New startups know that their biggest asset is brand awareness. If no one sees or hears much about your new business, how will you generate customers?

One of the largest ways to bring people and businesses together is through social media. No matter the size or specialty of your business, social media is a quick and sure way to get your brand noticed.

However, jumping right into the social media world without a plan rarely produces desired effects. You’ll spend time and energy on posts targeting a general audience rather than potential customers.

In the end, your goal is to direct your target audience to your business startup page and start generating leads.

A well-thought-out social media strategy is sure to get your brand out there and target people who are in need of your startup’s services. As a startup, you’ll want to make a fantastic first impression.

Here are seven social media strategy ideas guaranteed to give your startup the perfect first impression.

1.   Start by Finding the Right Social Media Platforms

Finding the right social media platforms to promote brand awareness and business services is key to gaining customers.

Start by promoting your startup on the most popular social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. There is a huge mix of people and businesses on these major social media platforms for you to mingle with.

Once the major social media platforms are identified, it’s time to find the niche channels. Look for the channels that are specific to your startup’s brand and industry.

Now you must ask “Who is my target audience?” What type of people are you looking to target? Your target audience is likely to use only a few channels. For example, millennials are likely to be found on Instagram, Facebook, and SnapChat.

Start campaigning on 4 or 5 of the social media channels to find the ones that work best for your startup.

2.   Create a Strong Profile

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more social media platforms require you to create a profile to share what you and your business are all about.

You need to identify your business goals and mission then incorporate them into your profile. Include information about your business such as the services you offer, how your startup positively impacts customers, and what sets you apart from the competition.

Use properly sized images and logos to make your profile appear knowledgeable and professional.

3.   Social Media Strategy Goals

Before you start posting to your accounts, you need to have a plan.

A plan allows you to focus on different parts of strategy at a time rather than throwing anything and everything on social media all at once. 

As a startup, you will want to promote your brand awareness to get potential customers and businesses familiar with you. To do this, make regular posts on your social media accounts and interact with your audience. If someone has a question or comment, reply or let them know your business is comprised of people who listen.

An increase in brand awareness leads to acquiring leads. Leads created on social media can be converted into prospects and eventually customers.

The content you share is what attracts an audience. Create content that is reliable, attractive, and related to your startup’s industry.

4.   Create Posts that Engage

At this point, you know your target audience and you have a strong social media profile. Now you can have fun creating engaging content!

Your social media strategy must include engaging posts to draw in your target audience. After they’re hooked, they’ll want to learn more about what your startup business has to offer.

Creating posts that engage is easy. Add questions, polls, inspirational quotes, offers, events, giveaways, challenges, images, and how-to videos to easily create quality content your followers will enjoy.

Make sure your posts are easy to follow and include a clear CTA (call to action). High-quality posts will increase audience engagement.

5.   Use Visually Attractive Images

Attractive images make your social media posts stand out. Using visually attractive images in your social media strategy will show your startup’s creative side.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest a few of the many social media channels where businesses thrive on their visually striking imagery.

Engage your followers with posts that pair large colorful images with a snippet of useful information. Today, people prefer visually striking images with short straightforward information that requires minimal effort.

By including visually attractive images in your social media strategy, you can share your startup graphically and cause viewers to want to learn more.

6.   Use Trends to Your Advantage

Every year there are major trends that go abuzz on social media. Capitalize on your social media strategy by using what’s trending to your advantage.

If you’re uncertain as to what’s trending, Facebook and Twitter can provide you with what is trending in social media. Use this information when creating your social media content and goals. 

The ever-popular hashtag is continuously trending. Create personalized hashtags to promote your own marketing campaign.

Or, include general hashtags to join in on larger events that span across different social media platforms. Both are great uses of the hashtag to engage and grow your target audience.

Keep researching what’s trending a few times of year to stay on top of the latest trends and news.

7.   Content Calendars are Your Friend

Timing is everything. Finding the best time of the day or week to post your content is imperative for growing your audience and generating leads.

A content calendar is a spreadsheet that allows you to plan and organize your content weeks ahead of time. This enables you to create a schedule of how often to post, what to post, and when to post it.

Creating a content calendar is easy, especially if you’re comfortable with spreadsheet programs. Your content calendar should include: the week, day, platform, time, content, topic, copy, type, and link.

Breaking down your social media strategy in an organized manner promotes you to create themes for the week or month, theme days such as “Motivational Mondays.” You’ll be able to post regularly meaning your target audience will know when to look out for your posts.

What’s Next?

These seven social media strategy ideas will grow audience engagement and generate valuable leads.

To make your life easier, you can move on to automated marketing software. This will automatically post content for you allowing you to focus on the demands of your startup.

Looking for more great ways to grow your startup? Let me know. I’m happy to learn about you and share the inside scoop on how to grow your startup into a reputable business.