Apparently, there are approximately 594 million entrepreneurs in the world, and that number's set to climb in the coming years.
That's a staggering amount of small businesses and startups in almost every corner of the planet, including my own backyard.
When my family planted our first hops garden in a corner of our New Zealand farm we expected to learn a lot about growing this essential beer ingredient. We're farmers, so growing things comes naturally.
We didn't realize that we were also becoming entrepreneurs. Nor did we anticipate how fast we'd have to ramp up our marketing efforts. Attracting customers in such a competitive market meant we had to raise brand awareness for Garston Hops both locally and abroad.
"I think part of being on an entrepreneurial journey is to make it up as you go," says Lizette McNamee, our go-to in Logistics and Accounts. "The secret is to stay open to learning."
So, what has our team learned about entrepreneurial marketing? How does that differ from the marketing plan that a SaaS company might use? And what innovative marketing strategy or strategies might you put in place to attract your target audience and sell your product?
Let's compare Garston Hops' approach as a small startup to that of SaaS accounting software company Xero, which launched back in 2006.
Here are 17 ideas to start your creative wheels turning.
Table of Contents
What is entrepreneurial marketing?
First up, let's define what we're talking about.
Entrepreneurs (and solopreneurs) tend to be small business owners. They're risk takers—innovative problem solvers who look beyond well-worn traditional tracks.
So, it follows that an entrepreneurial marketing strategy uses flexible, resourceful and innovative approaches towards making potential clients aware of your product. You might not have the deep pockets and unlimited resources of the established giants, but you can experiment, adapt and build deep customer relationships, especially in today's digital age.
17 marketing tips for entrepreneurs
#1 Sell your story
When marketers talk about 'story' they're talking about the origin story of your business, your values, mission and anything else that sets you apart from your competition.
For Garston Hops, that's us setting up a new business in a corner of our 145-year-old family sheep farm, where the soil, climate and latitude turned out to be perfect for growing unique hops. However, we don't just market our hops, we invite people into our world.
I think for me the biggest thing of the entrepreneurial journey and marketing is that we do not as such sell a product. We focus on selling a relationship, authenticity, and passion which sets us apart in the industry.
Lizette McNamee
#2 Meet your ideal customer
Entrepreneurs are usually very aware of their target market. They have a deep understanding of who they're selling to and what those people need.
How do you build up that knowledge? By creating chances to talk to your existing and potential customers.
For example, you might:
- Chat at in-person events
- Schedule check-in phone or video calls with satisfied customers
- Talk to those who didn't purchase, to learn why your products didn't hit the mark
- Conduct surveys
- Get discussions going on social media and reply to comments with questions to get even more information
Garston Hops' target audience are craft brewers. We get to know them by giving them personal farm tours and experiences when they come to visit. But we also go to them by attending industry and networking events and by visiting breweries to meet our customers on their home turf.
#3 Consider creating events
Make room in your marketing budget for events—anything from a mega extravaganza right down to a meet-up at your local bar can work.
Events should reinforce and add to your brand image and story. Use them to create buzz and excitement around your business, attract potential customers and reward loyal customers and community members, too.
Our farm nestles between two rugged mountain ranges. We know that brewers love to choose their hops straight from the plant, particularly at harvest time, so we hold autumn (fall) festivals that complement our surroundings. Events like these reinforce our genuine relationships with our land, our product and the brewers who use it.
Xero also uses events to bring their customers together.
Each year, the company runs the annual XeroCon, a global conference which brings together accountants, bookkeepers, and small business owners. This not only strengthens their community but also provides a platform to showcase product updates and foster relationships.
#4 Gain new customers through referral and loyalty programs
Would it make sense to start a referral program in your business?
Referral programs offer rewards or discounts to existing customers when their friends or associates sign up to your mailing list or purchase products from your business. Turning happy customers into brand advocates can be an excellent way to help your business grow organically.
You might also encourage customer loyalty by offering rewards for repeat business, in the same way that coffee shops have loyalty cards that offer to make your tenth coffee for free.
Referrals can create excellent opportunities for a SaaS business to grow through word of mouth. Xero's marketing plan includes an accountant and bookkeeper referral program. In that program, existing customers get a cash reward when their referrals sign up paying clients.
#5 Content marketing
Content marketing is all about creating and sharing useful or interesting content to attract and engage your target audience. The goal is to build relationships, trust and familiarity so that people think of you, rather than your competitors, when they want to make a purchase.
Content creation takes time and energy so don't try to work on every channel. Instead, build a following on a platform you enjoy and where your target audience congregates. If your style lends itself to video, consider starting a YouTube or TikTok channel or even a video podcast. But if you prefer writing, consider adding a blog to your website or starting a newsletter.
Whatever form your content marketing takes, concentrate on making useful, engaging, high-quality content that people keep coming back to and want to share.
Content marketing isn't part of the Garston Hops marketing plan at present, but Xero makes full use of the strategy. Their website has links to many courses, webinars, articles and videos and at least four Xero-led podcasts.
#6 Email marketing
Should you include emails as a marketing strategy?
Xero's news bulletin fits in with their content marketing by alerting subscribers to product updates and education resources as well as upcoming events and webinars.
