Startups: Social Media Chaos

Startups: Social Media Chaos

Startups: Social Media Chaos

When you first heard the word “startup,” you thought there’d be maybe a year or two of work, but not about the crazy, crazy chaos that would be involved. Every day the entire wheel has to be reinvented, and nobody is really sure what they should be doing. The social media is a huge, chaotic mess. Then again, there’s strategy. The “strategy” word brings up thoughts of high school chess club, the Civil War, and business plans. But it’s not nearly that bad, I promise.

Brain Dump

Start out by writing down all the things you can think of doing. Consider organizing those items into categories. These can be very large items. They might be by platform. For instance, “Come up with 12 board names for Pinterest.” Or “Create Facebook posts and images to go with them.”  Can you feel your blood pressure going down as you do this?

Choose a Starting Point

If you’re the social media manager, then you’ll have to do it all, so consider picking a starting point. What is the most important platform for your audience? Start there. If you’re not very social media savvy, LinkedIn is the one that many people feel most comfortable using. Many people also feel comfortable on Facebook, since they use it to connect with friends. Once you have worked that first platform into your schedule, move onto the next one.

Set Aside Time in Your Schedule

For instance, I like to start my day on Twitter. I like to be online tweeting and engaging by 8 am. You might prefer later in the day. And you don’t have to read a bunch of studies ~ to be successful, come up with your own schedule! Your chances of success will be much higher if you balance your own rhythms with your work.

Drowning

Feel Like You're Drowning?

Feel Like You’re Drowning?

You may have the feeling that you are drowning in too many unmanageable expectations. People may be giving you contradictory instructions, or your team may not give you any hint at what they really want. In that case, you will need to come up with your own expectations and what is reasonable for you.

Have You Emerged from Chaos?

If you’re trying to start a new brand’s social media, I’d love to hear how you handled the pressure!

 

 

 

Startups & Social Media: 6 Issues

Startups & Social Media: 6 Issues

Startups & Social Media: 6 Issues

Your startup’s new product is almost finished and you look up and–uh-oh!–did anyone think about creating a social media strategy to spread the word about your terrific new app? Wait. Wasn’t the intern going to do that? Didn’t we write a note about it on that napkin that got thrown away with the pizza? Oh, just a sec. It was on the pizza box! Sound a little too familiar?

No Planning

Social Media Strategy Written on a Pizza Box?

Social Media Strategy Written on a Pizza Box?

Issue: You’re making a product, or creating an app, or a new platform, but don’t have anyone on the team to do the social media. If the technical team handles the social media, this means that there will be additional strain put on them to explain all the twists and turns of the product while they are learning the ins and outs of social media and while also doing a launch.

Fix: Have someone on board to do the social media before you think you need them. Yes, that’s right. They can

  • get the word out
  • be in sync with the rest of the team, and
  • learn about your product even before the product launches.

Not only that, but your social media manager can be out forging relationships with whomever you need to know on your behalf. However, if you really want to do everything yourself, you might want to read about first steps for startups.

Pivoting

Issue: You used to sell your app to consumers; you are shifting to an enterprise-only model. So you will need relationships with a whole different crowd of people.

Fix: The relationships you’ve already made aren’t a waste of time. Those people all know other people, right? Focus attention on your new demographic, and see how you can leverage the social media relationships you’ve already made.

Rebranding

Frequent Meetings Are a Must While Rebranding

Frequent Meetings Are a Must While Rebranding

Issue: You didn’t really think about your name, look and feel, or the user experience at the starting gate. Although you have a great product, you now need to pull in some marketing wizards who can do their magic and rebrand. How will you migrate the social media?

Fix: Communication is key. Everyone needs to be talking to everyone else frequently or the social media won’t reflect the new brand promise. So frequent meetings, communication between key players, and all that groundwork will go towards making a more solid social media strategy. Even a 15- or 20-minute meeting can make a difference in keeping everyone informed. The more your social media manager or team knows, the easier it will be for them to make an emotional connection with your customers.

Chaos

Issue: Too much chaos. Yes, being in a startup is a fun, fun thing. Except when it’s not.

Fix: Write everything down and put dates on things. This includes account names and passwords for all your social media accounts, at the very least.

Management Changes

Issue: Does everyone know everyone else? Was the new marketing wizard fired last week? Does everybody know that that happened? Did the CEO run off to France to do a dance in his underpants? (Just making sure you’re reading…but you get the point, right?)

