Social networks have long been an indispensable part of an effective online presence for most businesses, and the trend is to become the main advertising channels.
In order to be not only noticed on these channels but also loved by its audience, a business must impose its brand, goals, and mission, assert its authority, and gain the trust of the targeted audience.
For a startup company, building such a memorable presence on social networks is the key factor for success.
However, the process is far from short, and the preparation for it is even less. In the following lines, we will look at the 7 steps for creating and implementing quality marketing on social networks.
What is Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a strategic process of connecting brands with people.
By shifting from static websites to dynamic social media (originally intended only for personal accounts), businesses are putting themselves on an equal footing with their audiences. This shift from a company to an authentic and human-like account gains consumer trust and puts brands closer to them.
By creating and distributing relevant and valuable content, you can reach your target audience, build a connection with them, and achieve your business goals.
You can use social media such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and others to create an authentic, memorable presence, promote products or services, build brand awareness, and engage followers.
Social media marketing offers numerous opportunities for direct communication with customers, as well as for creating personalized advertising campaigns targeted to specific audiences, which is precisely what makes it a powerful tool for business development and success.
Why Social Media Marketing is Important for Startups
For startups, social media marketing is much more than just posting content. It’s a way to gain exposure quickly, tell your brand story, and build a loyal community around it.
With careful planning and targeting, you can reach your first customers and lay the foundation for sustainable growth, even on a tight budget.
How to Build a Memorable Social Media Presence
Building a memorable social media presence for your startup requires a combination of strategy, creativity, and consistency. The key is to understand your audience well, choose the right platforms, and create content that resonates with them. It’s important to be authentic, use a variety of formats, and build a visual identity that sets your brand apart.
Here are the steps to achieving successful social media marketing.
1. Defining business goals and target audience
The first step in building a social media presence is to define what you want to achieve – define your clear goals.
For example, increasing brand awareness, creating a community around your business, or increasing conversions. Each of these goals requires a different approach. To have an effective strategy, you need to be clear about what your end goal is.
Defining your target audience is also a mandatory part of the process. Knowing your audience will help you create content that resonates with them.
It’s a good idea to consider the factors and characteristics of your ideal customer such as:
Location
Demographics
Interests
Other competitors or influencers they follow
Time they spend online
Social media behavior: Do they engage in comments, stories, and trends? Is there activity on other platforms, and what…
For startups, it’s a good idea to position yourself on multiple platforms to attract specific audiences with common interests. According to research, each user uses an average of 7 different social networks.
If your audience is younger, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X may be more suitable, while B2B businesses often find success on LinkedIn and Facebook.
2. Choosing the Right Social Media for Business
It’s important to invest your time, effort, and money in the right things. With so many platforms out there, you need to choose the ones that will deliver the most effective communication and conversions. In other words, the highest return on investment.
Each of them has an “unwritten purpose” that has been established by user behavior:
Facebook – a multi-purpose social media platform that works well for service and product-providing businesses. According to statistics, it’s the most used platform worldwide, and the most active on it are people between 18 and 44 years old, i.e. the working and solvent part of society. Paid advertising and Marketplace are particularly powerful tools.
Instagram – is primarily a photo-sharing platform, so it’s suitable for businesses offering products. Of course, with a little creativity, service-providing companies can also communicate well through video content in stories or reels. The platform is the second most used by businesses worldwide, with over 30% of users being young (between 18 and 24 years old).
TikTok – a powerful platform for increasing recognition or engaging with audiences through the most preferred by users short-form video content. TikTok has long been recognized for business, as a large part of people over 24 years old also actively use the platform. It’s a suitable place even for B2B businesses and unlike the previous two, in this social network organically reaching the target audience is still possible despite the newly appeared option for paid advertising.
LinkedIn – a powerful tool for connecting with people with business experience or other B2B companies. It’s the most suitable platform if you sell services and the most supportive if you are starting a business.
Pinterest – due to its similarity to Instagram (a photo-sharing platform), Pinterest is suitable for a product type of business.
Users often prioritize one platform, so it’s a good idea for you to prioritize one-two, maximum three social networks. In addition to considering the language and style of users, you also need to present your authenticity and beliefs. So choose carefully where and how to position yourself.
3. Create and Use a Visual Identity
A visual identity is an important part of building a memorable social media presence. Develop a unique style that will set you apart from your competition. This includes using specific colors, fonts, and tone of voice in your posts.
A consistent and professional-looking visual identity will not only help you attract attention but will also make your brand more recognizable and memorable.
4. Create a creative content strategy
Quality content is the foundation of any successful content marketing plan. The content you create should not only be promotional, but also informative, engaging, and inspiring. It’s important to develop a diverse content plan that includes different formats – photos, videos (reels), infographics, and stories.
It’s also important to create unique content for different platforms to personalize your message to each of the relevant audiences and make it more attractive to them. In other words, communicate with different audiences in different languages through different content formats.
For example, younger people consume quick and short mostly video content, while older people engage with longer videos, simpler photos and graphics, or text.
Also, according to the field your startup is in, your content would be different. Research the platforms and trends within them, and study what content users are engaging with most often and how. Pay attention to your audience’s behavior and create relevant and valuable content that meets their needs and interests.
5. Post consistently and optimize your posting timing
Consistency and coherence are key when it comes to social media marketing. People not well-versed in social media often assume that “more” is always better. However, this is often proven to be wrong.
When it comes to posting, the order of priority is Quality > Consistency > Quantity.
It’s important to post not so regularly, but rather consistently and valuable content to keep your audience engaged.
Optimizing your posting times can increase the visibility of your content. There are generally accepted time ranges that are considered optimal, but of course, these may not correspond to the habits and behavior of your audience. Analyze when your audience is most active on different platforms and choose a posting schedule that works best for you.
6. Build relationships with your audience
Social media offers a unique opportunity to communicate directly with your audience. Take advantage of this to build relationships with your followers. Respond to comments and messages, participate in discussions, and show that you value your followers’ feedback.
Interacting with your audience will not only help you build a loyal community but also provide you with useful information to improve the products or services you offer.
Remember that successful social media marketing is not just about growing your following. A successful content strategy is:
attracting leads;
converting customers;
improving brand engagement;
growing your email list;
expanding your reach and reaching more users;
gaining the trust of your target audience;
creating a community;
getting feedback.
7. Use influencers to expand your reach
Working with influencers can be a powerful tool for startups, especially in more niche markets. Influencers already have an established audience, and their endorsement can increase trust in your brand. It’s important to choose influencers who are a good fit for your business and whose following overlaps with your target audience.
Partnering with micro-influencers (influencers with fewer followers but higher engagement) and UGC (user-generated content) creators can also be an efficient and cost-effective approach for startups.
7 steps or 2 – working with a digital agency
As it became clear, building a memorable social media presence requires a good understanding of the audience and the rules of the channel in which the communication takes place. That is why the team of professionals at CreateX offers comprehensive social media marketing.
Our Social Media specialists prepare a survey of your followers’ interests and create and follow a predetermined plan for publishing organic publications. In terms of community management, the team answers questions and comments, creates discussions, and comprehensively supports communication in the way you want. A consistent visual identity is built and the brand’s presence is supported by the development of advertising campaigns.
The entire 7-step process of building a memorable presence on social networks can be reduced to 2 steps – contact us and let’s discuss your options.
If you are on the verge of starting your own business and need a complete build, marketing, and advertising of your product or service, StartUp Pack is an opportunity to get everything in one place.
