For any new startup, getting your initial marketing right is crucial – you need to get the word out about your new product or service to get your business off the ground and on the path to success. With 3.6 billion people using Social Media in 2020, this is one marketing channel that practically all startups need to master.

Aside from being able to access a massive audience, as highlighted above, there are many other benefits of Social Media to companies just starting out. One of these key benefits is speed – you can be set up on the main platforms and raising the profile of your brand as soon as your website is ready to receive traffic, perhaps even sooner if you want to create a ‘pre-launch buzz’. Building some momentum, fast, will be important in the early days. 

Another key benefit is the feedback Social Media can provide as your company starts to grow. What your potential customers think of your product or service, how you could make it better, and what features or products you should consider next, is all crucial info that can be gleaned from your Social Media audience and used to keep your growing business on the right track

The Value of Social Media for New Businesses

Few businesses are likely to argue that Social Media isn’t an important marketing channel, but just to hammer the point home and reinforce the idea that it’s a critical channel for new startups:

• 55% of consumers learn about new brands on Social Media (if your target audience is Gen z then this figure is actually 78%!)
• As a result of the pandemic, 43% of consumers used Social Media more to discover new products
• When it comes to interacting with brands, 68% of consumers agree that Social Media makes this easier

(Source – SproutSocial)

How Do I Use Social Media to Grow My Business?

So it’s clear that Social Media is important for startup businesses – but it might not be clear how to develop an effective marketing strategy for using it to help your business grow. While Social Media has enormous potential, like anything if you just dive in you might find you’re not realising that potential – or worse, you could actually do more harm than good.

Your potential audience may be vast, but they are also pretty fickle, so you need to make sure you spend the time planning and developing your Social Media marketing strategy if you want it to be as effective as possible. This is often why some businesses entrust the success of marketing on Social Media to specialist agencies like oneofonegroup.co.uk, but for those intent on going it alone, there are key steps to follow.

Identify your target audience

You may have already done this as part of your overall business and marketing planning, but understanding who is your target audience will be key to using the right Social Media channels, and in the most effective way. Your target audience might be quite broad and require breaking down into different groups and demographics so you can make sure each is targetted with the most effective Social Media marketing strategy.

Find out what platforms your audience uses

Once you understand your target audience groups, this will help you select the most appropriate Social Media platforms to market your brand on, and also direct your marketing strategy on these platforms. If you’re audience is aged 25-35 you might need to focus on Facebook and Instagram; if you’re targetting older individuals you might prioritise Twitter; and for a Gen Z audience, you probably need to consider Tik Tok.

Learn more about your audience

As well as learning where your audience is, you need to understand how they like to communicated with – as in what type of marketing material (formats, content, timing) they are more likely to engage with. Simply ‘being’ on the right platform isn’t enough, you need to make sure you stand out and are appealing to your audience. 

Set Social Media goals for your business

Once you’ve completed the work of understanding your target audience and how best to communicate with them, you need to have a goal of what you want to achieve from your Social Media marketing. So many businesses pour money, time, effort into marketing on the various platforms without a real understanding of what they’re trying to achieve other than ‘raise awareness’.

Having clearly defined goals of what you expect your Social Media marketing to deliver will not only help to shape your strategy, it will also allow you to see how well you are achieving against is, as well as the return on investment you are getting from it – something that’s crucial to understand for a business just starting out.

Set out your aims for your Social Media channels

For each of the channels you are using, define what you expect to achieve in terms of engagement that will raise awareness of your brand – so metrics such as likes, shares and comments. Understand what you want to achieve for more commercially-focused metrics measuring conversions – so clicks to your website, sign-ups, enquiries and even sales.

Create your Social Media strategy

Knowing what you expect to get out of each of the platforms you are using for your marketing will help you to build the strategy to achieve those goals. When you’re starting out there may be an element of trial and error, but as your marketing develops the feedback and data you get from Social Media will allow you to focus in on the activity that is most likely to help you achieve the goals you’ve set.   

Getting the Most From Your Social Media Marketing

Getting your Social Media marketing right can always be a challenge, especially for a new company just starting out. But progress can be better than perfection in the early days, so rather than waiting until you think you have the perfect strategy, start investing in your Social Media presence as soon as you can. Monitor your performance and adapt your strategy as you grow, and you’ll soon discover how powerful Social Media can be for your startup.

In an era of continued economic uncertainty, Silicon Valley start-ups continue to innovate, creating critical technological advancements capable of having a revolutionary impact on industries, economies and people’s lives.

From networking to big data and cybersecurity, every start-up needs one thing to turn its founders’ dreams into a commercial reality: money. However, with many markets still reeling from the impact of the pandemic, it is understandable that some would-be investors are feeling hesitant.

Technology is crucial to businesses. Irrespective of the size of an enterprise, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that enhance productivity, ultimately making businesses more profitable. Technological infrastructure impacts not just efficiency but also the corporate culture and relationships of a business, as well as affecting data security and trade advantages.

