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1The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING FOR
STARTUPS
2The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
Now that you know your business NEEDS to be on social media, use our quick guide to get started
on each platform.
Here’s why:
1 Consumers spend more
time on their mobile
devices, over 90% of all
social media is accessed
via mobile devices and
80% of the total time
spent on all platforms is
mobile-driven.
2 Social media creates
community where
consumers interact with
brands like humans. Did
you know that 71% of
consumers who have a
positive online experience
with a brand are more
likely to recommend it?
3 There are 3.5 billion daily
active social media users
who spend an average of 3
hours on social media.
GEN Z 66%+
MILLENIALS 90.4%
GEN X 77.5%
BABY BOOMERS 48.2%
Daily social media usage by generation:
GETTING STARTED
Why does your business need social media? As a small business or entrepreneur, it can be easy to dismiss social media marketing as a
non-essential channel. But, GROWL is here to tell you this is NOT the right answer.
3The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
STEP 1
Audit Your AccountsBefore we get started, keep in mind that your business pages should be their own entities, and be
separate from any of your personal accounts.
ACCOUNTS OVERVIEW
A) For each platform below, if your brand has an account, indicate how and why you use it.
(example) Facebook: GROWL uses Facebook to showcase our team and thought leadership. We
share blogs, events, and some fun (culture-based) posts.
FACEBOOK:
TWITTER:
INSTAGRAM:
LINKEDIN:
PINTEREST:
OTHER:
4The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
Platform LinkName,
@handle# of Followers
Are you active? How often do
you post?
Access (Login Info)
Other
Accounts
B) Use this chart to organize your social media platforms and respective information.
5The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
What is your main customer focus?
Do you communicate with end consumers at all?
B2B
Do you have many photo opportunities for your product
or service?
BOTH
Will you be sharing blogs and links to content?
B2C
Would you like to
communicate with end
consumers & the community?
YES NO
YES NO
Do you want to
share behind
the scenes
style content?
Blog
Will you be
writing blogs &
sharing links?
YES
YES
NO
NO
NO
YES
Do you have
behind-the-
scenes content?
YES NO
NO
YES
C) Determine which platforms are right for you by using the flowchart below.
6The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
STEP 2
EvaluationThis section will help you determine areas of strengths and opportunities for your channels, along
with what you should do next.
Consistent Branding (handles, colors, images)
All names and handles are the same
Correct brand elements (including logo and colors) are in-use
Visual look and feel are consistent across platforms
About sections and bios tell a consistent story (and are on-brand)
Correct sizing for header images
Correct sizing for profile images (verify profile pics are not pixelated)
All links work
Are your followers engaging?
Are your followers your target audience?
Centralize ownership ([email protected] not [email protected])
Create shared document for all users with all platform login information and purpose statements
(example)
good: @growlagency and @growl_agency
bad: @growlagency and @marketingagencygrowl
Good Needs Work
7The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
STEP 3
Set-UpFor this session, we’ll focus on the BIG TWO platforms for small businesses and startups –
Facebook & Instagram.
a. Facebook
b. Instagram
c. Strategy
FACEBOOK IS THE MARKET LEADER: GAIN OWNERSHIP
1 From your personal
profile, create your
page on desktop
2 From your
newsfeed, click
“create” and
choose “page”
3 “Get Started” with
a business or
brand page
4 Complete the
set-up steps
by adding your
business information
68%USERS IN THE U.S. ARE ADULTS
51%OF THEM USE IT EVERY DAY
; Add your logo as your profile picture & cover photo (double check fit on desktop & mobile.)
; Complete your About & Story (add an image to the story)
; Verify hours, products, location, website, contact, etc.
; Add only necessary people as admins (Settings > page roles)
; Complete Step 2 & begin executing your strategy
; Start Inviting people to like your page
Once your details are entered, use this checklist to complete set-up
8The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
1 Go to Instagram.com on
desktop or mobile to create
an account.
2 Enter account information
including business email
and name.
3 Create a username that IS
your business name.
INSTAGRAM IS A RISING STAR
With over 1 billion monthly active users, and an average daily usage of 53 minutes!
Once your details are entered, use this checklist to complete
set-up
Head to the Instagram app and make your account a business
account.
