Guest post by Nick Rojas.
While it’s almost unheard of for businesses to completely ignore social media these days, startups have to be especially mindful of its advantages and uses. Many are bootstrapped, and even if they have seed funding, the pressure is on to meet their target goals as quickly as possible.
When sharing your business content across social media is so conducive to growth and capital is so scarce, it’s important to get as much done for as little as possible. Here are some unique tools to help boost the social media presence of your startup.
Chatfuel – Create Interactive Chatbots That Drive Responses
You only get one chance to make a first impression. That idea holds as true on social media as in the real world. It’s impossible to greet each and every visitor or potential customer, especially as a busy startup. That’s why tools like chatbots are so valuable.
Chatfuel lets you replace your static email opt-in forms with interactive artificial intelligence (AI) which can greet and respond to users on Facebook Messenger. From there you can hold a conversation or issue updates like you would with any other opt-in list. Because it’s a two way street on a platform that isn’t susceptible to spam like an email inbox, it’s more comfortable to communicate with your audience. Chatfuel allows you to customize your chatbots for free without coding, but also sells templates to speed up the process.
Another option to check out is MobileMonkey, a chatbot-building platform for marketers that can help raise the social media profile of a startup. There are free and paid options (all full-featured, but based on number of contacts) that let you build a chatbot for Facebook Messenger in minutes with no coding required.
Canva – Craft Beautiful Images and Design On the Fly
Studies have proven that humans are visual learners. Many of the most shared content on social media are trendy images, so it’s not a coincidence. If you have a great idea for an image but aren’t an expert at using popular graphic editors like Photoshop, Canva is for you. Anyone with a little patience can create a high quality image in a few minutes and have it ready to share instantly.
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Easel.ly – Make Explanative Infographics Quickly and Easily
Even though infographics have been around for a while, there are still a number of reasons why you’d want to use them in your social marketing strategy. They explain complicated information quickly, and when they’re easy for you to make, it allows for a simple addition to your workflow.
Easel.ly is a simple tool that let’s you create beautiful infographics. It has a drag and drop interface for designing, as well as a selection of images and fonts. Users can get in and start designing right away for free. The site also has a number of templates that can be edited and customized for members who choose to upgrade.
Rite Tag – Find the Right Hashtag For Your Brand
Growing your brand requires you to get in front of as large an audience as possible. In social media, hashtags are one key way to do just that. Rite Tag allows you to find the right tags for your next post and incorporate them quickly and easily. There’s also a Chrome browser extension for even easier access.
Launch Rock – Effortlessly Establish Your Presence
You may have more ideas than you have proof of concepts at this stage of your startup, but that shouldn’t stop you from looking like a million-dollar brand. Launch Rock allows you to get a full fledged website for your company setup and ready to take customers ASAP.
There are a lot of features built into the tool that make it very social and marketer friendly. For startups on tight deadlines and even tighter budgets this tool is a life saver.
There’s a lot coming to social media in the years ahead that startups should be mindful of. As new technology trends develop and consumers usage of smartphones increases, businesses old and new will be trying to keep up. Make sure you’re ahead of the curve.
Nick Rojas combines 20 years of experience working with and consulting for small to medium business and a passion for journalism to help readers grow. He writes about technology, marketing, and social media for the aspiring entrepreneur. When Nick is not sharing his expertise, he can be found spending time at the beach with his dog Presto. Follow him on Twitter @NickARojas.
Social media is the perfect tool for startups to get their brand out there with minimal effort. Sprout social schedule retweet has helped a lot of companies get their brand out there. Smartphones aren’t going away anytime soon.
Indeed it has, Dennis. Sprout Social was included in my list of the best social media management tools here.