10 Ways to Launch a Successful Social Media Campaign

Whether you are trying to broadcast a new product, promote a service or defining your brand identity, there are many ways social media can attribute to your goals.

Going viral and getting the attention of the outside world is not an easy phase. Planning and strategizing how your brand will reach thousands, if not millions, of people requires time and skill. Social media campaigns are just as affective as an ad you may see on tv. While spending the big bucks on advertising hasn’t gone away just yet, social media has opted itself as a major tool in reaching people.

Lets get down to the niddy gritty and talk about 10 ways you can optimize a successful social media campaign. Some of these tips have been taken from experience and others are suggestion from the general web. If you’re still stuck on how you can get the attention of the global world, these 10 tips should help.

10. Have a goal in mind

If you know what you want, then you’re on the right track. This is the first step in how everything will pan out. Some common goals are: increasing followers, gaining awareness with likes and retweets, increasing consumption and revenue or promoting your product or service. If you solidify at least one good goal, you are this much closer to launching a great campaign. Each goal you make will require a call to action.

9. Identify a call of action

Most social media campaigns require some form of action. One of the campaigns I think that can attest to this is the Human Rights Campaign. HRC changed their profile logo in pursuit to show their support for equal marriage in the U.S. Organizers wanted to keep the awareness going by suggesting that everyone changed their Facebook profile image if they supported equal rights. This tactic of changing your profile image to HRC’s red logo went viral – about 9 million people participated. A simple objective helps your campaign spread and go far.

8. Be relatable 

We know that someone is being paid to post social media content online, we’re not that naive. However, it’s all in how the content is presented. A good social media campaign is relatable to several people. Always ask yourself: Why is this relevant? This answer should always be to reach your target audience.

7. Incentives, Incentives, Incentives

You would think sweepstakes will guarantee engagement, but that isn’t always the case. Well, let me rephrase that – social media sweepstakes are not the only way to get someone’s attention. You want to show your target audience, or most loyal followers that you care about them. Just like the good saying, “you scratch my back, I scratch yours,” well it relates to social media campaigns. Offer discounts, immediate feedback, provide gift or rewards for participating in your campaign. Incentives entice the customers or people following you. This is essence also build and established a relationship between the customer and the brand.

6. Accessibility

Don’t just limit your campaign on one social media platform. Spread it out. If your budget allows it, spread the campaign out – Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine, etc. You have to understand that your core audience isn’t just on one social media site, and we’re at a point where Facebook isn’t reaching as many people as it used to. Lets consider these examples: The NBA created excited for Kevin Durant as he was receiving the Most Valuable Player (MVP award) in 2014 via Snapchat. Oreo used Vine as a way to extend its product in a creative platform to keep its customers afoot with its product. These are just two ways we are moving away from just Facebook and being accessible on more than one social media site.

5. Short, Simple, Sweet

Most campaigns that have grabbed the attention of millions, embody these three important S’s in social media marketing: short, simple and sweet. Let’s be honest, you probably only have their attention for 5 seconds, and that’s all you need. Too many hashtags or having a one that is too long to type turns the participant off. Create forms that don’t require your core followers to fear you’re doing an extensive background check. Yes, you want to have enough information for marketing purposes, but that lures them away – curve them with simple tactics and call of action. You don’t want to come off as a nag, so short always wins!

4. It’s okay to fail

If you campaign doesn’t jump off from the initiation, never falter. Stick to the plan and see it through. Because even an unsuccessful campaign is a successful campaign because you’re learning what works and what doesn’t. Now, I’m in no way saying go ahead and fail, because money is involved in these campaigns, but I am saying that it’s okay to not always deliver the best results. It’s all about trial and error with social media, because it’s not always predictable.

3. Consistency 

Stay on top of your campaign and see it through. Not everyone will know what you’re up to and you want your reach to peak as far it can. Pay attention to how often you are sending out your content and how they are being sent out.

2. Integrate the media

Video, photos, advertisements…these all help amplify your campaign. You want your campaign to also be mobile because let’s face it, this is the generation of smartphones. Radio, tv, print media aren’t dead just yet, and they are still vital in helping your social participation succeed. A good ad or poster could persuade a consumer to check it out and participate as well.

1. Measurement and Performance 

If you’ve accomplished your call of actions (or goals), then a celebration is in order for a job well done. Whether or not your results exceed or meet your desired expectations, you put your brand out there. People will be talking about you and and will be interested in what you do next. You are building a community of people interested in what you’re selling as well. Results can range from increase in revenue, a significant gain in your followers, heavy engagement, or subscriptions base is growing.

Follow Social Media University on Facebook. Follow Deontae on Twitter @deontaemoore.

Photo credit: agileimpact.org