; Tap the three lines in the right corner
; Tap the gear icon for “settings”
; Choose “account” and “switch to professional account”
; Tap “business” then follow the prompted step to link to your
business Facebook page
; Add details for your business category and contact info
Back to on your profile
; Enter your business name
; Add your website
; Write a short bio about what you do, include your brand
hashtag (ie. #growlagency) and other key hashtags
; Enter contact email and number (business, not personal)
; Add a profile picture that is representative of your logo,
make sure it crops correctly
; Make sure your social accounts are linked on your website
VISIT AT LEAST 1 BUSINESS PROFILE PER DAY
200Million Users
OF US BUSINESSES WILL BE ON INSTAGRAM BY THE END
OF 2020
75.3PERCENT
53MINUTES
9The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
Never write in the first person. Think
of your business as its own entity and
own personality.
Good: GROWL loves getting involved
Bad: I love getting involved!
Define a purpose for each page. What will be posted here?
(i.e. Facebook is information and Instagram is culture).
Outline your brand personality and voice.
Follow these steps to create your strategy. Use this for all of your social media communications,
you want everything to SOUND like it came from the same place! When it comes to social
media, you’re not “just posting.” Use this sheet to find your why and define your strategic
communications. Make sure you implement a consistent message across all platforms!
1 2
Write three words that describe your business as if it
was a person (i.e. confident).
1
2
3
Write three ways your business would speak as if it was
a person (i.e. casual and playful).
1
2
3
STRATEGY IS KEY
10The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
STEP 4
Content
1 Know your target audience and provide optimal customer service.
Quickly respond to comments and questions
2 Establish a look for your posts – always use authentic imagery, take photos of your location, products, etc.
3 Know your brand, build it, and keep it consistent.
Language, look, and post frequency
4 Use a calendar and indicate what you’ll post and when. Post at least 3x per week.
Contests, giveaways, and deals work – but don’t use them constantly.
5 Be engaging & foster advocacy. Connect with followers & influencers with two-way communication and sharable content.
Word of MOUSE!
6 Use brand hashtags and popular industry hashtags in every post.
Use 3-5 on Facebook and 9-11 on Instagram.
7 Incorporate Instagram Stories for behind the scenes content.
Instagram Stories has over 500 million daily active users with 30% of the most-viewed Stories coming from businesses.
8 Use engaging, positive CTAs in your posts and drive traffic to your website.
9 Maximize efforts by pairing social media campaigns with email marketing.
CONTENT STRATEGY TIPS
First things first, consider what general categories will benefit your brand on social media, and
define what type of content each category will include. Then, consider each category and develop
your brand hashtags. Start by creating 1-2 general brand hashtags or industry hashtags, then 1 for
each category.
Brand hashtags: (example) #yourbizname
CATEGORY: CONTENT: HASHTAG
(example) Marketing Tips: Include various tips, blogs, and shared articles #marketingmonday
BRAND HASHTAGS
11The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
Calendar ActivityNow, put it all together! GROWL’s general approach is to consider the overarching content
concept for all platforms, then differ the content per platform. Try taking your content categories
and filling out the monthly calendar below.
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
12The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Startups
TO PAY OR NOT TO PAY
Paid ads and promotions on Facebook and Instagram can get convoluted. At the surface, it seems easy to boost posts for a greater reach, but the theory “If it’s worth posting, it’s worth paying,” is FALSE!
1 Build an organic foundation.
Organically establish credibility and authority before paying for social ads. Running ads right off the bat can have adverse effects.
2 Grow organically first.
Invite your friends, interact with followers and other businesses. Foster community and cross-promotion. When you have high engagement and community involvement, your page will grow.
After you’ve developed your pages, only pay for goal-driven social ads.
1 Know your goal, target audience, and brand essence. Never run an ad on a whim or off-brand.
2 Don’t boost posts. You’ll see higher return on the prompted boost and slowly decrease your ROI on all other posts (organic and paid).
3 Always define your audience, don’t just go with “nearby” users!
4 Use videos for better engagement.
Thanks for joining GROWL!
Contact GROWL’s digital marketing experts today:
970.852.4700
GROWL around with us on social
