Online marketing can be challenging, and it is easy to make mistakes. And, this is especially true for tech startups, as they tend to rely on the coolness factor to sell their product or software. Yet, they’re the ones who can’t afford to make mistakes selling their new product due to the cost involved in getting it launched. Here are 4 online marketing mistakes tech startups make, why they could hurt your efforts, and how to avoid making them yourself.

Not Marketing Your Website

When you’re selling a product, the natural impulse is to market your product. And, this should be done. However, a tech product is easy to lose in the vast, existing marketplace. The solution is to market your website. When a customer associates your website with your product, they won’t fall for the competition’s marketing. When they come to your website, you know they’ll buy your product from you. Furthermore, when you’re marketing the website, you’re getting traffic to the site that helps you rank high in future organic searches. That results in new visitors and conversions down the road.

Trying to Market to Everyone

You cannot and should not try to market to everyone. You should identify your target market and market exclusively to them. When you want to target a new market, create new models that are tailored to their needs.

However, this doesn’t have to be expensive. Companies like Gumstix, who offer design services for hardware firms, could help you. They specialize in design-to-order manufacturing, so you could have a design done in short order. A production-ready circuit board prepared for use in your assembly line could be shipped out in just over two weeks. A side benefit of this approach is that you can order small lots to meet niche demand, and if demand dries up, you haven’t sunk limited funds into the inventory.

Not Having an SEO Strategy

A solid SEO strategy will help your website rank well in related searches, and you can’t afford to ignore dominating search results for your company and product names. You should regularly publish rich content that is search engine optimized. This will help you rank higher with search engines while helping you build authority in your niche.

You can provide value to your customers by setting up a blog. A blog can generate inbound links and organic traffic to the site for relatively little effort. Furthermore, the links shared by readers with others give your website more domain authority with search engines and credibility with readers. A side benefit of blogging is that it is easy to identify relevant keywords and topics that resonate with your audience and create a blog post that combines the two. Now your blog post will attract an audience and indirectly help sell your product.

Not Paying Attention to the Sales Funnel

While attracting visitors to your website is one thing, it is the conversion rate in the sales funnels that matters most. The sales funnel refers to the flow of visitors from the website to the shopping cart to completing orders.

The main metrics to track are traffic, leads, click-through rates, and conversions. This gives you hard data on how your sales funnel is performing. Then, determine what factors influence this conversion rate. It may take some trial and error, but minor changes to your marketing campaign or website design could dramatically increase how many visitors buy the product.

Also, pay attention to the conversion rates from various traffic sources. You can’t afford to waste money marketing to people who won’t buy. Track the return on investment for the money you spend on each marketing channel.

Conclusion

Tech startups often have limited time and money for marketing. However, if you avoid the mistakes we’ve outlined, you’ll maximize returns on your limited marketing budget.