Tell me, which of these words are familiar to you? 

Tweet.

Like and subscribe. 

OOTD.

My Day.

Content.

If you can’t make heads or tails out of it, you are either living under a rock or embracing a very off grid life. These are popular words that are very popular in social media and are in constant use. What is social media?  Let me give you the lowdown on what social media is.

Social media is a digital technology that aids in communication and interaction between people wherein they create, share and exchange ideas and information through networks and virtual communities. In simpler terms, social media is the various websites or applications that people use to stay in touch and interact with family, friends and various communities.

The best examples of these are Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube. They are the giants of social media and have billions of users. In recent years, they have been prevalent in the lives of a lot of people. They have been the main source of information, interaction and entertainment. 

And for intrepid entrepreneurs, social media is becoming an exciting and rewarding place to do business. Social media for startups is gaining traction through the years. And, the numbers explain why.

As of 2023, there are 4.9 billion people who are on social media. That is more than half of the entire population of the world. Facebook alone has 2.958 billion users. Youtube follows next with 2.56 billion and Instagram is not far behind by 2.5 billion. Tiktok had 1.2 billion users. The numbers are simply staggering. These various social media platforms have access and reach that is unheard of before. If you are a business owner, especially if you are just starting your business, it is already a foregone conclusion to take advantage of social media.

For startups, it is very important for your marketing strategy to focus on brand awareness. You need people to know who you are as a brand and what products or services you can offer. Social media is best when you are introducing your brand to the world. Because, you literally are able to introduce the brand since social media can reach a lot of people. You have to take in consideration that most of these social media platforms are accessible on mobile devices. As of this date, 91.21% of the world’s population have mobile phones. So, the dissemination of information is no longer a big issue. It’s up to you now how your creativity and persistence can attract potential customers.

Customer engagement can lead to brand loyalty. It is important for customers to feel that they are appreciated and respected. They wanted to be heard. They want to feel that the company takes into consideration what feedback their customers have. If you use social media for startups, there would be higher customer engagement since it is easier to send a direct message to the company than an e-mail. Follow through with the messages posted by your customers. Answer inquiries, suggestions and reviews that they have. You’ll gain more customers this way since they’d feel at ease making a purchase from your company.

Using social media for business is also very cost-effective. Almost all social media platforms are essentially free. Sure, some add-ons and added features are needed to be purchased or subscribed to monthly, but they are at a minimum fee. In exchange, the number of people you’d be able to reach is unbelievable. You can also customize your page to a degree to further increase your brand awareness. One of the social media tips for startups is to choose your target audience. This will enable you to curate your marketing strategy to attract customers who are more than likely to buy your product.

Using social media for startups is a great way to get your product recognized by people. It has unbelievable reach and is proven to be an advantage to any new business.

Effective Strategies for Maximizing Visibility on Social Media

To further dive into the benefits of using social media for business, here are some social media tips for startups.

A. Creating a Social Media Presence

Photo from Unsplash

By creating a social media presence, you are introducing your company and the products or services you offer to your target audience. 

1. Choose the Right Platforms for Your Business

Not all social media platforms are created equal. The kind of product or services you offer and the demographics of your target audience will dictate which platforms would work best for you. Here are some facts you’d need to consider;

A. Age – If your target audience is young adults ages 10-19 years old, Tiktok and Snapchat are the platforms for you. Millennials prefer Instagram and the older ones are into Facebook and Twitter.

B. Industry – what services or products are you offering? If it’s in beauty, healthcare and fitness, Tiktok and Facebook are the right fit. Snapchat is best if you own restaurants, salons and gyms. For consumer goods, Instagram would be a good choice.

C. Content – If you want customer engagement, Instagram has a feature for questions/ polls for your viewers. Tiktok and Snapchat contents are humorous, silly and feel-good. If you want a discussion about the latest news, Twitter is the platform you are looking for. 

There is a lot to consider in choosing which platforms to use. Study your target audience in correlation to what you are selling. Choose the platform that will give you the most exposure and would be the right fit for your brand.

2. Set Up Complete and Engaging Profiles

Do not be boring. It might sound harsh but it is true. Remember that there are thousands of people and businesses that are also posting on these platforms. You need to be noticed and be remembered. 

A. Be consistent with your display name. Your business name must be the same on all your platforms. If you are using abbreviations, do not suddenly complete the name in other platforms. This might cause confusion on the side of the viewer.

B. Your profile picture must be clear and eye-catching. Your profile pic would be small so make sure all the details are clear and too cluttered. Be creative. If you need to change the background of a picture, there are a lot of tools online to remove bg of your images.

C. Your relevant links must work. Dead links will be the death of your page. These links are your way of converting your viewers into customers. 

D. You must include your bio. Since you are introducing your company. Use this section to convince your viewers that you are an honest and trustworthy company that will deliver quality products or services. 

