On the Social Side

One of the most cost effective ways to market your startup is in the use of Social Media. It’s free and the Market is just one click away.  In addition to providing a platform for growing your brand, it offers an easy medium for promotion and customer service opportunities. Customers and prospect clients can be connected easily.

• Be frequent and consistent: Social media is a way for you to build your brand’s identity. You should not only post regularly,uniformity of posts is crucial. Do not over post or deviate from your brand’s message. In a social media  report,  the optimal number of posts to Facebook is between five and 10 times a week, Twitter is five tweets a day and LinkedIn and Google+ tied for one time a day.
• Customer is the Market: Most brands use their social media accounts only for promotional purposes and this is a failed strategy. This only provides zero value to their followers.  Instead, find and share information that your customers want to see and occasionally mix in your promoted content.
• Engagement: Social media is a way for your startup to interact with current and future customers. Leverage your followers and make them feel like valuable members of your brand. Also do not be afraid of social confrontation, approach any complaint as an opportunity to show your brand’s customer-service capabilities.
• Lastly, do not hide from failures, you are a startup and are bound to face some challenges along the way. Approaching these strategically as opportunities to win over customers with good customer service and express your brand’s long-term vision as frequently as possible.

Content is always KING

Content is so important because tt is the vehicle for conveying your brand’s message and this is the most overlooked investments in launching a startup. If your content is not clear and message not well-formulated, you will undoubtedly struggle to succeed.

• Create a conveying message: Content marketing should not be a process of throwing messages against the wall and seeing what sticks. To effectively brand your startup, you should engage in industry research and formulate a unique selling propositions.
• Easy, Cheap and Creative Contents: Creative content does not have to be expensive. You can find affordable and high-quality content on sites like Elance, Craigslist or Fiverr. Utilise the internet.

• Reach out Personally: One of the most important steps to an effective content marketing strategy is the content promotion. After you produce an incredible piece of branded content you need to amplify that piece of content as much as possible. Leverage your social media profiles, email industry experts, reach out to LinkedIn groups or industry forums, and contribute to other popular sites that your consumers might visit. Invest a few hours a week to outreach or off-site writing and your startup will begin to gain traction.