social media marketing guide for startups & entrepreneurs

Social Media MarketingGuide for Startups

Startingfrom the Scratch: Social Media Marketing Guide for Startups

SOCIAL MEDIA BEGINNERS GUIDE

Habib MehmoodiFounder, Creative DirectorBrand Metasis

We like to think of him as the 10th Generation Intel Chip for his multi-tasking abilities. Habib, the captain of our �Black Pearl�, has been a web connoisseur since the dawn of the Internet Era. He introduced the concept of Integrated Inbound Marketing to the Indian Digital Arena and he is the founder of India�s �rst Integrated Inbound Marketing Agency.

As an inbound marketing expert; he has given numerous lectures and written extensively on driving web traf�c, nurturing leads, customer engagement on social media and how to successfully utilize inbound marketing techniques. He is your go to guy when it comes to implementing inbound marketing campaigns, online reputation management and ways to improve your search engine ranking.When he is not developing marketing campaigns for clients, chances are, that he has teleported himself along with his backpack to some unexplored destination.

About the Author

Follow Habib on:

https://twitter.com/hmehmoodi

http://www.linkedin.com/in/hmehmoodi

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110182609285860127561/

Choosing the right mix

Resources that startups need to starton Social Media

How to get organic fans initially

Inaugural Campaigns

Know your KPIs

Conclusion

Say Hello to Social Media Marketing

Index


When you step inside a college for the �rst

time, your mind is full of enthusiasm,

adrenaline and a truckload of expectations;

same is the scenario when you step inside

the 'business' arena for the �rst time. You

are full of passion, you have goals in your

mind and you want to make the most out of

what you do.

As an 80's kid, I remember as a freshman in

college, we used to have pro-bros, who used

to guide us on various aspects, such as how

to be on the good side of a particular

professor, how to get a GF, how to get into

the college football team, etc. Just like those

'Pro-Bros' I�m going to guide you on one of

the most important aspect of your

entrepreneurial venture, 'Social Media

Marketing'.

ductionIntro


Introduce you to the Social Media Marketing.

Help you choose the right social media channels for you.

Tell you how to get traction on your page.

Introduce you to the basics of content marketing.

Share some cool industry insights with you.

Let you know how to devise effective social media campaigns for

attainment of business goals.

In this eBook we will


Sa�

Hell�!t� Socia� Medi� Marketin�

Everybody hates prolonged de�nitions and we areno exception. So we are not going to shoot a thesison Social Media Marketing on you, we will justintroduce you to this phenomenon and as time goesby, you'll start knowing each other better!

“”According to a de�nition coined by us,

Social Media Marketing is a process of interacting with the masses on social networking channels to enhance brand image, drive traf�c to desired destinations, build buyer persona and �ll sales funnel through 'engaging' content.

According to many surveys and reports, there are more than 65 Million social media users in India and 60% traf�c comes from the 2 and 3 Tier cities! This clearly indicates that the reach of social media is pan India and the kind of extensive exposure social media can give to your brand is pretty obvious.


1. Vodafone

2. Tata Docomo

3. Nokia India

4. Fastrack

5. Samsung Mobiles

*Rankings are based on the fan base and engagement ratio of these brands on social media.

These brands have built a massive community on social media and by following their activities on social media, you can learn a lot. Like, what approach they take and how they interact with their fans and tackle complaints and criticism.

Here's the trick, it's not about creating a great brand on social media, it's about acting as if you already have one!


Here are top 5 Indian brandsthat are doing on GREAT Social Media:

Cho�in� th�

Righ� M�

Success of a feast depends upon the variety ofcuisines available in the buffet! Similarly, on socialmedia, the success of your brand depends on thekind social media channels you are present on. !

“”It is understandable that to be present on

Facebook and Twitter is a must for every brand keeping in mind the exposure your brand could get with the colossal user base these platforms have but its NOT enough! Apart from Facebook and Twitter, you also have to know about other social networking sites that can give your brand a shot in the arm.



It may not be as amusing as Facebook or Twitter, but it is huge! LinkedIn has 161 million members in more than 200 countries, making it the world's largest professional network on the web. If nature of your business is B2B, if you are planning to give or take franchise or if you want to get in touch with A Line executives to built proli�c relationship, LinkedIn is the place you should de�nitely be.

Very few know this for a fact that Pinterest is the third most popular social networking site after Facebook and Twitter and if your target audience 'majorly' comprises of ladies, then it is the Mecca for your brand. 71% Pinterest users are Women! For visually appealing products such as apparels, artifacts, food, toys or accessories, this is one place you don�t want to miss. Like the experts say, Pinning is Winning!

Linkedin

Pinterest

You must have seen the Instagramers on your Facebook or Twitter timeline and you must be

thinking how this channel if useful for you. Instagram is one of the best sources for

customer engagement if your product is visually appealing. It has more than 50 Million registered

users, who've uploaded more than 200 Million pictures on it by far! This gives an idea about the

level of popularity it has gained and the magnitude of traction one can get through it.

