Supercharge Your Social Campaign Strategy, Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, we covered why strategic social campaigns are good for your brand. (How does higher awareness, better conversation rates and incredible Ideal Advocates™ insights sound?)
And we described the difference between foundational social campaigns (brand-building, consistent, updated every 1-3 months) and sprint social campaigns (goal-oriented, single CTA, last 1-2 weeks).
Today, we’re going to walk through how to build a kick-butt sprint campaign in seven easy steps.
So download our Social Media Campaign Planning Guide and get your comrades-in-social-arms together over a beer or two. This is going to be fun. And fast.
Part 1: List your overarching marketing goals.
This is your quick-and-dirty brainstorming session. Write down your brand’s current marketing goals. All of ‘em. Now which one is your biggest need? Or the most pressing for your Ideal Advocates right now? Circle it. You’re going to build your sprint campaign around this goal.
Part 2: Align your marketing goal to your sprint campaign goal.
What can social media do to help you meet your marketing goal? Generate ___ leads? Reach ___ new people? Get really, really specific. And really, really reasonable. Your foundational campaign should give you a baseline for social metrics; be realistic about the numbers you can achieve in a short time frame.
Then choose the platforms for your campaign: You don’t have to use every channel your organization is on. Choose one or two for this short sprint. Which ones will help you reach this specific goal?
Finally, remember to benchmark your current social stats* on those channels (like reach and engagement) so you can measure your campaign’s impact later.
*If you’re just getting started on social, don’t stress: You can get those metrics easily with each channel’s built-in analytics tools. Check ‘em out: Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights, LinkedIn Analytics and Twitter Analytics.
Part 3: Target your Ideal Advocates™.
You gotta know who you’re talking to to know what you need to say! Write down everything you know about the people you’re trying to reach. Still in the discovery phase? Then find out as much as you can about your current followers using social’s built-in analytics. Don’t be afraid to do a little digging behind the stats. It can help to visit the profiles and pages of your most engaged followers—check your comments, shares and messages—to find out who you’re already talking with.
Part 4: Set your timeline.
Sprint campaigns usually last 1 to 2 weeks but can be even shorter. What timeframe will help you reach your goal? Are there any important holidays or events you need to build around? Set your campaign’s beginning and end date and remember to leave yourself enough time to prep—two weeks at the very minimum!
Part 5: Plan your campaign content.
What are you going to say? Note that the social posts themselves are only one part of your content strategy! What thought leadership pieces, blog posts or other published content will your posts link to? If you have a budget, what ads will you run and which posts will you boost? What visuals—images, graphics, videos—will you be sharing?
Who’s gonna get all of that done? Assign every piece so nothing gets forgotten. And get yourself a scheduling tool! This can be as simple as a free, shared spreadsheet online. Or you can subscribe to one of the many helpful social scheduling tools available. (Fervor uses HeyOrca.)
Part 6: Deploy and monitor.
You know, hit post! This is where you get to work. Here are some tips for making the most of your sprint:
- Assign one point person to execute the campaign. Make sure your images are golden, your grammar is good and everything is posting according to plan. Keep that point person on monitor duty to respond to messages and comments; social is a two-way medium!
- If you’re feeling like your campaign is a dud after a couple days, don’t panic. See what you can change to improve engagement. Check the tone of your language first: Are you talking with your Ideal Advocates™ in a way that resonates? Do what you can to change it up as you go—and know you can always learn important lessons from a low-engagement campaign.
- If you’re receiving negative feedback, the best thing you can do is keep going while communicating directly with your detractors. Keep things positive, curious and non-defensive. If the back-and-forths are getting long, you can always ask to take things to direct-message. Remember, you’re learning from this, even if it’s hard!
Part 7: Evaluate your campaign.
You made it to the finish line! Here’s where it gets fun. Did you reach your goal? How do your pre- and post-campaign metrics compare? What posts performed well and which ones bombed? Remember, practice makes perfect (or close-to-perfect) on social, and every brand is different. Take the time to figure out what is working for you and where you should be spending your resources for the best results.
Then use what you learned to launch your next sprint campaign! Yep, you heard us: Go back to Part 1 and do it all over again. You’re a pro now!
Want to know more about how Social Media Campaigns can help tame the social dragon and boost your brand? Contact us at createfervor.com/contact. Or @ us with your questions: @createfervor