Everyone knows that social media marketing is a CRITICAL promotion tactic these days. But what a huge corporation does on a social media platform to promote its brand is usually quite different from that of a hardware, SaaS, or software startup. Mostly, this has to do with the vast difference in monetary and personnel resources between Giant Software Corporation and Tiny Tim’s SaaS startup. So you are contemplating a tech startup social media strategy. How do you take advantage of these important marketing platforms? While still getting the product developed and all the other things needed to keep the doors open?
The Three Legs of the Tech Startup Social Media Strategy
Below is a primer on the do’s and don’ts of social media marketing for early-stage tech companies:
Start early on your tech startup social media marketing strategy
It takes quite a while to build the critical mass for success once you’ve designed your startup social media strategy. For starters, you need some form of proprietary content to be successful in B2B social media marketing. At least in the long run. This often means writing original content on a Blog hosted on your own website. Unfortunately, this is the most labor-intensive aspect of your social media campaign. This publicizes your company and boosts your reputation as a thought leader in your market segment. It’s so important that it’s best to start building that catalogue of articles well before your product launch.
Building this article catalogue is crucial before you can build a substantial following on the major social media platforms. Once you have a deep list of articles, it will then take some time to develop your following on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. You can get started without a ton of content. But to build a real following AND convert them into customers at some point, proprietary content is critical. So unless there is good reason for total stealth mode, start writing those articles and developing your social networks as early as possible. That way you’ll be ready to hit the ground running. And already making a real impact with social media when it comes time to introduce your product.
Pick your target platforms carefully — and wisely
Each major Social Media platform has strengths and weaknesses:
The premier platform for B2B activities
The best major horizontal platform for B2C, but also the biggest for ANY purpose with over 2 billion accounts
Smaller than LI and Facebook. But possibly the best platform for real-time activities and also ideal for content distribution
A specialty platform for image-based content, but also plays a nice SEO role for almost any business
Quora
Another specialty platform focused on expert Q&A. This can be extremely useful for generating thought leadership by answering on-site questions. Though not well-known, Quora also has Blog functionality that can be very useful in republishing your Blog content.
Industry-specific vertical platforms
Most companies focus their efforts on the well-known, major horizontal platforms listed above. But many market segments have industry-specific platforms where your target audience congregates and interacts. This can easily be your highest ROI. That’s because the concentration of prospects and influencers from your actual target segment may be much higher than on horizontal platforms. Sometimes these gathering places are based on older, unexciting platforms. Such as Google, LinkedIn, or Facebook Groups. Or another form of discussion board. But no matter! It’s the members and discussion content that matter far more than the technology platform. So don’t ignore these under-the-radar opportunities. Seek them out!
It almost always makes sense to post to every major platform you have a presence on. Using automation tools, this shouldn’t be the most time-consuming part of the process. So post to all because it’s relatively easy. But make sure you budget the bulk of your INTERACTION time to the highest ROI platform for your particular target market segment.
Plan the content for your IT startup social media strategy upfront
How to attract attention with your proposed startup social media strategy? There are many content types that can be useful. On many platforms, mixing and matching them is the best strategy:
- Posting proprietary articles for thought leadership (always the strongest approach)
- Re-posting others’ best content
- Company press releases
- Famous and Useful Quotes
- Proprietary how-to videos. As well as the best videos created by others in your general category
- Product and services special offers
- Commentary on current events in your market segment
Each of the above content types can prove successful in a social media marketing campaign. The common thread to achieve success is always to deal in real QUALITY. Quantity over quality will be unsuccessful. But it can backfire by having the opposite of the desired effect.
Automate your startup social media strategy – without losing that “human touch”
This is an area that demands a full-length article unto itself. But I’ll cover the high points quickly. There have always been many tools out there that can be a huge help in efficiently executing your social media marketing programs. With the explosion of Artificial Intelligence, there are now many general and specialized AI tools that can assist with outreach and follow-up. Probably TOO many. Because it can be overwhelming to review and pick the best tools for you. It is a highly competitive area. With a dizzying array of features and price points. I recommend that you do a review of what’s out there, but don’t obsess over finding the very best solution. It may make sense to change tools later on as you gain experience with your preferences and needs. So it might make sense to go with monthly subscription plans to start, as these are all SaaS-based products. There are two basic categories I suggest you consider automation tools in:
- Automate the building of Twitter followers. Simply Google “Twitter automation” and many will pop up. They tend to come and go.
- Automate postings across many social media platforms once you have enough content. Again, do a Google search on “social media automation. It’s a highly competitive market with lots of choices.
