Merlene Vrielmann

Creating quality content for multiple social media platforms can be a challenge. Each platform demands different publishing styles and follows different trends. On LinkedIn longform text-posts of 2,000 characters are popular, while you need to capture your message visually and in picture or video format for Instagram. While LinkedIn users like infographics and pictures that are practical, there is a demand for very aesthetic content on Instagram. To bring across the same message on different media formats and platforms, it helps to be clear on the brand identity and the core values of the company before starting to produce content. This way, the brand remains recognizable even if it creates differentiated media formats.

Who is the audience that you are catering to and where are they found, i.e., what social media platforms are they on: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitch, X, etc. It can help to create different personas that are using each platform and investigate why and how they are using a platform. Then create content that appeals to the individual needs. It is likely that your audience is on more than one social media platform. However, it is vital that you do not use the same content for different platforms. A fast-paced video in 9:16 format may work for Instagram, but could flop on LinkedIn and vice versa. The contents of a long article need a short and entertaining format in order to spark interest on Instagram.

Even though experimenting with emerging digital technologies is more practice-oriented than theory-heavy scientific research, there are parallels. As a first step, it makes sense to get an overview of what tech is out there and to define the problem that you are currently facing. Based on that, make a decision on what technology to try. In the next step, formulate different hypotheses of what the expectations for the implementation of this tech are, e.g., By implementing tech x… H1: …the company's internal communication efficiency will rise. H2: …the material costs will decline. The measurability of your assumptions is increased by including KPIs, e.g., decrease costs by 19%. After a trial phase, confirm or reject H1, H2,...

It can be a nerve-wracking process to pitch your design thinking ideas and solutions, and there is often a lot of thought behind the exact idea you are presenting. However, it is very important to remember not to get defensive if questions are asked. Every question, first and foremost, is an expression of interest in your idea. And even if critical thoughts are expressed, this is normal due diligence for someone who is looking to get involved with your solution. In any case, a question is not a sign of dislike or disbelief. See questions as an opportunity to win listeners over; showcase your acceptance of critical thinking and willingness to advance the idea/solution by learning from feedback.

Create different personas that you want to reach on a platform e.g., the career-oriented executive, the job-seeking graduate, and the knowledge-seeking professional on LinkedIn. Then look at how and why they are using a platform and what content they respond to well. While one is seeking long expert articles, someone else may look for funny industry memes and someone else is looking for interesting events. Use that to your advantage in content creation. Your audience is likely to be on more than one social media platform. Attention: Do not use the same content format for different platforms. Even someone who likes long-form on LinkedIn will not respond to a simple picture with text on Instagram the same way they would to a fast-paced reel.

A conventional approach to build a start up consists of three major steps of (1) writing a business plan, (2) finding investors & building a team, and (3) introducing the product to the market. A strenuous process after which there is still no guarantee that the startup will be a success, it can still fail. In order to avoid this sort of waste (time, money, etc.) building a startup using the lean-startup-approach can be chosen using the build-measure-learn-cycle (BML-cycle). Phase 1: Build - minimum viable product (MVP) - demonstrate key features Phase 2: Measure - customer reaction - data generation Phase 3: Learn - whether target audience likes the product - decide to continue to develop the same product or pivot the business model