Engage with social media and tell the story of your business - it works

Tweeting, instagramming, snapchatting and periscoping and how they can work for business was the focus of today’s AIB Irish Times Start Up Academy as the eleven finalists were given a crash course in the language, landscape and power of social media. Now in week six, The Irish Times’ Conor Pope, Daniella Morrison Twamley, head of social media at ‎AIB and Felicity McCarthy from Spark Digital imparted their wisdom to the Academy finalists.

The wins came early - Jenny Reynolds from Topper Technology said it was really beneficial and she would be changing her own approach to social media from now on.

“Conor Pope’s session was a big eye-opener for me as I found out that three to five tweets was what everyone in the room was doing a day. I was thinking “Oh my God” I have never tweeted that much because I was afraid of sharing too much content, not to be bombarding my customers - but now I understand that it is about that engagement so I will up my tweets after this.”

Daniella Morrison Twamley, head of social media at ‎AIB, said having a social media presence is reassuring for customers. “Social media is a great way to engage with your customers and find out what they are thinking, what they are saying, so it’s brilliant for business. You can choose not to engage in the social space but your customers will be there and your customers will probably be talking about you so I think it’s always beneficial to have a presence, to be engaged as much as you can and, of course, it’s up to you what your definition of engagement is.”

For the eleven finalists who are running their own businesses, finding the time to manage their social media channels can be difficult. Felicity McCarthy from Spark Digital said the key was to focus and not spread yourself too thin.

“Rather than trying to be absolutely everywhere on every platform, select which two or three platforms are the right ones for your audience and your business. Secondly, rather than trying to create a lot of quantity of updates on Facebook or tweets, go for quality. And by quality I mean, what do your audience like? What is going to motivate them and what will they engage in? And lastly, think about how you can tell your business story.”

She advised that telling the story of your product and your company was often a very effective way of getting people to engage on social media and the finalists’ passion would be an advantage for them.

“It could be the history of your business, the story of how the product is sourced, how it is made, how it is brought to market. There are lots of great ways to be able to tell the story and I think that that’s an important part of how social media can be used most effectively, and the free elements. It is when your customers really connect with the story. I think that is the big advantage of these start-ups, they are passionate and if they are telling their story passionately that really helps their audience and their customers to connect with that passion.”

Morrison Twamley said her advice to any business was to be clear on what you want to achieve before embarking on a social media strategy.

“Be very clear before you start deciding which channels you wish to use and also make sure that you define who your customer is. Is it awareness? Is it sales? Is it a new product launch? Do they have an interest in sport? A busy Mum? A young professional? That will allow you to connect with them.”

Isolde from The Cool Bean Company said they found social media very effective in getting feedback for their products. “We do a lot of online polls and only surveys where we get an engagement with the customers and feedback on the product. And at the moment we are developing a new product so it’s a really great tool to be able to engage with customers to see what they want and to get feedback and insights. That can be invaluable, so social media has been really useful for us.”

The eleven finalists in this year’s Academy are Buska Boxes, Brendan Joseph, Nasal Medical, Rebel Chilli, The Cool Bean Company, Popertee, Leaves, Blackwater Distillery, DropChef, Queezybags and Topper Technology.

The finalists are just a few weeks away from finding out who has won the coveted prize when they make a final pitch to a panel of judges. The top prize is worth over €200,000 and includes: a €20,000 cash investment from AIB, that includes a €20,000 cash injection, substantial advertising and marketing packages, PR training, office space and development support. There will also be a runner's up prize. For more details on the prizes visit irishtimes.com/aibstartupacademy

Next week, the penultimate Academy will focus on eCommerce and Data Analytics with Vinny O’Brien and Antonie Geerts.