4 Creative Ways to Market Your Start-Up Using Social Media
by Nadia Jones, Guest Blogger
Okay, so you’ve finally gone through the process of starting your own business. You made your business plan, secured funding, hired employees, and are ready to get started. The next thing on your mind? Marketing! Truth be told, no matter how great your product is, if no one hears about it, you will never see profits. And the tricks of the trade that used to apply when it comes to getting the word out have changed completely. Now, on top of considering marketing efforts like print or television advertising, you need to focus your efforts online as well. One of the best and least expensive way to do this is through social media. Social media is a force that will only continue to grow, and you have no excuse not to capitalize on the industry for your own potential gain. Here’s how:
Jump in on Trending Twitter Topics
If you don’t have a Twitter account set up for your business, get one immediately. On top of that, you should have a personal Twitter account as well, so you can represent your business and connect to other owners. Twitter is probably the most important space in social media today, and the great thing about it is that there are tons of ways to capitalize on this type of social media for promotion. A great way to do this is to follow trending topics daily and make sure to set up Twitter news feeds for anything to do with your industry. When you see a topic is trending, work the topic into a tweet and link back to your product.
Create a Facebook Contest that Requires Liking Your Business
If you don’t have a Facebook profile set up for your business, make sure to get one started. Friend as many users you already know. Then, start a contest. Announce to your business Facebook friends that you will be holding a contest for a free giveaway. In order to enter the contest, users need to “like” your business or share it by posting on another user’s wall. Once they do that, you will double your exposure and possibly get some new Facebook friends and (hopefully) customers in return.
Instagram is a popular app that has, until recently, been solely used as an automatic photo upload application for Twitter. Users can take photos with their phones, adjust the effects and exposure within the program, and then upload them to their Twitter stream seamlessly. The reason Instagram is so popular is because most users love images. Think about it, if you had the choice to click on a link that had no picture and one that had a picture, which one would you choose? Your customers could get a kick out of regular uploads of your store’s interior, new products, or funny moments between employees.
Start a Blog for Your Business
A blog is a great way to add a personal side to your business website. Even if you don’t want to include the “fluffy” details of the business on the site itself, there is no reason not to connect with your customers on a personal level through a blog. This is also a great way to generate new customers and friends. Try adding likeminded bloggers to your blog roll and hope they return the favor, or write guest posts for other people’s blogs to get readers to link back to your own blog.
About Nadia Jones
Nadia Jones blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at [email protected].
Excellent advice. As a person who intends to start a small business,your tips are extremely useful.
Posted by: trochanteric bursitis | December 28, 2012 at 11:11 PM
Most of the human race in today's age spend there time in the social media. So marketing through the various social media really does work because this is an avenue for you to connect with people. Thanks for the tips.
Posted by: solar panel kits home | December 06, 2012 at 03:18 AM
Online business world and to have a good marketing strategy. I will try those things to boost up my skills. Looking forward for another article.
Posted by: android app for restaurants | November 08, 2012 at 01:32 AM
These are useful tips but just that I have so many competitors. Can you provide more effective ways to market? Blogging is useful in both ways.
Posted by: Brisbane Bookkeepers | September 02, 2012 at 07:11 PM
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Posted by: online task list | August 30, 2012 at 02:23 AM
I guess it will ultimately come down and be a powerful networker. Everything can be done to network with others, take advantage of it. While some of it may be free, others might require some sort of sponsorship.
Posted by: molegone | August 03, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Very good tips. With most businesses turning to social media one way or another, it pays to get a little creative to attract attention.
Posted by: business consulting solutions | July 16, 2012 at 07:02 PM