Startups and Social Media
Going by the numbers, it’s easy to say 2009 was the year social networking went mainstream. After all, if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third most populated, behind China and India. And because of this trend, businesses began to adopt social media in 2009 and are likely to get more involved in the New Year.
To keep in pace, most of the startups also jump on this lovely, brightly-colored social media bandwagon. So are startups doing the right thing by blindly following the ‘social media movement’? A lot of experienced consultants would say it all comes down to the approach you take, which is very true.
As a startup, being overly invested in social media can be detrimental to your growth. Also, you have a few resources to spend namely tech resources and number of hours in a day. Startups should look at social media in a different light – instead of jumping in and asking “how can it help us” ask “do we need this right now”. Larger companies have bigger resources, so as a startup you can’t compare or copy what they do.
Social media is here to stay – and at certain times, when used in certain ways, it can be very effective. But startups should learn how to prioritize and have a look at the ‘Terms of Use’ of Social media. The following article gives more insight on the subject:
Start-ups also have a ton of options. They really are entering with a clean slate most of the time and, often, a huge number of resources. They have investors, boards, friends, family, old colleagues, old networks, etc., all pushing for them and offering a helping hand. So when it comes to deciding where they want to invest their energy and call in those favors, it can get tricky.