Many automation tools to choose from
There are many other types of AI automation tools available to help implement your startup social media strategy. Use any and all products that make you more productive and efficient. But ABOVE ALL, don’t fall into the trap of relying solely on AI automation. Make sure to spend the time you save with these automation tools on HUMAN communication! It is “social” media, after all! No one ever got a customer by sending out an article via a tweet or profile update. And while AI can seem amazingly human these days, I for one can still tell when I’m talking to an AI bot instead of a human. So be human, this is a differentiator! And this automated posting and outreach is just the first step. It takes time to build relationships with influencers and target prospects on social media. And these days, there is tons of noise to cut through. So reach out and interact with prospects at every reasonable opportunity.
Social Media Marketing is theoretically “free”, but plan to invest
Membership in most Social Media platforms is free. But you won’t get the most out of engaging on them if you don’t invest. For a tech startup, first of all, in the very beginning, it needs to be an “all hands on deck” approach. An investment of TIME. Everyone with a LinkedIn or Twitter account needs to post the company’s content. Yes, even the engineers and developers! There is strength in numbers here. If everyone spends a couple of minutes a day posting, there is a multiplicative effect on posted content ROI. But of course, even a couple of minutes a day is an investment. And this time is a precious commodity in a software or hardware startup. So plan for it and accept that it may stretch a few other things out. But it is worth it.
Second, do invest in the social automation tools that make sense, AI or otherwise, as spelled out above. They are generally quite inexpensive. But they aren’t free. Yet ANY startup should be able to fit these very modest costs into their budget. Don’t be “penny-wise, pound-foolish” here. These tools can dramatically increase the efficiency of your social media marketing efforts for almost nothing. IF you are doing everything else right.
Proprietary content is the key
Lastly but most importantly, DO create proprietary content. Usually this means a blog. But it could also mean videos, answers to relevant Quora questions, etc. This is by FAR the most time-consuming aspect. But also the most critical aspect of a successful social media marketing strategy in the tech world. This is the type of content that will work best in driving targeted prospects to your website.
But beyond lead generation, if created with care, proprietary content will take your prospects much farther down the funnel. By positioning the company and its key personnel as THOUGHT LEADERS in your market segment. This credibility created in the prospect’s mind is invaluable in turning a warm lead into a hot prospect. And ultimately a customer. Hire someone to create content if you absolutely can’t do it. Do this ONLY if you are a VERY poor writer, hate to write, or simply CAN’T find the time. But it’s much better, early on, if you can do the writing yourself.
Reevaluate your IT startup’s Social Media Marketing strategy regularly
Social media changes rapidly. At one point in time, MySpace was a dominant social media platform and shortly thereafter became like an empty city. Facebook and LinkedIn grew rapidly, from practically nowhere to dominant in what seemed like overnight. A few years ago, I was getting a huge number of leads from content posted in LinkedIn groups. Then LI essentially “beheaded” their groups. They still exist, but really as “walking dead”. LinkedIn is still an important platform for me. I have a fair number of connections and content there. But I shifted more of my attention to Twitter and building my following and distributing content there. Facebook also improved its “Groups” function, so I’ve been cautiously moving some resources there as well.
Facebook is viewed as a B2C platform, and my business is B2B. But hey, there are supposedly 2 billion Facebook accounts in existence today. That’s a billion with a B. So most prospects I’m targeting probably have a Facebook account. Even if they don’t primarily think of it for business. One of the rules I constantly preach for marketing programs is that less-clogged channels often yield the best ROI. Even if those channels are not considered mainstream for a particular business. When everyone else is zigging, it often pays to zag. So be flexible with your startup social media strategy. Reevaluate frequently. And don’t be afraid to go against the grain and try something different.
Post frequently, time posts, include images, and mention influencers
As discussed above, the most important thing you can do to support your startup social media strategy is to create great content that offers real value to your target audience. By FAR. The second most important activity is to be “human,” as discussed above. Be available and helpful when people in your network reach out to you. If you do these two things well, you can overcome most other execution hiccups. But to maximize the fruits of your content creation labor, there are some best practices to follow in executing your social media content distribution. Incremental effectiveness can be gained by timing posts properly for your target audience. Also, by posting more often than you think you should. People are busy, and attention is fleeting. So include images when posting on most platforms and mention and engage other influencers. This helps to build social signal credibility in your category.
There you have my recommendations for designing a successful social media strategy for a startup. One within the limited confines of a startup technology company. This is a rich and complex area for discussion. Please add your own thoughts! Post a comment below to enrich the discussion.
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