Social Media Tips for Startups

March 31, 2015 TWF..XQ

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Over 900 social media channels…

There are many major ones, too…

I am confused…wait.Maybe I am not?

It is a complicated, and ever-changing landscape…

So it is absolutely okay if you have a lots of questions or don’t know where to start.

Some questions I always get: 1.  Hey… do I need a Facebook account for my business? or is Twitter better? – Platform2.  Hey… we have a lot of professional product images, can we post them on instagram? – Content Management 3.  Should I have a website? What about an app? or something else? Owned, Earned, Paid 4.  My fan base is quite small, how can I quickly build it up? – Fan Base Growth 5.  Should I buy a social ad? How much should I spend on it? – Social ad Spending 6.  Oh…. the engagement rate increased quite a bit after I purchased an ad. Do you think I should put all my resources on this platform? – Resource Allocation 7. Who are the influencers in my industry? How should I engage them? – Influencer Engagement 8. How do I calculate my ROI on social media marketing? How do I allocate my time and resources? Can I just do social media marketing for my startup? – Social Media Marketing vs. Other Channels 8.  I really don’t have time to manage these accounts, I don’t have money to hire peopleeither… What should I do? – Founder Multitasking 9.  Can I just hire a translator to translate my English content and post them on Chinese social media platforms? – Expansion

Don’t rush into finding answers to all these questions, stop and think… Why do I even need to get on social and leverage social platforms? What do I want to achieve?

TIP #1 Think of leveraging social media as part of your overall strategy., It is one important component, but it has to be designed to serve your overall business goal.

Business Goals

(Short term)

(Long term)

Social Media?

The Thinking Map

Marketing

PR & Branding

Sales

HR

Customer service

Finance

Priority?

Example:

If you are an online fashion marketplace, your short-term business goal is to build your brand, increase website traffic by XX% and improve conversion rates by XX%.

Q: What is your social media strategy that can help you realize this short term business goal? How do you allocate your resources on social media?

TIP #2 Once you’ve decided on the goals, the next thing is to figure out how social media can help you. Chose your social media strategy before creating social profiles and evaluate social media strategy regularly.

   

Platform

Content

Engagement

Measurement

Business Goals

(Short term)

(Long term)

Social Media Strategy

Marketing

PR & Branding

Sales

HR

Customer service

Finance

Inform and educate•  Primary focus on demonstrating product capabilities

•  Repository for event videos

•  Customer testimonials

Inform and connect•  Amplification of news, events

•  Identify and connect with B2B influencers

Network and learn•  Ongoing discussion with professional interest groups

Engage and Nurture•  Social hub•  Ongoing dialogue and communication with consumers

Share and inspire•  Branding message and engagement

•  Launch new products •  Repository for event Photos

Platform

Content

Content Strategy

Target audience  

Content inventory

Keyword analysis

Voice Defini-tion

Editorial Calendar

Assess& listen

Engagement  

“71% of consumers who experience a quick and effective brand response on social media are more likely to recommend that brand to others. That compares to just 19% of customers who do not receive a quick response”

-State of Social Media Service Report

Engagement: It is a matter of effort  

1.   Social listening: Monitoring what people are saying on social media about your business and the issues that affect it. This listening allows you to identify opportunities as they happen and reach out immediately.

2.  Many businesses are doing an excellent job of sharing content that attracts and engages new followers and clients. But often these brands neglect the engagement required to retain existing followersa.  Following people back is a great way to show your

appreciationb.  Sharing a piece of relevant content from a new follower, be

it a Facebook post, Instagram photo or YouTube video, can be a significant moment for that individual.

c.  Ask questions to start conversations d.  Celebrate your fans and their lives by re-posting their

content.

.  

   

Social Ad: It is not a matter of whether you should buy a social ad, but when and how you spend to reach your goal

Tips:

1.   Understand how ads are sold on different platforms;

2.   Use small samples to A/B test your social ads;

3.   Design your ads with smartphones in mind.

Facebook for Business https://www.facebook.com/marketingchinese?fref=ts

Twitter Ads for Business https://biz.twitter.com/ad-products

How Twitter Ads Work https://support.twitter.com/articles/20170451-how-twitter-ads-work

Instagram for Business https://business.instagram.com/advertising/

Social Ad: Resources

Some websites/blogs writing about Social Media

Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/ Hootsuite Blog http://blog.hootsuite.com/

Google for Entrepreneurs https://www.googleforentrepreneurs.com/

A better Lemonade Stand http://www.abetterlemonadestand.com/welcome/

The Next Web http://thenextweb.com/

Thomas Crampton http://www.thomascrampton.com/

Brian Solis http://www.briansolis.com/

Search Engine Land http://searchengineland.com/

TIP #3 It is VERY hard to grow a fan base and increase engagement as a new brand on social media, so keep experimenting. Sometimes hosting offline events can be a great way to boost online engagement.