3. Connect with Relevant Communities

The great thing about these social media platforms are the communities that are being built. Since location is not an issue, those who share common interests and hobbies tend to congregate on these platforms. Try to connect with these communities. They can likely be your target audience. For example, if you are selling camping gear, communities who are into adventure and outdoor living will be the best place to introduce your company.

B. Developing a Content Strategy

Photo from Unsplash

Your content will be one of the major reasons that people will want to go to your social media page. So make sure that your content is entertaining and informative to attract viewers or potential customers.

1. Diversifying Your Content.

Do not use the same content form over and over again. It will get to a point where your audience will get tired of it and not go to your page anymore. Do not be limited by just pictures and general information. Include videos, graphics and polls. Make sure to use a multicultural approach to attract a larger audience.

Diversifying also will get your content a bigger reach in the audience as it will have a higher chance of people discovering your content.

2. Utilizing Visual Content in Posts and Ads

People are more likely to remember information presented visually than text alone. If you incorporate visuals in your posts and ads, it will be a powerful way for your audience to remember you.

There is also more customer engagement with visual posts. People would comment a lot on pictures and videos.

3. Incorporating Storytelling to Engage Audience

Everyone loves a good story.

Incorporate storytelling in your social media posts to attract more audiences. People are interested because they contain mystery. They want to know how the story will end. People are curious by default. So, engage your audience with a compelling narrative arc. 

Include the story of your brand. How did the company start? Include your failure and success stories. Connect with your audience on an emotional level. This will help you develop a deeper relationship with your audience. You want them to relate to you and empathize with your journey. This is building brand loyalty. And, brand loyalty is always a definite conversion.

C. Leveraging Paid Advertising Opportunities on Social Media

Photo from Unsplash

If your company’s budget allows it, social media for startups can also be paid to advertise. It would offer a targeted approach when it comes to reaching your brand’s potential customers. They could give you more engagements, more conversions and more sales. 

The big social platforms that offer these services are Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Tiktok and Twitter. Choose wisely which platform will benefit you most.

1. Understanding Different Ad Format on Social Media

Make sure that you know the different ad formats of the various social media platforms. This is to make sure that your ad will be seen clearly and legibly. Also, this is to avoid distortions if your file size or format needs to be changed. Here are some of the formats;

A. Facebook – Photo ads are composed of an image and a text with a maximum of 125 characters. You can have a link and a Call to Action button. You can use the Facebook Business Manager to create your photo ad or convert an existing post into an ad.

B. Instagram – Video Ads on Instagram only have a maximum length of 60 seconds.

C. Twitter –  Sponsored tweets are ordinary tweets that have been converted into ads. They are just marked as an ad. The same character limit applies, though.

D. Youtube – a True View video ad is 3 minutes and is shown before, during and after the main video.

2. Targeting the Appropriate Audience

The various platforms that offer paid advertising also offer to monitor the traffic for your company. They’d provide detailed reports on who visits your sites and who clicked on the ads. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to curate more toward what your audience or customers want to see.

By concentrating on your target audience, you ‘ll have more chances in conversion and sales. Because your products or services are already in their mindset of the things they are interested in. There is a more likelihood that they would want to purchase your products.

3. Optimizing Ads for Maximum Return

You have to get your money’s worth. 

Not all paid advertising will give you the conversion you want to achieve. That is why you need to plan every aspect of your paid advertising and make sure that you get the maximum return.

Try lowering your ad cost. A study which ads work best and eliminate which doesn’t give you a good result. Modify your ads to keep up with the marketplace changes and don’t get stuck using the same ads.

You can also save money by lowering your position in search results. You need not be in the top five spots. As long as you are on the first page it’s enough.

Speed is also a feature you need to improve in your links. People are impatient with slow-loading pages. You might lose a potential customer with this.

Conclusion

Photo from Pexels

The power of social media is obvious at this point. The audience reach is staggering and the user engagement is unbelievable. There is no doubt that when it comes to “being seen” these various platforms are the best channel to do it.

Social media for startups is an advantage they have to learn and excel. The benefits outweigh any concern that you can have. Just the mere fact that a post could go viral in hours, would convince you to use social media in your marketing strategy. 

Learn how to use social media for your business. Research which platforms would best fit your brand. Not only for your products but also for your brand’s ideals and vision. These platforms will be your representatives online. So, be very attentive in choosing which platforms to use.

With all these considerations in place, do not forget that you aim to connect with your customers. With social media, you are reachable and available. This will build trust and loyalty which is essential in any business.

All the major social media platforms are available with just a tap on your mobile device.

Go ahead and join. You’ll be missing a great opportunity.

Author’s Bio
	Miguel Davao, Removal.AIMiguel Davao is a graduate of literature and linguistics and has been writing content for about 5 years now. He particularly writes content on eCommerce, design, photo-editing tools, and content writing tips.  Currently, he works as a full-time writer at Removal.AI – a tool to remove bg from images for web, app development, and marketing automation.