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How to jump-start social media when no one knows your company

It’s easy to make noise when you are the head of state. Both Lee Hsien Loong and Donald Trump are two (good and bad) examples of how to engage millions of people.

While the impact of social media is undeniable, not every business enjoys the reach of someone in the limelight. Though it’s hard to make noise when no one knows about your company, inaction is infinitely worse.

Before you jump the gun, you have to make a commitment to regularly update your business’ social media accounts. Ideally, appoint someone to be your social media manager, as it’s something you have to consistently work at to see benefits – ranging from direct communication with your customers to reaching people that never heard of your business.

Here’s how to get started:

Where is your audience?

With an array of social media platforms out there, you don’t need to be everywhere. To get your social media presence kickstarted, you’ll need to know where your audience is. If you are a B2B company, you are more likely to start conversations on Twitter or LinkedIn, while an e-commerce can better engage with users on Instagram and Facebook.

If you are unsure about what you should do on your social media channels, check out these do’s and don’ts of social media. This is where you’ll learn about how to reach your target audience and the tangible results you’ll be able to reap from it.

What are your goals?

Bear in mind that you’re just starting out – so don’t be unrealistic with your goals. For newcomers like you, it’s recommended that you focus on consistency and growth to really make your social media game work.

For consistency, work on:
– Lock in a set number of days to plan posts and work on your social media presence. A good start will be 3-4 days a week.
– Create new content at least once a week to beef up your content library. This can be a new set of photos, a blog post or a video about your business.

For growth, work on:
– Setting a goal for how many followers you want to gain by a certain date. Every business grows differently, so plan accordingly. Having a number to work towards will make things clearer.

If you want to start with a bang, you should consider working with social media influencers – Increasing engagement for your posts. Instead of asking your family and friends to share your posts to get the algorithm working, you might want to do a giveaway to start getting shares and traction.

What’s in your content library?

Gather all of your content into one folder that your team can access. This will be your content pool where you’ll go to find images, old news clippings, videos or anything relating to your business. If you make it a habit to populate this folder, your planning will be easier in the future. A good way to start your content pool is using your website’s content. You can always repurpose and use it for social content. While doing this, you’ll also probably start to visualise what sort of content you’ll want up on your social media channels.

Have you created a social media calendar?

It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated. All you need is a handy excel sheet that keeps track of the content that you’re planning to post, or have already posted. This will also come in handy when you’re brainstorming for new social media ideas. It also makes it easier for everyone to share ideas. A well-kept calendar will also help you to plan your social media campaigns more efficiently.

What conversation are you joining?

Now that you’re sorted, it’s time to be part of all that social media chatter. Have a look at what’s trending by gathering some data and see where your brand can be part of the conversation. Controversial topics aren’t a strict no-no and may sometimes help your brand to stand out. But make sure that your company has actually something to offer or say about the topic. You have to remember that the social media world can be harsh and controversial topics can easily backfire. But in the end – it’s still up to you to decide if it will work for your organisation or not.

Need help with managing your social media campaigns? Drop us a message at hello@mutant.com.sg.

Getting frank with Joe Part 1: “No one cares if you are a startup”

Okay, maybe your friends, family and investors do — but that’s about it. The rest of the world couldn’t care less that you are a startup.

They say they care, they think they care, they like the idea of it and the romance of it all, but they don’t really care. Don’t blame them; I’m sure they are nice people, but at the end of the day, their love of supporting a startup goes no deeper than an immediate reaction.

This might come as a bit of a shock because your business is everything to you. To you. Allow me to run you through a few home truths to help you avoid falling on your face when it comes to managing a successful startup.

Your target market doesn’t owe you anything

You can certainly leverage being a startup in your branding and to tap into natural sympathy and support. You can even cultivate pro-startup audiences and have your brand develop and evolve over time.

But be under no illusion that most people won’t hesitate to drop you if they have any issues or face any barriers.

They will gladly move back to their safe corporate, mass market product if you impact their consumer experience in any way. It’s simply the nature of the beast.

Don’t be a loser

Always be positive around friends, contacts, clients… anyone.

Why? When you talk about your business, even your closest friends are making subconscious decisions about you and your company, and when they have the opportunity to refer you to one of their friends or contacts, they know their reputation and credibility is also at stake.

If all they hear from you is complaints about staff or how tough it is, they are going to form a negative image of you and are less likely to make the referral.

But when you are positive and they feel like you are on the up and up, well, everyone loves a winner.

This is not necessarily a conscious decision. And yes, if you are too positive, you run the risk of not sounding genuine. No one believes any entrepreneur who says it is all smooth sailing.

Try something like this:

Friend: “Hey mate, how’s business?”

You: “Really good. Cashflow is a total pain in my arse but we are getting some really strong traction.”

Boom. You get your gripe out, but the positives outweigh it and you still sound like a winner.

Don’t let your bubble become a crutch

I often come across founders or staff from startups who are extremely tapped into the startup scene, constantly patroning drinks, networking events and conferences. In many ways this is great – you will learn something from your peers in this space and you’ll have a good time. They will be a valuable source of tips, advice and a sympathetic ear, but it does not replace your need to get out into the real world.

