Are you using artificial intelligence (AI) to market your business? If not, why not? Business owners are getting time back in their calendar, putting money back in their wallets and still getting new leads in the door, just by enabling AI. We’re also finding that startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are tripling their marketing efforts by using this tool as their promotional sidekick. We wanted to know more.
Growing businesses thrive on a growth-at-all-costs mentality, so intelligent systems like AI act as a strategic multiplier to compete with large enterprises. Let’s find out how AI can contribute to your startup marketing strategies with these proven tactics and tips.
What you’ll learn:
- What is a startup marketing strategy?
- AI’s role in startup marketing strategy
- 10 ways to use AI in startup marketing
- Your startup marketing strategies can pay off with Salesforce
What is a startup marketing strategy?
A startup marketing strategy is how you plan to reach your target customers and establish a market position. It prioritizes experimentation, data-driven decision-making, and fast lead generation. Unlike traditional marketing, a startup marketing strategy focuses on product-market fit (PMF) and using free or low-cost channels before scaling to paid acquisition.
It usually involves a combination of digital marketing, community building, content marketing, and social media. The goal is to achieve sustainable results and reach the right audience. There are about 1 million startups in the U.S. alone, so your marketing strategy should make your startup a head-turner.
AI’s role in this marketing strategy
Imagine competing with the big players, even with limited resources. That’s the power of AI for startups. It levels the playing field, democratizing access to powerful tools and insights once exclusive to large enterprises. AI can analyze customer behavior and provide predictive insights to meet their needs. It handles tedious tasks while spotting market trends, letting you pivot when it matters most. It’s like having a personal fortune teller.
However, startups bear a significant responsibility for upholding ethical AI practices. Ethical AI emphasizes the importance of fair, transparent AI practices that align with human values and moral principles. You should consider embedding it in your day-to-day practices as it can shape the future of AI and positively impact our society.
Plus, startups that commit to ethical AI can build trust and enhance their reputation. In fact, our latest report, State of the AI Connected Customer, says that about 61% of customers feel that advancements in AI make it even more crucial for businesses to earn trust.
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10 ways to use AI in startup marketing
When you’re running on coffee, passion but limited runway, you can count on AI for multiple tasks. SMB use it for marketing campaigns, content creation, and personalization. In fact, three out of four businesses intend to increase their AI investment this year.
Marketers today use an average of eight different marketing tools and technologies. AI empowers startups to overcome the challenges of managing multiple marketing tools and expanding into new markets. Here are the 10 ways AI can help with your startup marketing.
Source: 6th Edition Small and Medium Business Trends Report
1. Using AI for social media
With AI, you can continuously enhance your social media strategy. It can identify optimal posting times, create platform-specific content, and measure their performance. Whether you’re conducting sentiment analysis or delegating content scheduling and publishing — AI can be your trusted assistant. Plus, it can spot trends and help you plan campaigns that resonate with your audience. Here are a few ways AI can help you:
- Audience analysis: AI tools can analyze your follower demographics and behaviors to identify which content types drive engagement.
- Automated scheduling: Leverage AI-powered scheduling tools to optimize the timing of your posts. AI can analyze when your audience is most active to keep them more engaged.
- Social media monitoring: What are your customers saying about your business online? How do they feel about your latest campaign? You can use AI for social media monitoring and gathering real-time feedback.
2. AI chatbots for customer engagement
88% of customers say good customer service influences their decision to buy again. So naturally, delivering reliable, round-the-clock customer service should be your #1 priority. You can use AI chatbots to provide your customers with 24/7 support and personalized product recommendations. This automated approach keeps your service quality high and gathers customer information to improve your marketing efforts.
Intelligent, autonomous agents like Agentforce can help you with customer engagement. They can interact with your customers on multiple channels and help you with omni-channel service. You can customize agents to meet your business goals and provide service across the globe. Discover more possibilities by joining the Agentblazer Community on Trailblazer Community.
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3. AI for generating content
Great content is the foundation of startup marketing. Your storytelling and content complements a brand experience. So, use AI as your sounding board to generate fresh content ideas and trending keywords. AI can also be your research partner to discover viral content, and why they work. Here are a few ways AI can help you with content creation:
- Content creation: AI tools can generate multi-media content that resonates with your target audience — with the help of your authentic voice. Get blogs going with AI prompts, daft video scripts, and post engaging social media content.
- Image and video creation: AI design tools like Midjourney and Canva can help you craft visually appealing photos and videos.
