Social Media Marketing for Start-Ups
Guest blog by Liz Ernst
Start-ups on a budget need to utilize smart marketing opportunities, and social media should be one of the first options they turn to. Social media provides valuable advertising space that costs little-to-nothing and provides a powerful platform for engaging with customers. It also offers multiple opportunities to showcase your business’s unique products, services, and story. social media marketing for start-ups
Facebook offers budget-friendly, advanced target advertising opportunities
While marketing and advertising are critical to growing a business, they can get pricey. Social media advertising is a robust tool—it can save you money over other marketing strategies, and its advanced audience targeting capabilities allow start-ups to share targeted content with the right audiences at minimal cost.
Businesses can use Facebook Pixel to maximize the effectiveness of Facebook advertising, retarget website visitors, and create custom conversions. It’s even a great tool for rescuing abandoned checkout carts! social media marketing for start-ups
Facebook offers more than eight types of ads for you to utilize. Different ads make sense for different uses. Domain ads, for instance, are good for getting click-throughs to your website. Carousel ads are useful for showcasing products and attracting impulse buyers. Establishing the right frequency pace is just as important as your ad content—you don’t want to overwhelm your audience, which can turn off potential customers. social media marketing for start-ups
Respond to Direct Messages and PM’s quickly
The next strategy applies to all social media platforms. Anytime someone sends your social media page a direct message, a private message or leaves a review, you should drop everything and respond. A ton of statistical data supports this recommendation. In fact, 78 percent of salespeople that use social media outsell their peers.
Taking time to chat with customers individually via direct messenger or private messages is a great way to build strong and profitable customer relationships. Facebook messenger, Skype, Twitter Direct Messages and Google Hangout help facilitate this customer relationship-building habit. Potential clients respond positively to someone who is available instantly to interact with them and is ready to help solve their problems. social media marketing for start-ups
Besides, sending a text message is so simple. There’s no commitment beyond the last message sent, and no apprehension that a salesperson will snare the client into making a purchase over the phone or in-person. Text messaging also fits into busy schedules.
Twitter is now the most popular social platform for business
While Facebook has pioneered social media advertising, when it comes to viral content, it’s difficult to beat Twitter. The 140-character limit forces marketers to be concise, present, and hyper-engaging—a habit that can be valuable for all types of social media platforms.
Perhaps the most powerful feature on Twitter for engaging with audiences is the ability to retweet relevant information from other thought-leaders. Not only does this strategy alleviate the pressure to create tonss of original content, it attracts visitors to your site.
Create engaging ads that ask a question
Encouraging engagement is a valuable way for start-ups to maximize marketing dollars. When someone reads an ad and leaves without engaging, where is your ROI? While you have made an impression, there’s no telling if that impression is affecting your balance sheet.
To maximize engagement, dive deep into the information you know about your potential customers. Find a way to ask them a question that both sparks a thought and positions your product or service as an easy solution.
Improve your chance of orchestrating a conversion by combining a thought-provoking question with a video. Video advertising considerably maximizes audience engagement and viewer comprehension. social media marketing for start-ups
Combining this strategy with the ability to target your audience, you will find social media to be a powerful marketing tool. Social media marketing allows businesses to present new information to the right people, at the right time, with a variety of presentations.
Guest blogger Liz Ernst is a freelance writer and owner of ernstPR.
Email Liz