Is Social Media Important for Startups?

A lot of businesses, whether they’re big or small, have already integrated social media marketing into their business strategy. Josh Turner reports that 71% of small-to-mid-sized businesses are now using social media to market themselves, and 52% of them share posts on their accounts daily. Moreover, Turner claimed that 90% of marketers experienced an increase in brand exposure, while 75% of them experienced an increase in webpage traffic due to their social media marketing campaigns. This suggests that social media has a huge potential for startup businesses, which need to widen their reach and gain clientele.

Social Media’s Role in Startups

Generates Brand Awareness

With social media, you can increase your brand awareness even with a limited budget and connect with your audience in one place. A study by Gil Appel on social media and marketing found that social interactions in social media, such as “refer a friend” features and discussions in online communities, can result in new customer acquisition and sales. Previous studies also showed that advertising on social media can affect new product adoption through user-generated reviews and online word-of-mouth recommendations.

Today, Facebook has over 3 billion users. Therefore, being on Facebook allows businesses to reach a wider audience on a single platform. Turner further explained that engagement with brands on Facebook is over ten times higher than on other social platforms. Instagram also provides huge potential since 92% of users say they’ve taken action, like subscribing or buying, after seeing a product on Instagram.

Promotes Diverse Workplaces

Social media can also open new opportunities for inclusive recruitment strategies. Our previous article on ‘5 Diversity Recruitment Trends in 2023’ explored the importance of these variables in the workplace. Data indicates that companies with more than 30% of women on executive teams are more likely to outperform other businesses in the same industry. Moreover, businesses with greater ethnic and cultural diversity in the workplace were 36% more likely to perform well.

As that of March 2023, over 900 million people worldwide use LinkedIn for work-related content. If you post on social networking sites through recruitment pages and communities, various people can see your job listing. This means you can hire diverse people from different backgrounds, especially when compared to more traditional recruitment methods.

How to Maximize Your Social Media Use?

Study the Algorithm

Knowing how the algorithm works can help you make the necessary changes to ensure you achieve your marketing goals. AskMoney’s tips for boosting Instagram followers go on to elaborate that it’s not just enough to see the numbers – it’s also crucial to draw insights on how best to connect with users. Consider your audiences’ interest, the timeliness of your posts, user app usage time, and frequency. Aside from just Instagram, major social media platforms Facebook and YouTube also provide free insights for business accounts. This ensures that you reach your target audience using the appropriate content at the right time.

Use Creative Hashtags Strategically

Hashtags are important to connect your content to similar posts. However, AskMoney suggests you use only three to seven hashtags per post on Instagram and evaluate which hashtags are more appropriate for the content. Just because the hashtag is relevant to your post doesn’t mean you should use it. Also, Andrew Hutchinson’s article on Facebook hashtags showed that posts without hashtags actually saw more reach than those with tags added. This suggests that knowing how and when to use hashtags can help boost your brand visibility. When using hashtags, use them in ways that look organic and natural, such as in-text and within context.

Prioritize Aesthetic & Content Value

Lastly, you should only share relevant and valuable posts for your brand to keep your followers interested and engaged. If your content doesn’t provide value, you might lose followers instead of gaining more. If you’re a beauty brand, it will look disjointed if you share information about music. Aside from valuable content, you should also pay attention to your post’s aesthetics, especially on Instagram. On LinkedIn, it’s better to share information relevant to your industry or company goals.

Social media is indispensable for all businesses today. Aside from increasing your brand’s online presence, it can also help you engage with your audience and encourage them to become loyal customers.

Also check: Importance of Custom Merchandising for Your Startup Branding Strategy