Why Social Media is Perfect For Start-ups
In a blog post by Lynn Terry (http://www.clicknewz.com/2553/how-to-promote-products-via-social-media/) on how to promote products using social media, as well as many other sources, she stated that the difference is “With Content Marketing you are the one doing the talking, by creating content and leading your visitor into a decision. With Social Media you are joining their conversation, usually on their terms and in their space.”
This has a really strong connection with what a lot of the gurus in the start-up space are discussing right now. Steve Blank and others talk about lean entrepreneurship and customer and market focused start-ups rather than product development companies. Let me explain that concept a little further; what I mean to say is that instead of spending millions in angel and VC capital and 2 years in the lab creating the next big thing in the world that, it turns out, nobody wants, it is a better idea to start with a hypothesis, then go into the market and see if people are receptive to it, and if not, change it. The key is to get into the conversation, sound familiar? The new entrepreneur needs to go into the market and see what is happening, examine and become the expert on the industry eco-system so that pain points can be routed out. This takes a lot of listening, sound familiar again?
In social media the experts are saying that the way to market here is to join the conversation on the customers terms and see where they are hurting to try and solve those problems and the new entrepreneurship material is saying the exact same thing. These two areas of business can work together very well, however, I don’t see them talking about each other very much, I find that fascinating. Entrepreneurs need to start utilizing social media, even though entrepreneurs are notorious for not having enough time for anything. They need to realize that understanding their customers and the industry is their number one priority. They need to have a presence here and use this media effectively. Also, it has the classic reason of being a relatively cheap way of getting your name in customer’s minds, which is extremely important for start-ups where cash is king.