- Keyword research: Conduct keyword research and identify what’s trending with your target audience with AI-backed SEO tools. This can help you enhance your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
- Content analysis: You can also analyze existing content and get suggestions for improvement. This can include headlines, meta descriptions, and making content more relevant to your target audience.
4. AI for automating content distribution and promotion
You know this already — if content is the king, distribution is the king-maker. You have to distribute and promote your content across relevant channels to catch your potential customers’ attention. Luckily, AI can help you with this. It can analyze your audience’s behavior and identify their preferred communication channels. You can then automate content distribution across various channels, including social media, blogs, guest posts, and email marketing. Let’s look at how AI can help you with distributing and promoting your content:
- Dynamic content repurposing: AI can transform long-form content into platform-specific formats. For instance, it can convert your blog posts into Instagram carousels, short video content, and threads on X (formerly Twitter).
- Cross-platform scheduling: AI can analyze ideal posting times across different platforms. You can automate content distribution when engagement is likely the highest.
- Smart paid promotion management: AI can allocate advertising budgets across platforms based on performance metrics. They can also automatically adjust bids and targeting parameters.
- Amplify content based on trends: AI can identify trending conversations and automatically promote relevant content when topical opportunities arise. This helps increase content engagement.
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5. AI for influencer identification
Influencer marketing is proving effective — with 67% using it for awareness and 54% for credibility. You can use AI tools to find influencers who align with your startup’s values and target audience. It can monitor how audiences respond to influencer collaborations in real time. This helps you tweak your strategies faster rather than waiting for campaigns to end. You can also simplify outreach and content compliance checks with minimal human intervention.
6. AI for campaign performance tracking
88% of marketers use analytics and measurement tools to improve their outreach. You can use AI to set up dashboards and generate reports to measure your marketing efforts in real-time. It can track key performance indicators (KPIs) like audience engagement, conversions, return on investment (ROI), and website traffic.
AI-powered predictive analytics can forecast campaign outcomes and identify areas of improvement. The best part? You can tweak your campaigns for better results without waiting for them to end.
7. AI for press release optimization
AI can spot trending conversations and press releases. Based on your historical data, AI can analyze which formats of your press releases were picked by journalists. This can help you improve your press release content, ensuring it’s engaging, informative, and optimized for search engines. Besides, AI can help you identify the most relevant media outlets and journalists in your industry to build relationships with.
8. AI for event planning and management
It takes a village to plan an event. But with AI, you get a team of event managers and field marketers at your disposal. You can automate event promotions and logistics, including registrations, venue selection, and resource allocation.
AI can also personalize attendee experiences by analyzing feedback and data from your past events.
You can count on Agentforce to help you with your marketing. Whether it’s planning and measuring an event’s performance or helping you put together a campaign — Agentforce gives you an extra hand. This is particularly beneficial for a solo founder or entrepreneurs trying to do it all.
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Focus on marketing strategy while Agentforce handles the mundane tasks.
9. AI for setting up your online store
You’ve got a solid product, and now, you want to sell it online. Where do you get started? How can you set up your online store? How should you price your products? These use cases will tell you how:
- Commerce for small business: Small business commerce offers a suite of tools, including checkout, email marketing, and analytics. It comes with built-in guidance so startups can start using it from day one.
- Set up your digital storefront: AI can help you set up your digital storefront and get started in no time. Salesforce Commerce Cloud comes with multiple templates, composable storefronts, and merchandising tools to simplify your ecommerce operations.
- Automate dynamic pricing: AI can analyze your competitors’ pricing and recommend pricing strategies that help you stand out. You can also implement dynamic pricing that responds to market conditions.
Deliver product recommendations: An AI CRM can analyze your customer behavior and preferences. Based on those insights, it can deliver personalized recommendations that your customers will likely buy.
10. AI for doing it all with your team on one CRM
A customer relationship management (CRM) tool can help your startup put marketing strategies to work. A CRM for startups can streamline all your marketing efforts. On top of that, it gives a unified view of your customer interactions and sales pipeline.
The goal is simple: To help you build strong, lasting customer relationships. Salesforce comes with multiple AI capabilities like sales forecasting, customer segmentation, and workflow automations can help you personalize customer journeys and scale your business. (Back to top.)
Just get started
No matter where you are on your journey as a small business owner, you can get started with Starter Suite — the all-in-one AI CRM your SMB needs.
Your startup marketing strategies can pay off with Salesforce
AI is becoming a valuable partner for startups trying to make their mark. As you figure out your market, AI works behind the scenes to discover growth opportunities and personalize customer experiences. Global startups trust Salesforce CRM for marketing and growing their business.
Start your journey with a Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations to try Agentforce today.
AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.