Technology helps brands to communicate with customers, promoting clear and fast interactions. Q&A sections on websites provide answers to common questions, not only enhancing a business’s image, but also negating the need for customers to reach out directly, reducing the burden on employees.

Analytics help businesses track cash flow, as well as saving time and preserving physical space. Warehouse inventory technologies enable business owners to manage storage costs, while video conferencing negates the need for executives to attend corporate headquarters for meetings, saving time and money.

With lockdowns and stay-at-home orders in place in many countries worldwide throughout much of the pandemic, video conferencing technology has played a critical role in terms of enabling businesses to remain operational over the past 18 months. By June 2020, Zoom was attracting 300 million meeting participants every day. It is sobering to realise that without investment, the platform would never have got off the ground.

Roman Semiokhin is a philanthropist and serial investor with an in-depth understanding of the tech industry. The education sector has been acutely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his resident country of Cyprus, Mr Semiokhin seeks to create an innovative educational institution, leveraging state-of-the-art technology and harnessing the latest research in new ways to deliver engaging and effective learning.

Technology benefits businesses in a number of different ways, including:

• Delivering an unlimited supply of knowledge
• Helping to improve communication
• Enhancing efficiency
• Protecting against cyberattacks
• Increasing employee engagement
• Enabling marketers to expand target demographics
• Increasing business capacity

A society that fails to invest in technological innovation fails to invest in its own future. In the wake of the global pandemic, governmental and financial support for new tech start-ups remains as important as ever.

No matter how successful your current business is, without leads, you won’t be able to grow. If you haven’t got a steady stream of customers coming through the door, your company will struggle to meet its targets for the future. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that businesses of all sizes spend a huge amount of time and money on lead generation.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the resources to dedicate to this though as we reveal the top six lead generation tactics that actually work and will give you long-lasting results – fast.

1.    Regular events

Whether attending or hosting, regular events are a great way to engage with existing customers while interacting with a community of potential new clients. Of course, these events need to give attendees something valuable, such as a masterclass, workshop, or presentation, but they are an effective way to advertise your services or products too.

They are often the perfect opportunity to hand out promotional materials like branded pens, personalised lighters or even backpacks with your logo on them. IGO Promo has a wide range of personalised merchandise for all kinds of businesses and budgets so you can keep your business’ name in everyone’s mind. You could even ask people to leave their contact details in return for a free product or competition entry. By taking email addresses and numbers, you can be sure to follow up on leads after the event.

2.    Downloadable content

If you can provide your target audience with essential content – be it guides, educational videos, or copy and paste templates – you won’t just be boosting brand awareness and loyalty, but also showcasing your expertise and knowledge. Plus, by ensuring that the content will be something that potential customers really want, it’s more likely that they will be willing to provide their email address in order to download it.

Once you have their email addresses, the world is your oyster. From regular email marketing and monthly newsletters to new product launches and giveaways, you can begin an entire email journey that boosts engagement, awareness, and interaction with the people that matter the most.

3.    Online communities

Whatever industry you’re in, and however niche your service offering is, there will be an online community for it. These can be great places to connect with potential customers, build relationships and promote your brand’s expertise.

To find potential customers, you could also take a look at your competitor’s activity to see who is commenting, liking, or sharing their content. That way you can understand the wants and needs of people requiring your services and start to search for leads.

4.    Website pages

Start looking at your landing pages as your first chance to make a lasting impression. If your website is boring and the text seems complex, it’s likely that many will leave straight away. If the content on your page is appealing, taps into your consumer’s pain points, and leaves them wanting more, it’s likely that they will stay engaged with your business for longer.

Don’t just include text though. Link off to other pages, share relevant, informative videos, and you could even consider including some downloadable content as mentioned earlier. Using an online form on a landing page can also be useful for you to obtain crucial contact information while your audience benefits from additional content.

5. Social media adverts

3.6 billion people use social media and this is said to be increasing year on year. With this in mind, social media adverts can be a very lucrative and effective lead generation tool. However, it pays to spend some time and money here.

Your competitors are likely to be using social media to attract new customers too so consider what your business is going to do to stand out from the crowd. Make your adverts eye-catching, use appealing language, and think about including an offer – anything to boost your click-through rate and get those leads.

6.    Remarketing

Looking for a way to get back in front of consumers that were on your website but left? Remarketing allows you to tag website visitors and then reappear for them while they browse other online sites including Facebook and YouTube.

97% of consumers leave websites without making a purchase so turning this percentage into leads is a great idea. It effectively repositions your brand in front of the right people and reminds them of your service or product. Plus, this type of marketing is more effective than standard ads as the consumer has already been on your website, heard about your business, and potentially considered making a purchase before.

Making a big impression on potential customers is key to generating leads so use all the tools available to you. Social media advertising, remarketing and promotional merchandise doesn’t need to cost the world to make a worthwhile impact.