There's a common misconception that Google Plus is an uninhabited destination, but the reality is that it has more than 500 Million users out of which 359 Million are 'active' users! One can't deny the prowess of Google and considering the features which it keeps on introducing in Google Plus, it'll take no time to reach the top. The best thing about Google Plus is that the campaigns which you design for Facebook and Twitter can be carried out on Google Plus too, without any alteration! This gives it an edge over all other social networking channels.

Instagram

Google +


R�ourc� tha�

Startup� nee�t� star� o� Socia� Medi�

Before starting your social media expedition,you need some Raw Material. Here's a list of few'essentials' which you would need to make ahigh-�ying debut on Social Media.

“”

Content is the undisputed champ on social network and to make an impactful �rst impression, you need powerful textual content. You can take help from your website for the basic content like introductory statement and product description but the engaging content like an update, its call to action, response to replies, app copy, etc. depend heavily upon the quality content, that you need to develop over time.

Textual Content


The undeniable fact is that visual content is more popular than textual content on social media. The various forms of visual content are images, videos, infographics and presentations. Images play the most important role here coz they constitute around 80% of what gets viral on social networks! Videos are also a great source of getting engagement if it is entertaining or informative enough. Right from your cover picture to the posts, your social media accounts demand eye-catching visual content.

Everyone loves getting something for FREE. You could use this �love-for-Freebies� to get traction

on social media. A good contest is, by far the most effective way to make new friends and

engage the existing ones. For every contest to catch the eye of the audience, you could use

some freebies to attract participants. You could also give Free e-books to your blog subscribers to

attract more following. Freebies with visible branding play a major role in promulgating

WOMM (Word of Mouth Marketing) too.

Visual Content

Freebies


Marketing AgencyInbound

Don't want to discourage you here but social media marketing is not as casual as it sounds, in facts, most of the mainline advertisers are struggling to get the hang of it due to its ever changing environment and as a startup, you must be preoccupied with loads of work pressure. So it's good to hire an Inbound Marketing Agency to take care of your SMM and other digital marketing needs. Being a startup, you might have budget constraints and that�s why, you need to hire an 'Inbound' marketing agency, not a social media agency. A good Inbound marketing agency would give more value for less money with healthy ROI.


How t� ge�

Organi� Fan�initiall�

Usually, brands pay for fans in the initial stage butthe startups can't afford that. The only way left isto get the fans 'organically', which is not aHerculean task if you know the basic tricksand techniques. Here are a few:

“”


1

3

2

Invite every person on your Facebook friend list, DM all your followers on Twitter, add your Gmail contacts to your G+ Circle and send invitations to your connections on LinkedIn.

Send personalized emails to your followers / subscribers, educating

them about your product and informing them about your social

media presence. No matter if your mailing list is very small today, if you follow this practice, the list will grow.

If product has a packaging, add URL of your social media accounts on it and if you are into hospitality sector, you can add those URLs on your reception desk, utilities, etc. You can also place a QR code instead of URLs that'll direct the traf�c to your social media pages.


4

5

Keep updating your content and start participating in trending topics to attract maximum eyeballs. This method is extremely bene�cial on Twitter and Google Plus.

Take the viral route. Virality doesn't require a huge fan base, it is a virtue

of sheer creativity and if you've joined forces with a pro�cient Inbound

Marketing agency in India, you can afford to emphasize on viral

marketing.


Inaugra�campaig�

You might not remember but when you were born,your parents threw a grand party to announceyour arrival. Don't you think your 'baby' deservesthe same treatment?

The �rst campaign of your brand on Social Media is themost pivotal part your social media marketing crusade.The Inaugural campaign is your �rst impression on the fans,so to make sure that you debut with a bang,keep these things in your mind.

“”


1

3

2

The prime objective of your social media campaigns should be to raise awareness of your brand through customer engagement. This is the opportunity for you to build a community, which later on could be nurtured as potential leads base.

Devise a campaign that could be carried across a variety of social

networking sites. Keep it generic, which means, it should be scalable, it

should not be exclusive to just Facebook or Twitter.

Your campaign title should be 'Hashtag-able'! In current scenario, hashtags have become synonymous with campaigns �coz hashtags are the most ef�cient way to classify your campaign theme on social media. Check out the trending topics section on Twitter's homepage, you'll get an idea.


4

65

Contests with decent grati�cation always work in the favor of startups. Keep some freebies ready to gratify the winners as well as participants of the contest or quiz. You could now use Facebook fan page for your contests and quizes. You can conduct a contest on your timeline itself saving your time, efforts and money to make a separate app for the same purpose!

Engage, reply or gratify your fans on time. Delayed responses are a crime and not responding at all is a sin on

social platforms. Such heroics will kill your brand�s online persona in no time.

Designs and creatives of your campaign should be eye-catching. Step down from the shoes of an entrepreneur, think from the point of view of a normal social media enthusiast and see if your design attracts you or not. If not, hire the professionals and if you've already hired, change them.


Conclusio�

Social Media Marketing is no longer a next big thing. It already is the most powerful tool of Digital Marketing and is taking over the traditional media rapidly. The reason for its magnanimous success is that marketing on Social Media is highly economical! It is sweet but it is not a piece of a cake.

“

”


/BrandMetasis

www.brandmetasis.com

/BrandMetasis /brandmetasis

company/brand-metasis

/u/0/113638154279299074305


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