6 Expert Marketing Tips for Startups

 

Across the world, startups are emerging in a variety of industries -- from healthcare to education. Brands are constantly fighting for consumers' attention to download their cool apps or purchase eco-friendly cleaning supplies.

 

So, how can your startup outsmart your competitors? Build a brand and reputation everyone loves. You can't just have a great product. Make sure your customer service is impeccable, and your messaging is consistent. Moreover, develop a plan to corner the market.

 

Here are six marketing tips to help you gain the exposure you deserve:

 

1. Create Compelling Email Campaigns

2. Explore Vlogging

3. Ask for Customer Feedback

4. Post Often on Social Media

5. Offer Free Trials

6. Support a Cause

 

Read the entire article here.

 

Select a recent or portential start-up (use Shark Tank or KickStarter) and discuss how the 6 tips could be implemented.

Peek inside Johnny Football circus reveals Manziel's value at A&M and NCAA's poor handling of it all

 

Before winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy, Johnny Manziel began giving out Nate Fitch's phone number, passing it out to every acquaintance, old and new, who sought a piece of his budding celebrity.

 

Fitch was Manziel's friend and confidant dating back to Peterson Middle School in Kerrville, Texas. He could be trusted. He was living in College Station too. He was with Johnny daily.

 

Manziel knew the crush of everyone coming at him was not just because of the Texas A&M games he helped win, and how he helped win them, but also due to his social media-fueled off-field brand as a party-seeking rebel.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted something … his signature, 1,000 signatures, his presence at their club, or their kid's birthday party, or their Sunday dinner, or the chance to pitch him future business, or his appearance on their television show, or a shot at representing him in the NFL one day or whatever else they could dream up. They just wanted Johnny Football.

 

Read the entire article here.

 

Does the NCAA need to make changes in policies because of the changes in technology?

 

How has social media changd the landscape of college athletics and athletes?

 

Hollywood Tracks Social Media Chatter to Target Hit Films

 

Hollywood has long relied on consumer surveys to answer a question about soon-to-arrive movies: To what degree have marketing materials made a film a must-see?

 

It used to be easy for studios to use that data, provided roughly a month before release, to improve ticket sales for a film’s opening — a creative tweak to an ad, for instance, or more male-focused TV spots. But movie campaigns have grown considerably longer and more complex. Now, by the time the old tracking system kicks in, studios say they can do little more than brace for impact: Consumers have already made up their minds.

 

To help studio marketers get back ahead of their customers, United Talent Agency and Rentrak, an entertainment data company, are introducing a service called PreAct. It joins an array of Hollywood upstarts peddling “social listening,” a growing field that uses algorithms to slice and dice chatter on social media.

 

PreAct begins unusually early. It closely monitors marketing efforts at least a year before opening weekend. At any moment, studios using the service can log in to a portal and receive various charts that detail how consumers are responding to promotional efforts.

 

Read the entire article here.

 

Discuss how the type of marketing tactics used might change in order totake advantage of real-time data.

 

What other types of companies or products could benefit from the access to this type of data?