Social Media Marketing strategies assume a crucial role in any digital branding campaign. Many people use social networking sites to position themselves as thought leaders. The return on investment with Social Media is huge, because there is no cost associated with creating accounts. The only investment needed is time to monitor and deploy – and a solid social media strategy.

Someone once said, “it’s not your customer’s job to remember you, it’s your obligation to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you”.  As the online landscape continues to change, making your mark and achieving greater sales is more challenging than ever. With the drive to attract and retain consumers becoming more competitive, PR firms are working harder than ever to strengthen the relationship of companies with their consumers.

Being visible in a competitive market is all very well, but without strong strategies and innovative campaigns, converting potential consumers to loyal customers is unlikely. Using integrated, media savvy PR campaigns can make a tangible difference to your sales, bringing results and rewards to all parties: you, your brand and your customers.

The first few years of this decade have proven to be a bullish time for those who are able to combine technical expertise with business acumen and successfully build a start-up from the ground up (ideally in Silicon Valley). However, this gold rush has not been isolated to the first few companies who had access to the Valley’s network of investors.

Rather, the market has become incredibly attractive to a wide variety of entrepreneurs, all desperately working to bring their business to the next level. In such a competitive environment of PR for start-ups, a compelling story can be the difference between a start-up surviving into the future or crumbling before it gains its first customer.

For the last several years, Nike has been toting its Nike Fit line of wearable tech equipment. These devices allowed runners and other individuals wearing the equipment to track their performance, the amount of calories they burned and the “Nike Fuel” they earned, which would help them determine how much they could eat or mark other progress through different Nike applications. However, just recently, Nike announced it is abandoning its wearable tech lineup, as more and more smart phones and other devices are now able to do exactly what the Nike Fit bands could, which limited the sales numbers of the device. Due to this, many are wondering what exactly Nike plans on doing with its tech department and if it plans on focusing on the software industry. Perfect example of Technology PR creating massive buzz for an established brand.

The first question that might come up is in regards to 3D printing. After all, 3D printing is starting to more and more of a shape in households throughout the country. While most individuals do not have a printer inside of their home that can handle 3D based tasks, the price is starting to regularly drop with the equipment, so it is only a matter of a few years before this becomes more of the norm throughout the country. However, there are a few issues with Nike getting into shoe printing features. First, 3D printers only really produce material in plastics. With so many different materials required for a shoe, such as rubber, cloth, plastics, metals, nylon and others, it really isn’t possible for Nike to fit into this specific category. Until home 3D printers become less expensive and are able to use many different materials in the printing process, this is an unrealistic aspect, at least for the moment. Perhaps in another decade, when 3D printing has evolved into further. So, for now, this isn’t a viable option.

So you have a great idea for a startup business, maybe a fashion startup, a new APP, or even a brick and mortar store – but now what?

Startups who fail to plan are doomed to fail. That’s why a well researched public relations strategy is vital to insure the success of your startup idea. We have laid out in this infographic – several ways a Startup can leverage PR – to get their idea and brand to the next level. Here is our Effective PR for Startups infographic!