What Is Social Media Marketing And How Can It Help My Startup Grow?
According to Hootsuite, 52% of all online brand discoveries happen on social media feeds. Whatever product or service you’re offering, social media marketing should be an important part of any startup brand’s growth strategy.
Granted, that’s easier said than done, which is why we have put together this guide on what you need to know about social media marketing when it comes to startup marketing.
This strategy might run across various social networks and even introduce email marketing.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
First, it’s worth answering exactly what social media marketing is. In its simplest terms, it’s a form of marketing that ensures your brand is being seen by the right audience on the right social media platforms at the right time. The strategies that social media agencies like 5&Vine craft focus on cutting through the noise, and getting you seen on your target customers’ feeds.
What Can Social Media Marketing Bring To My Startup?
Having the right social media marketing can propel startups to new heights. We know because we’ve been a part of creating the strategies that have made that happen. Here’s why:
Social media creates community and conversation
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Social media creates a live link between and a brand and the people invested in that brand. It’s an instantaneous connection with the power to create loyal communities and interesting conversations around not only your products and services, but values and moral standing. It’s an opportunity for you to showcase what you believe in, and how you can make change for good.
Social media drives traffic and conversions
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Implementing the right social media strategy through both paid and organic content, and making the use of early A/B testing, can drive traffic to your brand and, as part of that, create conversions. The pull of social media is its discovery factor. By introducing a successful social media marketing strategy, you can ensure you’re part of that discovery.
Social media betters the position of your brand
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Social media is transparent. It’s a place where you can share the less curated, more authentic aspects of your brand that your most loyal customers want to see. Whether it’s through the tone you use in copy or the photos and videos you share, your social media presence offers a window into how your brand operates.
You also get to transparently see how customers feel about you, with the comments they leave and UGC they tag you in. It’s also incredibly data driven, giving you insight into not just what people are saying about you, but how they found you in the first place.
Which Social Media Channel Platforms Should I Be Using?
As a sector that’s always changing, with new releases and constant updates to the algorithms, the world of social media can feel overwhelming at the best of times. That’s why picking the right channels should be an integral part of your social media strategy. It can be easy to pick the main three – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – and leave it at that, but it’s worth going a little deeper.
For example, TikTok has surged in popularity over the last year, bringing both new audiences and brands to the channel. The approach the channel takes, using music to create 15 second viral-styled videos, might not fit your target demographic but if it does, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Chipotle is one brand that’s done particularly well on TikTok, creating challenges like the #GuacDance that’s garnered over 1BN views.
On the other end of the spectrum LinkedIn, with its more formal, industry-led, professional approach is an ideal place for brands to develop thought leadership and connect with like-minded people. It’s totally different to TikTok, but that’s not to say it’s any less powerful.
Right in the middle is Pinterest, a visual-first platform that helps startups with blog content-heavy strategies get discovered by new customers. By pairing an on-brand title image with a link to the full article, startups can get more top-of-funnel attention to their blog, which can be won with retargeting ads as they become more familiar with the brand.
In short, there’s not one solution that suits every social media channel. You need to take the time to analyze your audience you’re targeting, the people using these channels and align on which platforms would best amplify your message.
Is A Social Media Agency Worth It?
Yes, we believe it is. It’s important to remember that strategizing content and then sharing that content on social media is only half the work. The other half is bringing together analytics so you can be confident in your next move.
A social media agency doesn’t just understand this from the inside out, but is an expert at bringing the two together. At 5&Vine we go through a process of:
Research: To ensure we know your brand, its audience and therefore the channels it should be living on.
Strategy: Long-term and short-term, across organic and paid content, that sits with your success metrics. We ensure you are pushing your brand in the direction it needs to be.
Action: Following channel-specific content calendars to get the vision we’ve created with you out there across various channels.
Analytics: As mentioned above, it’s not enough to share content and sit back. We dig into the analytics of how that content performs and what people did to both reach that point and what they did after. We analyze what’s working and what’s not working before tweaking the aforementioned plans to fit your new (and improved) narrative.
We’ve seen firsthand the impact social media can have in helping Challenger Brands win. Our work as a social media agency has helped brands like Paragon see a 47% increase revenue on Facebook and Fresh N’ Lean be named the #1 ready-to-eat delivery service in USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
Get in touch with us here to see how we can bring the same success to you.
