Social media marketing is an on-going campaign that will require commitment as there is essentially no end. As mentioned before, there are a zillion social media sites to join, learn and utilize, and new social sites are popping up every week.
2. How Do You Do Social Media Marketing?
I wish there was a simple answer to this, but unfortunately, there isn’t just one single go-to
social media marketing formula, other than maybe “do a lot of it, and often.”
But even that’s too broad as there are numerous social sites that differ from one another.
From #FollowFriday to “poking someone,” each social site has its own etiquette and lingo.
Twitter can be used for updating followers, while Facebook can be used for discussions with fans, as
YouTube can be used to showcase products and et cetera.
Make sure the people handling your social media presence and marketing, whether in-house or
hired agency, understand the dynamics and options each social site provides and how to best
leverage them.
3. Do It Yourself
A lot of people will say that social media marketing is free and can be done in-house, which
is technically true, but what it does cost is time and resources.
Social media marketing is an on-going campaign that will require commitment as there is
essentially no end. As mentioned before, there are a zillion social media sites to join, learn
and utilize, and new social sites are popping up every week.
Not to mention current social sites are constantly developing and changing, which will
require your social media team to stay on top of all of them – learn what’s been added or
taken away and how to best use it to benefit.
What’s popular one day can easily be fading into non-existence the next (MySpace,
anyone?). Do you have a small group within your brand to dedicate to a social media
marketing campaign? Because a social media marketing campaign should go on as long as
your brand is available.
4. With So Many Options, Where Does One Start?
You can start with establishing both your short-term and long-term goals as to what you want to
accomplish with a social media marketing campaign.
Do you want to connect with your consumers?
Do you want to reach new consumers?
Do you want to develop a following?
5. When your goals are established you should be on
the social sites where your target demographic is.
Facebook has over 400 million users, so there’s a good chance your
demographic is there.
Maybe you want to reach early adapters, then Foursquare, the
newest social site to gain rapid traction (much like Twitter in
2008), may be your ideal starting point.
Maybe your brand is B2B, then LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, makes for a smart
initiative.
Perhaps you want to cast a wide net to attract an assorted audience, then an insightful,
entertaining blog or video(s) may be the way to go. Of course you’re not limited to just one
social site, you can become a part of them all! You just have to make sure you’re able to
manage every new social site you join.
6. What Do You Mean Manage?
By managing, I mean churning out content, providing updates
and interacting with consumers often and regularly.
Attention spans of internet users aren’t very long (hence, why the majority of YouTube videos are
under five minutes) and they’re quick to forget and move on.
The constant updating allows consumers to be reminded of your brand
(doesn’t mean you should spam) while the interaction lets consumers know
you’re a brand that cares about what consumers have to say.
Social media marketing is about building relationships. That is the long-term benefit.
7. Benefits
One great aspect of social media marketing is that it is very flexible, meaning you can move the
direction of the campaign to integrate with your other marketing activities easily, such as
broadcast commercials, print ads, billboards and online videos.
One example would be to spearhead your social media marketing
campaign with a highly entertaining (dare I say, viral) video.
Use the video content as the basis for making a Facebook Like-page (formerly Fan-page)
and/or Twitter account.
8. Examples
You can establish a character or mascot from said video to serve as a representative of your brand.
Imagine Kellogg’s tweeting about Frosted Flakes, and then imagine Tony the Tiger
(Frosted Flakes’ animated mascot) tweeting about Frosted Flakes. Both would be talking
about Frosted Flakes, but from two different angles. To add to this you can even
encourage your employees to give your brand social mentions.
In this sense the mascot is essentially the personification of
your brand, and can be used to communicate with your
consumers with a distinct voice and personality.
This gives you another option to discuss your
brand from a different angle.
9. Conclusion
Like any marketing campaign social media marketing takes
preparation, a well-executed plan, creativity and follow through.
What separates social media marketing though is the consumer
engagement and interaction. A well established relationship
between brand and consumer increases brand loyalty which leads
to increased sales. So, start interacting!
10. CONTACTS
@SupercoolAgency
Facebook.com/supercoolcreative
YouTube.com/supercoolcreative
Supercool Creative
Supercool@supercoolcreative.com
Supercool Creative is a digital creative agency specializing
in online video creative, production, viral video marketing
and integrated social media marketing campaigns designed
to target customers, build awareness and drive interaction.
1556 N La Brea Ave Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90028
www.supercoolcreative.com
(323) 719-3409