Social media for start-ups

For many start-ups, social media is a cost and time-effective means to develop conversations and PR for a brand.

Peer to peer communications have never been more important, but social is not an end in itself – it’s just one of a number of communications channels driven by content, so it’s important to fully integrate it into an overall comms plan.

Start-ups need to invest time in creating a social strategy to make the most of their resources and ensure it contributes to business growth.

Below are some of the key areas to consider when developing a social strategy.

• Audit

Take stock of your current social media programme – what’s working; what’s not. Review how the existing campaign complements the overall marketing strategy.

• Environment

Stay current with developments on social.  Understand the choice of platforms available and keep an eye on how your competitors, customers and media are currently using them.

• Audience

Understand the habits and desires of the audiences you want to reach out to.  If you know where they engage and what turns them on then you can fish where the fishes are – delivering a higher ROI for your campaign.

• Influencers

Build a framework for outreach by mapping influencers.  Tools such as Klout and PeerIndex can be useful, but take the time to understand how, where, what about and with whom they communicate.  Developing relationships with these influencers can generate powerful third party endorsement.

• Personality

Develop a tone and personality that reflects your brand.  Reinforce this in the look and feel and use the same formula across channels to make sure you’re presenting your audience with a consistent brand persona.

• Content

Develop your content to add value to the conversations you have been mapping.  Provide your audience with information they want/need/will be interested in and do so in a personal way, not as a company, by managing your conversational tone, and by combining it with rich media content that will push their buttons.

• Add value

Always seek opportunities to add value to conversations.  Don’t simply think of social as a means of getting your message out there, you should take the opportunity to help others and develop relationships.  Reciprocity is one of the fundamentals of social, so it will likely benefit your business in the long run and help you get your messages across.

• Action

Develop your social strategy and build a plan that allows for regular structured content, outreach and response as well as time for R&D.  Social moves quickly, so build a plan that will allow flexibility and build social into your day-to-day activities.

• Evaluate

Measure everything you can using the range of tool available. There are some great free ones such a BackTweet, Tweetreach and Social Mention that will allow you to track mentions.  Google analytics is perfect for tracking traffic, and Bit.ly link shortener can also be a useful tracking tool.

If you’re interested in social media for start-ups you may like to receive information on Flagship’s new start-up club – The Communications Studio, which gives its members professional guidance on gaining exposure and building reputations.