company. Advertising--even if on social media-is very expensive and can be time consuming. Until you know who is buying your product and why, it's hard to focus a marketing strategy enough to make it effective. Let me know if you have any questions on this.
This question is akin to "how much does a car cost?"
The answer is based on so many details we don't know.
Every marketing strategy essecially boils down to:
1) Identify Your Target
2) Identify Their Problem
3) Demonstrate that you understand their problem and can solve it
4) Sell them the solution
Your question does not give us any basis to know where you are in the process, what you are selling, who you are targeting, how you will get a few thousand new users, how large your budget it, how experienced is the team, how complete is your product, what is your timeline?
I have a wealth of information on my website (www.shaunnestor.com) to help, but I'm not sure if any expert here on Clarity could give you much advice based on your posted question.
Happy to help more once we learn details. Or, you can book a call and we can discuss.
All the best,
-Shaun
I too have been thinking over this question since I am planning to sell online as well in the near future. However, there are several paths that can be taken in the world of digital marketing.
A lot more information would be needed about the exact product that you are trying to sell, e.g. by 'user', do you mean to refer to a paid customer or just an interested lead? What sort of skills do you have ready to be used in order to carry out the marketing plan? etc.
I would be glad to discuss this over a call. The world of digital marketing is vast and there are lots of innovative ways in which it can be explored, but in order to plan for the same, some information about the product itself is essential.
A very generic question, here's a very generic answer:
1. Put aside a sum of money for testing
2. Try different ads (with different images and text) on different networks (facebook, twitter, Instagram, display ads etc). Your demographic and the product / customer may give you some hints at which are best
3. Work out which one has the lowest cost of acquisition vs the most $value in sales (make sure you have really good analytics in place to be able to properly track from click on ad through to purchases)
4. invest your budget in that channel until it's not longer economical or efficient compared to the other method then...
5. repeat above
The number of users you may or may not get per month is dependent on product, message, and media, and promotion (budget) involved. Start slow and think big.
You are going to have to give a good bribe to the customers..whatever that is. It must be better than a free newsletter. But information products are the best due to the low cost involved and the high perceived value.
Best of Luck,
Mike
From the Trenches to the Towers Marketing
I will be glad to help as my time permits.
