Mastering social media: a startup’s roadmap to success

Social media is an indispensable tool for startups in today’s digital age. It offers an unparalleled brand awareness, customer acquisition, and engagement platform. Correctly leveraged, social media acts as a broadcasting channel and an invaluable feedback loop, delivering direct insights into customer behaviours and market trends.

These data points are crucial for agile decision-making, which start-ups often find particularly beneficial in resource-constrained environments. In short, social media can be the backbone of a start-up’s growth strategy, converting digital footprints into tangible business results.

But navigating social media across a myriad of rapidly changing platforms is no easy feat. From where to start, to how to funnel your focus for growth, startups need to have a clear strategy in mind.

The rapid evolution of social media platforms can indeed be daunting. The temptation is often to diversify across as many platforms as possible, a hedging of digital bets. However, my advice leans toward focus rather than dilution. Conduct thorough market research to identify the platform where your target audience is most active and engaged. Then, concentrate your efforts on mastering that platform. Less is more.

The key to social media success lies in depth, not breadth. By focusing on delivering high-quality, relevant content on a single platform, you can build a more engaged community and, in turn, convert that engagement into measurable business outcomes. So, FOMO is unnecessary—being exceptionally good on one platform beats being mediocre on many.

Like any true startup, pivoting is key to finding a successful formula. Adapt and experiment. Be willing to adapt your strategy and experiment with different types of content and posting times to see what works best for your audience.

Social media is a valuable tool to build and engage with your key community. While many brands still use social as a broadcasting platform, its value lies in its ability to solicit direct engagement with communities online. For B2C startups, social media can be a valuable sales channel and, for both B2C and B2B brands, social media offers a direct channel to talk about the key values of a brand.

Amplifying engagement

User-generated content (UGC) has become a popular form of content, not just because there is an obvious resource benefit, but importantly because it amplifies engagement. Everyday social media users like to feel seen by the brands with whom they engage online. From fashion brands using home-styled selfies of consumers wearing their new looks on their Instagram shops, to startups featuring video footage of real-time user feedback on Beta versions of tech products, UGC offers a sense of authenticity and can amplify engagement. In fact, it’s well-summarised in the recently popular hashtag #buildinginpublic.

Establishing credibility online takes time, but it is key to securing the interest of the right stakeholders needed to reach the next stage of any startup – whether that’s a go-to-market strategy or the next stage of growth. Any startup’s reputation is intrinsically linked to its founder(s), just like a new building’s design and durability relies on the reputation of its architect. The value of the company’s product or service must carry its own weight of course, but the target audience – whether it’s an investor, VC or indeed a customer – relies on the credibility of the founder. Social media therefore is an invaluable tool to tell the story of the founder: their background, expertise and why they built the startup. From LinkedIn articles and posts, to sharing content created for wider marketing like opinion pieces in key media or whitepapers and blogs, social platforms are a direct tool to atomise the content created for other marketing purposes and amplify its longevity and immediate impact.

The power of storytelling

Building a personal brand online isn’t obligatory to a startup’s success, but if the background of the founder is a key part of the startup’s story, it makes sense to use social as a storytelling device narrated by the founder. In other words, tell your story yourself! Video is the most engaging format and most platforms centre video in their algorithms for engagement: from Instagram reels to LinkedIn Live and even Tik Tok, sharing advice and insights directly with your audience online is a great way to build brand awareness and community engagement.

Social is not an add-on to a marketing strategy; instead, it’s an impactful strategy in itself that warrants time and focus. Done well, it can greatly boost a startup’s presence. But treated as an afterthought, it can create a digital presence that doesn’t do your brand justice. From organic and paid activities, social is a fantastic tool to directly reach your key stakeholders. Like any good marketing strategy, it’s aligned with your business goals and tells your story. Think about what you want to say, who you want to reach, and be realistic about the time you can invest. For example, you might have a beautifully branded website and slick intuitive design, but if this doesn’t carry through to your social media post graphics, you lose your first and only chance of making a first impression that makes your startup stand out.

Less is more, but with the right approach and a creative open mindset, social media can help your startup get to the next step.

Phil Treagus-Evans is a social media partner at Spreckley Startup Growth Hub.