Unless your company or brand is aimed at the startup community, no one cares if you are friends with a dozen different CEOs of bootstrapped enterprises. By all means keep your toe in the scene, but the law of diminishing returns exists even for your own time. Instead, think about who your target audience is or what you want to achieve, and go where they go.

Don’t be a wuss

Toughen up. It’s supposed to be hard.

Recently, I was blown away when a startup I was meeting with said they couldn’t meet before 11am because that’s when they arrive at the office. Seeing my shocked expression they followed up with, “Oh don’t worry, we work really late. Like until 8, sometimes 9.”

It was clear they had bought into the romanticised version of their own story – staying up late working over Red Bulls and pizza with the occasional break to play Xbox. Meanwhile they are barely doing a normal day’s work because they don’t turn up until lunch.

I’m all for work life balance, but if you are serious about your startup, you are going to have to haul arse.

There is more to having a startup than proudly proclaiming it.

So basically, ignore the fact you are a startup in your day-to-day work life. Your number one priority is to move your business forward, so focus on that. Don’t let the hype or romanticism blind you. Be awesome every single day and get on with being successful.

If you have any questions just get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

This blog was first published in Tech in Asia on 19th April 2016

6 phases of a PR campaign for pre-launch startups

So, you’ve got a great product or service. You’ve tried and tested your amazing idea and you’re sure it’s going to solve a big problem in people’s lives. All you need to do is get the word out there and before you know it, hoards of people will soon be using it and sharing it with their friends.

Right?

Quite often here at Mutant, we see a pattern of pre-launch startups approaching us for PR, social and content activities a month (or even less) before their big launch. While it’s great our services are being sought out, it’s not ideal for startups – or for a PR campaign – to have such a short lead-in time. It’s something that you should be thinking about months in advance to plan your content, generate interest and kick-start press coverage.

Magazines work two months in advance, so if you’re hoping for print interviews and features, you need to be working to their timings.

These days there are more activities than ever for startups to think about. PR, social media, video content, blogs, marketing, SEO, SEM – the list goes on. This can be really overwhelming for a small team with a limited budget. All these activities will help you in different ways, but applying a small combination of them – or placing a large focus on one or two from the list – will help you go a long way.

For the purpose of this post we’ll focus solely on PR, going through the tasks and stages you should be thinking about before engaging an agency for help to execute.

Writing a press release: What’s your angle?

Finding the right angle for your initial press release is the most important starting point. What do you want to highlight to the media and the public the very first time they hear about your business?

Ideally it’s your USP – your Unique Selling Proposition – which could be anything from innovation around great service, famous founders, game-changing food or venue, the solution to an industry-wide problem, the biggest, fastest, strongest product in its field, etc.

There are so many things you probably want to say, but you only have one shot to grab attention with a catchy angle and main headline. Make sure it really stands out.

Press release tips to keep in mind

Make sure your news is timely – it has to be about now. Include dates and timings if applicable in your release.
Write all the main points in your first two sentences. Some journalists and bloggers might not read beyond this. Include the What, When, Where, Why and How of your story.
Make sure your release includes one or two quotes from key people, such as a company founder or an expert in the field. Make it easy for the press to extract a succinct quote that outlines the purpose of your launch.
Add in contact details for further enquiries or interview requests.
Put in a link to your press kit at the end.

Putting together a press kit

By using something as simple as Dropbox, put together a folder of all the information the press may need to access about you. This can include biographies of key people, your company profile, high resolution photos, videos (if applicable), FAQs and, of course, your press release.

This way, media have all the information they need to write about you, making it much more probable that they will cover you. No one likes to go back and forth while collating an article.

Pitch the right story to the right journalists

This is the most important step of all. There is no point pitching a tech story to a fashion magazine or a lifestyle angle to a business journalist.

Your business is likely to appeal to different sectors and industries. Alongside your PR agency, this can help you segment what aspects of your company will appeal to different journalists. For example, if you’ve created a lifestyle app that reviews restaurants, you would want to pitch your story to F&B magazines and lifestyle sections of daily newspapers.

But let’s take it one step further. If you’re willing to divulge figures, why not approach tech and business publications to announce your Series A funding? If you’ve got an interesting personal story, why not approach women’s and men’s magazines for a profile interview? If you’re not sure about the best way to do this, an agency can help streamline this process to ensure maximum coverage.

Follow up

Distributing a press release is only half the job. Editors receive hundreds of press releases and are likely to have vaguely skimmed through yours or missed it completely. A follow-up call and email (or multiple) is a must.

Make sure it’s as targeted as possible and that you really understand the publication you’re pitching to. Know their specific sections well – for example, if they have a ‘Day in the life of…’ section and you think your daily schedule would slot perfectly into that, then pitch for that specifically. The more specific you are, the more likely you will get an answer from the journalist.

Track

Make sure you’re tracking coverage, setting up Google alerts and keeping an eye on all listings and stories that come out. This sounds very obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people look back and can’t seem to find the article from two years ago that appeared in the local newspaper. Make sure physical print stories are scanned and saved for future reference.

This is just a tiny guide to get you started. The best way to carry out a full campaign is to engage with a PR company who already has established press contacts and experience. But when you’re pre-Series A or even pre-seed funding and are doing everything on your own savings, this can be difficult to budget.

If you’d like more advice on how to get started with PR, content and social, feel free to get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.