In today’s digitally connected world, an effective social media plan is essential to get your startup off the ground. Millions of people are connected on social media and small businesses must tap the potential of these exceptional resources to keep pace with competitors and win the battle of visibility. A small startup with not a fat budget can leverage the capability of social media to kick start their marketing activities. It’s not that growing social media audience doesn’t require money, but the lack of one is not much of a disadvantage as you can reach people organically as well unlike traditional marketing which mostly rely on expensive advertisements. Success in social media depends on how proficiently a company gauges the needs and requirements of customers and how quickly offers a solution to them.
So, despite the stage of your startup, you can start or continue to cultivate your social media audience and gain exposure for your startup. Below are 9 ways for start-ups to attract more loyal clients or customers through social media:
Fabricate a Social Media Strategy
Every size of business needs a social media strategy to compete with others in the market. Align your business objectives with your social media campaigns and create an outstanding plan to stand out from the competition. You need to make sure that consistency of your brand is maintained across all social media channels before starting your quest to build an audience.
Share Good Content and Be Regular
In order to draw in new followers and get the existing ones to stick around, you need to share quality content that is engaging and fresh. If they strike a chord with your audience, they will be shared. Publishing content promoting your products and services sound like pushy sales pitches and are not entertained by readers. So, 80% of your posts should be related to developing relationships and trust among followers and focus on getting your brand known.
Only posting good content is not enough. You need to be consistent and regular. Posting frequently will help in increasing your visibility. But avoid flooding your social media platforms as the users might get annoyed. Knowing when to post is important. Find out the best time to post and how many times a day to post.
Engage with your Audience
Make your users feel that you are listening to them by engaging with them consistently. If you have few users at present, engaging with them, asking them questions and responding to their queries immediately will help in spreading the word and you will also get noticed by their friends and followers which will make others to follow your brand soon. If you want your content to be shared by the current set of users, you can do the following things
- Hold Contests
- Publish quizzes and polls
- Use visual content
- Reward loyal followers
- Create humorous content
- Get customers featured in your posts
If you have started a conversation by asking questions, you need to stay in the conversation and respond to the feedback, comments and answers on the social media pages. No comment should be left unanswered as it is vital to build relationships.
Pick the Right Social Networks
Choose the social media channels that are relevant to your business and targeted audience. Not every business requires a presence on all social media channels. Some B2B businesses might find LinkedIn to be more effective than posting on visually rich sites such as Instagram and Pinterest. To decide the best platforms for your business, you need to define your customer persona first. Then figure out the channels where they are most active and use them wisely to keep the users engrossed. For start-ups, its best to have presence in small number of platforms as it will be easy to manage them, keep them up-to-date and will enable them to closely interact with followers.
Leverage Analytics
Use the analytics dashboard offered by the social media channels to track trends such as the particular time when you posts are most effective, what kind of post are creating buzz among users, and which posts are not working for you. It is the best way to discover of you are on the right track and what changes need to be incorporated to improve your presence. With the aid of social media monitoring tools, you can analyze what your industry influencers are talking about and also gauge the interest areas of your followers.
Provide Customer Service on Social Media
Being a startup, you need to regularly communicate with your customers. Providing effective customer service on social media platforms and resolving their issues without delay will help in establishing a solid bond between your brand and your audience. Track all your customer’s mentions and comments on social media and other online mediums in real-time and respond to each of them instantly to illustrate your dedication. Providing exceptional customer service in real-time through social media channels will save customer’s time as he no longer have to wait for getting in touch with a service representative over a phone call.
Promote your Social Accounts
Add the links of your top social media accounts on your website and email signatures. This will ensure increase in the number of followers without putting much effort. You can also cross promote your social accounts to enhance the user base. For example, if you already have a large audience on Twitter, ask them to connect with you on Pinterest, if they have an account.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Hashtags are very effective in getting your posts and tweets out to a larger audience. However, always pick an appropriate hashtag or else it will be of no use. Hashtags when used wisely helps in spreading the message by attracting others to participate.
Participate in LinkedIn Groups and Blog Posts
LinkedIn is a great platform for B2B start-ups to grow their follower base. Become members of useful LinkedIn groups and engage with active LinkedIn members. Involve in discussions and provide valuable answers to get noticed and make people connect with your brand.
Members can post blogs on LinkedIn. Keep a track and figure out the people in your industry with lots of followers. Follow their blog posts and post regular comments to engage with your target audience.
So, don’t miss out on these things and carefully plan your social media strategy to maximize your reach and gain a valuable audience.
Also Read, How to Deal with Irate Customers on Social Media
In today’s digitally connected world, an effective social media plan is essential to get your startup off the ground. Millions of people are connected on social media and small businesses must tap the potential of these exceptional resources to keep pace with competitors and win the battle of visibility. A small startup with not a fat budget can leverage the capability of social media to kick start their marketing activities. It’s not that growing social media audience doesn’t require money, but the lack of one is not much of a disadvantage as you can reach people organically as well unlike traditional marketing which mostly rely on expensive advertisements. Success in social media depends on how proficiently a company gauges the needs and requirements of customers and how quickly offers a solution to them.