You might argue that email marketing is so common that it might not be considered entrepreneurial anymore. Sending emails in bulk costs time and money. Not only do you have to write the emails, but most email marketing platforms charge a monthly or yearly fee (depending on the size of your email list.)
If you decide to use email marketing, why not take a more entrepreneurial approach and make it feel like they belong to a club rather than being on yet another mailing list?
Try these ideas or use them as a springboard for your own email marketing twist:
- Give subscribers early access to new products
- Invite them to VIP groups
- Offer special deals just for them
- Include fun or interactive elements
- Feature content from your subscribers, for example include their reviews, photos, or stories.
Use storytelling to make your emails personal and consider setting up automated emails based on what people do or like, so they feel more connected to your brand.
#7 Social media
Businesses use social media marketing to build brand awareness and engage directly with potential customers.
It’s cost-effective and you can get real-time feedback from your audience. Using social media platforms where your customers hang out to help you create a community around your brand, drive traffic to your website, and potentially bring in sales.
Like many small businesses, Garston Hops focuses on Facebook and Instagram. We show seasons of life on the farm, our people, and the breweries and beers that use our hops. Every image shows the authenticity of our core message and helps to build the picture of our love for our land and product.
Contrast Garston Hops Instagram posts with Xero's. Their Instagram account speaks to their target customers who are mainly small businesses.
#8 Search engine optimization (SEO)
Use keywords in your content
Not that long ago, SEO was the go-to strategy for getting your business and content seen and heard. However, too much focus on search engine optimization tends to result in mediocre content designed around algorithms, rather than value. That's why thought leaders like Rand Fishkin argue that content marketing needs to move beyond SEO considerations.
Nevertheless, many people do consult search engines like Google, Pinterest and YouTube when they want to solve a problem or make a purchase. I think quality and relevance should be your first priority, then include relevant keywords where you can so you appear as high as possible in the search results.
Use keyword research to find which search terms and user questions are most likely to bring website traffic to your site. Some search terms will likely be too competitive because they're already dominated by the major players.
You can hire an expert to help you with your SEO, ask your favorite generative AI for advice or use a tool like Surfer, Clearscope or SEMrush.
Remember to include internal links
Internal links go between articles on your site. They're crucial because search engines like Google use links to crawl and index your website. Using links improves your search results because it:
- Helps the search engine understand your site structure
- Spreads link authority (aka link equity) across your pages
- Improves the reader experience
Try not to link with words like "here". Instead, link with descriptive words to show your readers (and the search engine) how the two articles relate.
All these factors will help boost your SEO performance. The premium versions of both Surfer and Yoast SEO have tools that can help you create internal links throughout your site.
#9 Optimize for AI-based search too
Speaking of generative AI:
In 2023, around 13 million adults in the United States claimed to have used generative artificial intelligence (AI) as their primary tool for online search. By 2027, this number is projected to reach over 90 million online users.
Statista
With this ever-increasing trend towards using AI for online searches I asked ChatGPT and Perplexity AI this question:
How can marketers optimise their content and other marketing strategies to make their business stand out to an AI search? What makes you choose certain websites to reference?
Their detailed answers boiled down to the following points. AIs look for:
- Authority and trustworthiness
- High-quality, relevant content
- Structured data and SEO
- User Experience
- Natural language and tone
Keep these in mind for your website content. Include relevant information. Structure it well and use natural, engaging language and include images, video and audio as well as text. Remember, the key is to consistently provide value to users while demonstrating expertise and authority in your field.
#10 Use your industry expertise (become a thought leader)
Ever considered using thought leadership as a marketing strategy? Becoming a go-to person in your niche or industry increases your visibility and brand.
Podcast guesting
Get noticed by potential customers by appearing in their favorite podcasts.
Choose shows in your niches as well as others that complement that niche. For example, if you're an expert in nutrition for diabetics, you can guest on podcasts in the health and wellness category. You might also look for podcasts in the medical, fitness, parenting and lifestyle categories.
As hops growers, our Garston Hops team could appear on beer-related podcasts. But we might also guest on podcasts in the horticulture and farming, homebrewing, small business, sustainability and food and drink categories.
Listeners often need to encounter you on podcasts several times before they take action, so if you've decided on podcast guesting as a marketing strategy, then you'll need to appear on multiple podcasts over time.
LinkedIn is known as the professional's social media platform. So, if you're a B2B entrepreneur it could be an ideal place to demonstrate your thought leadership.
Try:
- Writing specific posts for LinkedIn (keep to a consistent posting schedule if you can)
- Posting an article on your website and linking to it in a teaser post on LinkedIn
- Commenting and replying on other thought leader posts
- Sharing newsworthy or interesting articles and posts
- Connecting and networking with others on the platform
Read our articles on thought leadership and How to measure the impact of your podcast guesting campaign for more information. (We've also got some interesting insights into who's talking about podcasting on LinkedIn.)
#11 Consider using AI Tools too
Love them or loathe them, AI-based tools will be everywhere in the not-too-distant future. So, consider using them to level up your marketing tactics, and save you precious time and money into the bargain.
