Developing a Social Media Marketing Plan for Startups: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Select the social media platforms you plan to use

Social networking is as uniform across networks as soda drink is across brands. Yes, social media is ubiquitous, but Instagram and Twitter could just as well be Mountain Dew and Pepsi. Each network is distinct, with its own audience, best practises, and style.

The social networks you choose should fit your approach and the objectives you have for using social media.

Just the ones that matter to you and your audience should you be there, not all of them.

When deciding which social networks to test and how many, there are a few things to keep in mind.

• Where do your potential clients congregate? Which social network's demographics are appropriate?
• How much time can you commit to using social media? Start by setting aside at least an hour every day for each social network. (Pro Tip: Once you get rolling, using tools like Buffer to schedule material in advance can help you save time.)
• Resources: What persons and talents are at your disposal? Networks like TikTok prioritise dependable and timely content. Images and videos are necessary for visual sites like Instagram and Pinterest. Do you have the means to produce what is required?

You can consult demographic data from surveys like those done by Pew Research for the first half of this choice. For instance, Pew has extensive data on the demographics of social media users in the United States that was gathered in 2021. The user demographics of the main social media networks are compared here side by side.

Step 2: Completely fill up your profiles

At Buffer, we regularly verify our social media profiles to make sure that our profile pictures, cover photographs, bios, and other information are accurate and full. It plays a key role in our social media assessment. A finished profile conveys professionalism, consistent branding, and the message that you're serious about interacting to visitors.

Text and images will both be needed for profile descriptions.

We strive for visual consistency and recognizability across all of our social media visuals. Our Facebook and Instagram profile pictures are identical. Our LinkedIn profile picture and Twitter cover photo are both similar.

A social media image size chart that details the precise breakdown of dimensions for each photo on each network can be used to make these images. Use a programme like Pablo or Canva, which have prebuilt templates that automatically establish the correct sizes for you, for an even easier time.

Your main text customization space is the bio/info section. Six easy rules can be used to create a professional social media bio:

• "What have I done" typically works better than "Who I am" in the "Show, Don't Tell" principle.
• Make your keywords audience-specific.
• Avoid trendy words and keep your terminology fresh.
• Give your potential followers an answer to their inquiry, "What's in it for me?"
• Be sincere and approachable.
• Visit frequently

Step 3: Establish your marketing tone and voice

The temptation now might be to start speaking up immediately away. Before you do, just take one more step. If you establish a voice and tone for your material right away, your venture into social media will be more concentrated and pertinent.

You may achieve this by taking the time to create marketing personas and discuss the specifics of your mission statement and consumer base. These are all excellent ideas. But if your social media marketing strategy is just getting started, you may speed up the process.

Start by posing inquiries like these:

• What type of personality, if any, would your brand have?
• What would your brand's relationship to the consumer be like if it were a person? (a teacher, dad, buddy, coach, etc.)
• Indicate in adjectives what the personality of your firm is not.
• Are there any businesses with a personality like yours? Why are they comparable?
• What impression do you want your clients to have of your business?

You ought to come up with a few adjectives that best describe the voice and tone of your marketing by the end of this activity. The following can help you stay on course:

Voice is the mission; tone is how that mission is carried out.

For building your brand's voice and tone, consider the following sources of inspiration:

1. Mailchimp
2. Sprout Social
3. Buffer

Develop a voice that delights your audience, and they'll be eager to spread the word about you.

Step 4: Select a posting strategy

What number of posts each day is ideal? How often should posts be made? When should posts be made? What ought to you post? For inquiries like these, the unwavering, unequivocal response is: It varies.

Your unique audience and niche play a huge role in the social media experience. You can never know until you try (we'll talk about trying in step five), so don't assume that what works for you will also work for me.

Having said that, there is some solid information and advice regarding where to begin. Here are some ideas that we've noticed work well as starting points.

What exactly should you post?

Engagement is best achieved through videos

The popularity of TikTok and Instagram's ongoing updates are two examples of the drive towards video content, and you'll probably see videos everywhere. There is evidence to support this trend: More people watch, share, and like videos than any other kind of content. It's also not even close.