Fix: Create an organizational chart! Or at least a list in an Excel spreadsheet. And inform the team with an email letting them know what just happened. Update the spreadsheet and post it where everyone has access. Even thought you might think it’s a special secret (shh!) just for you, it actually does help the entire team.

Being in Overwhelm

Deer in the Headlights?

Deer in the Headlights?

Issue: You’re struck by that “deer in the headlights” feeling whenever you think about social media.

Fix: Pick a starting point. What would get you the most momentum the fastest? Would it be Pinterest? Google Plus? Twitter? Facebook? I suggest you look at the platforms with the most traffic, not the trendier ones. Start where your customers are. Keep it simple to avoid overwhelm.

Your Issues?

If you work with a startup (or even if you don’t), I’d like to hear from you! Maybe you handle the social media for a brand. What is your biggest issue?

Social Media: Different Platform, Different Language

Social Media: Different Platform, Different Language

Social Media: Different Platform, Different Language

Recently, talking to social media “experts,” I’ve run across some very different opinions about how to use social media. One “expert” admitted she only checks her Twitter account once a week. Another admitted that he pushes his Facebook posts through to Twitter. And a third says she uses the exact same material at the exact same time across all platforms. So do some of these practices seem not very social? Here are some of my reasons for using different language on each platform.

Each Platform is its Own Country

Let’s talk LinkedIn. To me, LinkedIn is the land of complete sentences, good punctuation, no slang, and professionalism. The demographic is  more business-oriented and less casual. I probably would not share a BBQ sauce recipe on LinkedIn as I might on Pinterest or Twitter. Nor would I use a bunch of hashtags or acronyms there. Facebook, similar to LinkedIn, is about connecting, but the language is different again. Although Facebook recently adopted hashtags from Twitter, I still wouldn’t use them there, since many people don’t fully understand them. The language of Pinterest is more casual, but still not as casual as Twitter. And so on.

One Post Across All Platforms Seems Lazy

Using one post across all platforms seems lazy

Using one post across all platforms seems lazy

If I see someone using the same post across multiple platforms, what runs through my mind is this person isn’t taking the time to fully engage on any platform. So I’m not likely to engage with this person. They give the impression of being too busy to interact and of someone who only wants to broadcast.

Why Follow Different Platforms if Posts Are the Same?

If I see the same post in two or more platforms, why would I want to follow on all those platforms when I could get the same content by following in just one place? If you’d like to recycle your content, why not just wait a couple of days (people have a short memory on social media), then post that content in a different place? As long as the content isn’t “stale,” you can still use it again.

Do You Use the Same Language Everywhere You’re Social?

I’m very curious about this. I know people want to save time, but does saving time for ourselves make us less accessible to our potential audience? What do you think?

 

3 Ways to Be Social with Social Media

People use social media in a lot of different ways, and what works the best is when social media is actually social.  Visualize a big networking event. Aside from that one guy your cousin knows who always shows up and gets ripped, many are approachable. So there you are, with your fancy glass of wine in hand–now what? Here are three ways you can engage online.

1. Talk to Your New Follower About Himself. If you accept the premise that social media is a giant networking event, what could you talk about? Think about each Twitter or Facebook or Pinterest account as being a person or a business. What would you actually say to that person if you met them in real life? You could talk about their profile, or ask them about their business. One thing I love to ask about is their name. If you’re a shy person, networking is much easier if you have a topic. Since most people love to talk about themselves, engage them in a conversation about themselves!

2. Ask Your New Friend How She Got Her Name. Most people love to discuss their own names. So you can ask: Were they named after someone? Do they like their name? Do they have a nickname? Do others have a hard time pronouncing their name? Why doesn’t their name have any vowels in it? If it’s a common name, did they ever receive anyone else’s mail by mistake?

3. For a Business, Ask About What They Do. How long have they been in business? What is their service area? Who are their competitors? Has business been good lately? Is their business seasonal? There are hundreds of questions you could ask–and that any businessperson would love to answer.

If you start out just talking about yourself, chances are after awhile the other person is going to leave. But if you put the spotlight on the other person, they will probably think “What a great conversationalist!” even if you haven’t said a word about yourself. What a crazy idea, right? That of being social on social media.

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