TIP #4 Like any other task, whether the founder does or doesn’t manage social media platforms totally depends on his/her strength and the priorities of different development stages.

Skillsets of a good social media manager:

In an ideal world… a social media manager is good at:

•  Community Management •  Search Engine Optimization •  Creative Design •  Polished Writer •  Comfortable with Emerging Trends and Technology•  Analytical Mind•  Strategic Vision •  Tactical Awareness •  Presentation Ability •  Leadership

The top four skillsets to get started: 1. Good at Tactical Execution:  Tactical execution is paramount to the success of any social media manager’s day to day job. You need to understand who you need to hire to maintain day to day accurate execution.

2. Writing skills and an understanding of how content works on the social web:

•  The art and science of headline writing•  Writing engaging introductions•  Structuring your text for easy reading online. People will be skimming and

scanning, so that means subtitles, bullet points and numbering are part of the skillset

•  The social media manager needs to know what content works and what doesn’t on social networks. It also means understanding which different media formats such as text (articles), video, images and podcasts resonate with your particular niche

3. Be on top of the latest digital marketing trends and technology.

4. Not scared of figures and data, can generate insights from analyzing data sets.  

Free/Low Cost Tools

Social Media Monitoring Tool

Mention – Google Alert Alternative (better) If you’re looking for a tool to crawl the internet looking for key search terms, competitors, or content ideas, this platform is worth a test. Mention is able to search social media networks for a custom set of key terms that you chose, and returns results in real time.

Platform management and engagement tools

SocialFlow  :      Social Flow manages and distributes both social content and social advertising to social networks. Its software uses real-time data, along with business rules you set, to determine what and when to publish to your social media properties to ensure maximum reach and engagement.

“Help you with the timing and crafting of the message to optimize its reach”

HootSuite HootSuite can help you execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one web-based dashboard, you can also manage social media, track conversations, and measure campaign results. HootSuite also offers a custom built-in analytics system and the capability to schedule posts on all platforms.  

Platform management and engagement tools

“let you schedule your posts, good for biggerteams”  

Platform management and engagement tools

IFTTT is a web based service that “let’s you create powerful connections with one simple statement. Users create a “recipe” which is a combination if a trigger (If “this” happens”) which launches an action (then do “that”).The “this” part of IFTTT is the “trigger” part of the recipe and can be used for things like: “If I am retweeted on Twitter…”, or “If someone tags me your my business on Facebook…”The “that” part of IFTTT is the “action”. So in relation to the triggers above, the corresponding actions could be: “send me a text message” or “favourite the RT”. In the other example, the action could be: “follow them back”, or “like the Post”.

6 Social Media Analytics Dashboards from the Social Networks Themselves

1.  Facebook Insights2.  Twitter Analytics 3.  Linkedin Analytics for Individuals 4.  Pinterest Analytics 5.  Iconosquare (Formerly Statigram) 6.  Google Analytics

How Social Media in China is different and how should you adapt?

81% of Chinese netizens access the internet via a mobile device

China Has its Own Social Media Ecosystem

Chinese  consumers  online  behavior  is  different    

What are Brands Doing on WeChat?

Sending Red Envelops to Fans

What are Brands Doing on WeChat?

Open Shops on WeChat Platforms

What are Brands Doing on WeChat?

Online and Offline Integration

However, the Approach is the Same:  

Decide on the goals you want to achieve, then figure out how social media channels can help you;

Come up a social media strategy before creating social profiles, evaluate your social media strategy regularly;

Decide on your measurement metrics, then monitor performance statistics, evaluate regularly;

If you don’t understand the China social media dynamics, delegate it to someone who does; and finally,

Don’t afraid to experimenting just because you don’t totally understand it. Start small, fail fast and learn the lessons.            

Online Resources … to Help You Understand Chinese Social Media Ecosystem

Social Beta (Chinese) http://www.socialbeta.com/

ChatterBox (WeChatBlog) http://blog.wechat.com/tag/wechat-and-brands/

China Internet Watch http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/top/

Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/

Questions?

Contacts: Xie Qing Twitter: @missxqSina Weibo: @missxq