Over 62% of the world’s population—a whopping 5.07 billion people—use social media. With such crazy numbers, it’s not surprising that the use of social media for startups is also growing. In one Statista survey, more than 80% of small and mid-sized interviewed businesses used Facebook for advertising, half of them used Instagram, and 30% relied on LinkedIn to connect with customers.
Social media can help you connect with your customers, improve brand awareness, and increase sales—all online. But for that to happen, you must do more than just post random content on your platforms. Let’s discuss how you can get the most out of social media.
Choose the Right Platforms
There are numerous social media platforms out there that you can use to market your startup business. Some of the most popular ones include:
- Facebook. Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide, with over 3 billion monthly active users. It caters to a diverse audience, making it ideal for businesses targeting a wide demographic, including all age groups. The platform supports different types of content, including images, text posts, and videos.
- Instagram. Instagram has about 2 billion monthly active users and is more popular among younger audiences. The platform works well for visual-based content, such as images, short videos, and stories. You can use your channel to showcase products, extend your reach, and solidify your brand identity.
- LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the go-to platform if you’re targeting industry professionals, decision-makers, and job seekers. The platform has over 1 billion users in 200 countries across the world. You can use your channel to network with other professionals or to share company news, thought leadership articles, and job posts.
- TikTok. TikTok might be the newest kid on the block, but it is also the fastest growing, with over 1.5 billion monthly active users as of April 2024. The platform thrives on video content and is ideal when you want to target the 18-24 age group.
- X (Formerly Twitter). While not as popular as other platforms on the list, X still boasts over 335 million monthly active users. It’s a great channel for starting conversations online and building awareness for your brand. By following hashtags, you can learn what people are talking about and be part of the discussions.
How to Choose the Right Platform
Consider these factors when choosing the right platform for your business:
- Your audience: Who is your typical customer? How old are they? What are their preferences and needs? Where do they hang out the most online?
- Your goals: Different social media platforms offer different benefits. Choose the platform(s) that will best help you achieve your business goals and objectives.
- Your Type of Content: Think about the type of content you want to create (images, videos, blog posts, infographics, and similar) and choose the platform that will make that possible.
- Your competitors: What social media channels are your competitors using? What is working (and not working) for them?
There is this misconception that your business must be on every social media platform to succeed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of spreading yourself thin across all platforms, focus on specific platforms that work best for your business.
Remember, managing social media is a demanding job that involves creating content, scheduling posts, monitoring feedback, and developing strategies. Being selective with the platforms you use ensures your efforts and resources are optimized effectively.
Craft Your Fiery Social Media Strategy
Before starting your campaign, you need a social media marketing strategy. This is like a summary of everything you intend to do and hope to achieve on social media.
Start by setting clear, specific, and measurable goals. Do you want to build a larger following? Or generate more leads, build greater brand awareness in your industry, or boost conversions and sales? Whatever it is, you and your team should be clear about it.
After deciding the goals you want to achieve and the platforms to use, it’s time to think about content. Here, you’ll need to come up with content ideas depending on your audience, goals, and brand identity. You should also define your distinct brand voice to stand out from the competition. For example, do you want to use humor, or is your business more professional? When you set up everything, go ahead and create the content.
Content Planning
Use a content calendar to ensure you’re posting regularly on your platforms. Knowing in advance what to post saves you a lot of time and prevents you from sharing the same pieces of content too frequently.
While at it, have a defined posting schedule. When creating this schedule, pay attention to when your audience is most likely to engage with your content. Typically, the best time to post on social will depend on various factors like your location, day of the week, and the social media platform you’re using.
Light Up Engagement
Winning on social media requires building a loyal community of fans and followers. How do you do this? By ensuring customer conversations or engagement opportunities aren’t left unattended. This is why you should have a team that promptly responds to customers’ comments, messages, and mentions.
But even promptly responding to messages isn’t enough. Research shows that 71% of consumers expect brands to provide personalized experiences. This means you must go above and beyond to understand your customers’ needs and preferences and provide customized customer care. Here are some of the ways you can achieve this:
- Analyze purchase history to recommend products or services that complement past purchases.
- Track website behavior to understand customer interests.
- Use surveys to gather customer feedback on their experience and preferences.
- Offer live chat options with knowledgeable support staff.
You can also include paid ads in your digital marketing strategy to boost engagement levels further. A paid ad allows you to target a specific audience based on various demographic factors. This means you can share content with people interested in and likely to benefit from your offering, which increases engagement.
Another way to grow engagement is through influencer marketing. When an influencer recommends your product, they influence some of their followers to start using that product. With time, you get a loyal following of people who use your products and love your brand.
Analyze/Measure Social Media Success
So, now your social media strategy is in motion. That’s amazing!
But how do you know whether it’s bringing the desired results or not? Simple, by monitoring and analyzing key metrics such as reach, engagement, impressions, likes, and followers. When you know what’s working and what’s not, you can make the necessary adjustments to improve the performance of your campaigns.
The good news is that you don’t have to monitor the metrics manually. With a tool like HubSpot, you get a powerful analytics dashboard that automatically tracks key metrics for your social media platforms. You can also use the tool to track the performance of a specific social media campaign.
Crush Your Social Media Goals With Pyromaniac Digital
Social media is a must-have tool for any business that wants to remain relevant and widen its reach in the market. But there are plenty of moving pieces to maintain if you want to reap tangible benefits from social media.
Whether you need help identifying the right platform for your business, crafting a social media strategy, creating content for your platforms, or something else, our team of experts at Pyromaniac Digital is ready to help you.
Get in touch with us today to learn how we can take your social media game to the next level.
