Startup Tips: Getting to Know Social Media
If you have a new startup, social media can be one of your best tools to get the word out and to strengthen your customer base. If you’re new to social media marketing, however, it’s going to take some time and learning to get started. The following tips will help you to familiarize yourself with social media and start developing a social media strategy.
1. Familiarize yourself with the different networks
You may already have a Facebook profile, but there are a whole lot of other social media networks out there. Before you start marketing, take some time to explore the different platforms and choose which ones are right for you. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Reddit are just some of the platforms you should look at. Keep in mind that they all favour different kinds of content (pictures on Instagram, for instance) and have different core audiences (LinkedIn, for example, caters to professionals, while Tumblr has a relatively young, liberal userbase). Start with your audience and which platforms they use. Then understand how they use them to determine if they’d like to hear from you or not. Investigate platforms outside of the big ones, like Quora and Houzz. Both social media platforms, but with different audiences.
2. Start small
Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the available social media platforms, start your marketing with just one or two. This will prevent you from getting overwhelmed. Once you’re established, if you have enough time, you can expand to more platforms. Remember that social media is about time, so less is more! Less platforms will allow you to spend more time on each and build up your community and expertise. You can have a presence on all of them, but focus your efforts on the ones that make the most sense to your business and audience.
3. Develop a content strategy
Once you’ve made profiles, you’ll have to decide what to post. Take some time to come up with a strategy, as the kind of content you share should fit your brand. Will you be serious, funny, sarcastic, informative? Other things to think about include how often you want to post, which keywords you want to target, and whether you’ll be including photos, videos, and graphics. Create a content calendar that shows who will post what and when, and where. Plan content in advance and make it evergreen and useful if you’re going to preset it. Then use daily time on social media for instant updates and on the go engaging.
4. Think about advertising
Most social media platforms include ways to advertise and promote your posts. You should think about whether this fits your budget and goals and, if so, develop an advertising strategy. Just remember though that advertising on social media platforms is not classified as ‘social media’ as they are not about engaging, but about measurable results based on money you spend. The benefit of advertising on social media platforms, like Facebook, is the ability for better targeting.
5. Use analytics
You don’t have to sit back and wonder if your latest post has been effective. Analytics will show you statistics such as how many people have seen your post. This can help you to determine what you’re doing well and what you need to improve. Familiarize yourself with each platform’s analytics tools or look into analytics tools offered elsewhere. Keep in mind that in order to view advanced analytics, you may need to create a business account. Monitor the traffic to your website to see which platform is the most successful.
6. Consult experts
The preceding 5 tips are all important things to work on, and you may need professional help from a social media expert. If you need some assistance, consider going through social media training or hiring a social media manager to help.
Want to know more? Contact Cemanthe now and she will be happy to help.