Marketing Strategies to Grow a Social Media Audience for your Startup

Most business owners know that without effective marketing, customers won’t know their startup exists. This can be quite a dilemma for the startup without customers – or generous investors because there simply isn’t any money available for an expensive marketing campaign. However, social media marketing has taken the edge off of cash-strapped startups, making it easier to get much-needed recognition and exposure. Over 89% of marketers who used social media boosted their exposure and generated a ton of traffic. This is why employing a few marketing strategies that can be put to work on social media, can be both a smart and savvy move for startups.

Build a Strong Profile

The key to really making a splash on social media is creating impact profiles complete with branded cover photos and profile photos. These are preliminary measures that will set you up to grow your audience. Provide as much information as possible on every social media platform that you plan on using. This means filling out all the important details like a bio, links, telephone numbers and location.  The more information you are able to provide, the better. Follow the information and branded photos with up to 10 updates.  These updates act as teasers and give people who visit your page a reason to follow you.  If you aren’t sure what to post, share quality content that your target audience would be interested in.

Cross Promote Across Different Social Media Platforms

When you use your social media profile to give sound to the voice of your startup, you don’t want to have to say the same thing several times to be heard across all your social media accounts. This is why it’s a good idea to ask your followers to follow you on all your social media accounts. You should also look for opportunities to link your social accounts which will help when you’re posting new content. Facebook’s Woodbox app makes this move a cinch and it’s free. If you will be sharing a lot of pictures and videos, twitter’s hashtag search will allow users to find and follow you by simply clicking a box by your videos and pictures. Make sure you’re using hashtags on twitter so that you can take advantage of this feature as well.

Join Relevant Facebook Groups

Get involved with your target audience by joining relevant groups and becoming a part of the discussion. Comment, post, and respond to group discussions. Actively engaging in discussions increase your visibility and puts you on the map with the right people. You can even follow your target audience on twitter and comment and chat with them, in addition to using twitter’s search function to find more people that match your target audience. If you can build a rapport with them they may follow you back.

Social media marketing is clearly a cost-effective method that can be used to put a startup on the map. The social media platform allows startups to market in both creative and strategic ways to reach as many people as possible, bolstering web presence and building an audience. Creating a strong distinctive profile, using social media platforms like relevant facebook groups, and promoting your startup across all social media accounts are all powerful ways to strategically market using social media.

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