Launching a social media campaign is no easy task. It takes planning, precision, and participation to have a successful multi-platform social media marketing operation. If you’re considering launching a campaign, you probably already completed the groundwork by gathering relevant content and setting up blog promotions. Now, you’re ready to unveil those awesome changes to your social media followers. In actuality, if you have planned ahead, this is the easy part because all you’re doing is telling everyone what you are up to! In fact, there is a very simple, easy outline you can use to organize the launch of a social media campaign.
Step 1: Pick a theme
When you need to talk to your consumers, there needs to be a holistic theme that goes across the platforms and creates a sense of unity in your posts. For example, if you are in Marketing and you choose to launch a campaign at the beginning of spring a topical theme would be “Spring Social Media Clean Up!” Your theme would need to be something that is on people’s radars and is engaging. When you check your editorial calendar you will see what you are scheduled to post and how that will tie into your theme. See? All the work is done already; there are just minor tweaks to make if necessary. Super easy!
Step 2: Pick an active, related hashtag
Nowadays every brand, company, and television show wants you to “join the conversation” and tweet with a certain hashtag. The beauty of that is the chance of visibility that can be created from being a trending topic. Creating your own hashtag that your online community can use to connect with each other can really raise your profile. The best way to achieve this objective involves picking an easy hashtag that needs to be strong and straightforward. Avoid picking one that is too vague because you want a targeted response. It may seem like a good idea to use #SpringCleaning, but not everyone on that hashtag is there for marketing. That can create publicity problems because it will be harder for your campaign to stand out on a general trending topic. A better hashtag would be #CleanMarketing or #MediaCleanup. They are still evoking the theme, but they are a little more targeted.
Step 3: Get a new graphic
You can take this as far as you want based on your brand’s logo. A popular way to do this without disturbing the branding of your distinct design is to give your avatars and thumbnails a theme or color makeover. Think along the lines of Google home screen ingenuity. We all have seen our favorite brands do a Halloween adaptation of their logos, or one for the holidays – those subtle tweaks make an enormous difference in your appearance. You seem current, cool but most of all active. When consumers see that you routinely change your layout, avatars and are engaging with your followers and fans, they get the impression that you care about your social media and are using it to the fullest. So you do not need to do weekly overhauls to stay current, but a few subtle changes at least four times a year are great ways to look more interesting. Plus, it gives you more to talk about to your followers when you are on your various social media platforms.
Step 4: Post. Post! POST!
This is literally the easiest part of a social media campaign. All you have to do is push your content to your platforms and promote! All of the tools are there so you just want to make sure you are engaging at optimal times. Try avoiding the weekends and ungodly hours of the morning unless that is when that particular social platform’s demographic is active. (Pinterest users get really active after 9 pm!) All of this work is null and void if are posting at random times and people do not get the chance to see anything. There is a plethora of information available to explain the average social media users’ habits that can help dictate when to post and take the guesswork out of promotion.
Social media is not as elusive and uncharted as it appears. To be successful with a campaign you just have to plan out what you want to say, choose how you want it to look, then decide when to post. It is all clockwork when you get down to it! The biggest tip is to have fun with your social media because that can help keep your consumer opinion positive in relation to your products! To help kickstart your social media campaign, contact the experts at Premiere Creative and give us a call at (973) 346-8100.