We've already mentioned that AI can be useful for search engine optimization. But search engines aside, what else can AI tools do for entrepreneurial marketers?
- Content creation: There are loads of tools around to help with content marketing. Some can help you write newsletters, emails and articles. Others create images. (Just search AI image creators and you'll be amazed how many come up.) There are credible AI video generators too, (e.g., Pictory, or Synthesia) if video content is part of your marketing strategy. Then, tools like Canva can help you package that content ready to go out on social media platforms.
- Social media management: Keeping up with social media channels can be time consuming, so there are all sorts of tools to create social media posts tailored to different platforms, automate posting schedules and analyze your results.
- Analytics tools: If you have a digital marketing strategy, it probably includes content marketing. That means creating articles, newsletters, posts, podcasts or videos that educate, entertain and inform your audience and draw them into your brand's world. AI can analyze customer and audience data, and identify trends and preferences to help you make your content more effective.
All these tools can help you cope with your marketing strategies and maintain a strong online presence without needing a large team to implement them.
#12 Pitch the media
Traditional PR and marketing strategies use press releases to alert the media to product releases or other newsworthy things happening in your business. But entrepreneurial marketers can make good use of the media too.
Get to know the journalists, podcasters, newsletter creators and bloggers who cover your industry. Welcome them when they ask to interview you and let them know when something's happening that you know would be interesting to their target audience.
Promote the stories and your business by posting them on social media platforms and linking to them on your website. These stories keep your business's success in the spotlight which can increase awareness and boost sales.
Garston Hops generated lots of media interest when we first launched because of our location, well south of New Zealand's traditional hop growing regions (keep in mind that in NZ the further south you go, the closer you get to the South Pole.) It was good PR which got our story out into the world, our products noticed and introduced us to new media contacts.
#13 Would Guerrilla Marketing work for you?
Guerrilla marketing uses surprise, creativity and bold tactics to make your campaign memorable and fun. It includes unconventional activities like flash mobs, street art and challenges—anything that creates a buzz.
This marketing strategy can be fun and doesn't have to cost a lot. Done well, it can be gold for sharing on social media platforms, too. But equally, guerrilla marketing can go wrong and leave you and your brand exposed to embarrassment or worse.
#14 Ask AI for ideas:
Generative AIs are good at coming up with ideas. You might not like their first offerings, but keep asking questions, homing in on your particular business or dilemmas and they might come up with a gem.
I asked ChatGPT for unconventional marketing strategies and got three interesting possibilities:
#15 Pop-up events with a twist
Add a unique spin by combining a pop-up shop with live art installations, workshops, or performances that align with your brand’s values. For instance, a sustainable clothing brand might host a pop-up that also teaches attendees how to upcycle old clothes.
#16 Brand partnerships with unexpected businesses
Collaborate with companies outside your industry to create a unique product or experience. For example, a tech startup might partner with a local coffee shop to offer free drinks in exchange for trying out a new app.
#17 Mystery box campaigns
Offer customers the chance to buy a "mystery box" filled with surprise items from your product line. This creates excitement and curiosity, encouraging people to take a chance, share their experiences on social media, and build word-of-mouth buzz.
Before you start marketing...
Know your target audience
This one's essential!
You can't create an effective marketing plan if you don't understand who needs your product, what their problems are, where they hang out online and how they prefer getting information.
For example, are you a small local business, focused on customers in your own town or state? If so, you might concentrate your marketing efforts on local events, news media and in-person visits.
But, perhaps you sell to customers in several countries? In that case, digital marketing through emails, social media and online events might be a more practical strategy.
Once you understand your audience, everything falls into place.
At Garston Hops, the messaging on our website and social media page speaks to brewers, brewery managers and owners.
Xero, on the other hand, has two distinct audiences:
- Small business owners
- Accountants and Bookkeepers.
These two audiences have separate sections of the Xero website. Have a look around them and you'll see the language, content and images in each section are specifically tailored to that audience.
Decide how to measure the ROI
How will you know if your marketing efforts succeed?
In other words, how will you define and measure your return on the investment you've made in time, money and effort?
- Define your goals - what do you want your marketing campaigns to achieve? More sales? A bigger audience? Brand awareness? Newsletter signups?
- Implement your strategy
- Decide on a marketing budget
- Record your costs
- Measure results according to your goals.
Did you increase sales during or just after the campaign period? Did more people follow your social media channel or sign up for your newsletter? Was there an upsurge of visitors to your website - and how many leads converted to sales? Which ideas were raging successes, and which ones bombed?
Use these results to improve your next campaign.
Final thoughts
It's unlikely you'll implement all the marketing strategy ideas I've covered here.
Nor should you try.
Instead, choose the ideas that resonate for your business and develop a marketing plan around them. Start small, learn as you go and be true to your business.
For Garston Hops it's about being authentic and creating a strong, lasting connection that goes beyond the hops. We're passionate about our product, our land and our business, and it shows in everything we do.
People like the product as they know it comes from a genuine background.
We hope our relationship-driven, passion-led marketing will resonate deeply with others in the industry, making them advocates not just for our product but for our story.
Lizette McNamee, Garston Hops