Compared to link posts or image posts on Facebook, video postings receive a greater average engagement rate.

How frequently should you post?

How frequently to post on social media has been the subject of a lot of interesting research. Your industry, your audience, your resources, and the calibre of your updates are a few of the variables that might have an impact on the frequency at which you share specific information. Your chosen social media platform will have its own set of best practises.

Generally speaking, you can always get away with publishing more updates if people enjoy them.

Here are some recommendations we've put together for a specific number based on some incredibly useful research regarding how frequently to post on social media.

1. Twitter ? 3 to 15 times per day
2. TikTok ? 3 times a day
3. Instagram ?1 or 2 times per day
4. Instagram Stories ? 8 to 16 Stories, twice per week
5. LinkedIn ? Once a day
6. Pinterest ? 3 to 10 times per day
7. Facebook ? 3 times a week

What time should you post?

Here is a summary of what they learned about timing (all times are EDT).

1. Twitter ?Mondays and Thursdays at 8am
2. Facebook ? Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 9am to 1pm
3. LinkedIn ? Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am
4. Instagram ? Tuesday between 11am to 2pm is the most ideal time
5. Pinterest ? Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 1-2pm
6. TikTok ? Any day between 2 am to 12 pm is ideal

As you start out, we advise experimenting with these times (in your local time) and a few more randomly selected times.

After some time has passed since your first post, you can utilise your own data and applications like Instagram Insights and Followerwonk to determine when is the best for your brand to publish and to hone your posting strategy.

Step 5: Analyze, test, and iterate

Recall how we said that posting on social media is a highly private, particular activity? Your statistics will probably start to support this.

As you publish more, you'll learn more about what kind of information, when to post, and how frequently is best for you.

Why would you know? Investing in a social media analytics solution is recommended. Basic analytics will be integrated into the majority of major social networks; nonetheless, it is slightly simpler to look for and locate this data from a comprehensive dashboard.

You can get a breakdown of how each post performed in the crucial categories of views, clicks, shares, Likes, and comments using these tools (I'll use Buffer's analytics as an example).

What are the best social media statistics? Looking at each of these key figures as well as the per-post composite engagement figure has given us some new information. The resulting statistic gives us a fantastic overview of how our social media material typically performs over time, and from there we can test and iterate.

Here is a method of rating your performance.

• Set a standard. You can review your metrics after two or a month of sharing to determine the typical interaction rate for each post. This will serve as your future reference point. Keep in mind to check back and change this number as your influence and fan base expand.
• Attempt a novel idea. Stay flexible; social media is dynamic, and so should you. Don't get set in your ways. At Buffer, we're willing to test just about anything. As a result, we frequently try out novel ideas and modify our tactics in response to the results of these tests.
• Did it succeed? Compare your test's statistics to those of your benchmark. You can include the adjustments into your regular strategy if your test was successful. Repeat after your test is over!

Step 6: Streamline, interact, and listen

The last component of a social media marketing strategy is creating a procedure you can stick to to stay up to date with developments and interact with your community.

Automate the sharing of your content on social media to begin with.

You can produce all the material you need at once using tools like Buffer, then queue it up to be distributed on the scheduled basis. The key to consistently effective sharing every day is automation.

But automation doesn't spell the end of your strategy. Engaging on social media is also necessary.

Talk back to people when they speak to you. Spend some time each day setting aside time to respond to online interactions. These include discussions with prospective clients, testimonials, friends, and coworkers. They are too crucial to overlook.

Establishing a method for listening to and participating in discussions around you and your business is one way to keep informed about all of them. All social media mentions and comments on your posts will be gathered by tools like Buffer and Mention in one location, allowing you to instantly respond to your followers.

What tips would you provide someone just starting out on social media?

A great first step to getting started with social media is to create a social media marketing plan. Start with a plan if social media seems both exciting and overwhelming at once. It is slightly simpler to see what is in front of you if you can see the blueprint.

1. Choose your networks.
2. Give your information.
3. Locate your voice
4. Pick a course of action.
5. Examine and verify
6. Streamline and automate