Social media can be tricky, especially if you’re a startup. That’s because you’re likely still fine-tuning your value proposition and identifying your audience, among a string of other to-do’s that just don’t seem to end. We’re here to give you a little leg up to avoid social media inertia.
Find the right platform
Wait, before deciding on what platform to dedicate your limited time to, be sure to secure your handle on all social media platforms. If you’re wondering how many platforms there are, voila (by the number of monthly active users):
- Facebook – 2.23 billion
- YouTube – 1.9 billion
- WhatsApp – 1.5 billion
- Messenger – 1.3 billion
- WeChat – 1.06 billion
- Instagram – 1 billion
- QQ – 861 million
- Tumblr – 642 million
- Qzone – 632 million
- Tik Tok – 500 million
- Sina Weibo – 392 million
- Twitter – 335 million
- Reddit – 330 million
- Baidu Tieba – 300 million
- LinkedIn – 294 million
- Viber – 260 million
- Snapchat – 255 million
- Pinterest – 250 million
- Line – 203 million
- Telegram – 200 million
- Medium – 60 million
Whoever your audience is, make both a Google and Facebook page. Why? Because both platforms represent the highest monthly active users and will help you establish organic traffic through the SEO of your keywords. Go do it now! We’ll wait. Ok. Next, choose one or two platforms that you feel your target audience accesses most often. Here’s a pro-tip:
Channel | Age 18 to 29 | Age 30 to 59 |
---|---|---|
86% | 81% | |
58% | 31% | |
Linkedin* | 19% | 21% |
* If you’re a business-to-business (B2B) solution, LinkedIn is always the way to go.
Be a Follower
We’re sure your mother always told you NOT to be a follower but on social media, it pays to follow. If you’re just getting started, the best way to launch your channel is to:
- Post a set of 6 to 9 visually stimulating posts that are informational, inspiring, or entertaining.
- Find your competitor’s account
- Follow 10 to 15 of their followers
- Repeat step 3, four times daily
Out of every ten people you follow, 2 to 3 people will follow you back. Now you’ve got followers! Mission accomplished. Your follower to following ratio doesn’t matter at this stage. Right now, the goal is to create engagement. We will show you how-to below.
Post Consistently Consistent
Fail to plan and you plan to fail – Thanks to Benjamin Franklin Although social media wasn’t around during Franklin’s era, the wisdom still applies. Your personal Instagram account can be instant but for your startup, plan! A content calendar is a very helpful tool. Use it and include holidays and event days (like Official Manoushe Day – yes, it exists).
Talk With Your Followers, Not at Them
Social media is about dialogue not broadcast! If you’re not interacting, liking, engaging, commenting with your followers, your reach will be limited to your imagination (as if the world revolves around you).
Know The Algorithmic Science
Algorithms are used by social media sites to determine and optimize what posts users see and in what order. With every new day comes a new set of updates. As of late 2019, the average reach for Facebook posts was down by 2.2%. (Hootsuite, 2019). In 2020, you want to post content that gets people talking (commenting and tagging friends, sharing). To do this, try to post when your users are online. For B2B that’s usually between 9:00 am 2:00 pm TWT and for B2C brands, it’s 12:00 pm MTW. Social loves video. Facebook specifically will note if anyone watches your video past the 1-minute mark and comes back to watch it again, so content and quality really matter. Tip: Live video gets 6x more engagement than regular video. As for Instagram, tagging your photo and adding a location is always helpful.
Engage rather than sell … Work as a co-creator, not a marketer.Tom H. C. Anderson, market researcher