Four Steps to a Winning Social Media Campaign

My philosophy is that a social media approach needs to be altered to fit the current business and marketing strategy of your company and not the other way around.

Socialocity Marketing has a sound 4 step process leading to a winning social media campaign. The process includes: an assessment, social media tool mapping, goal setting and tactics and tracking ROI.

In the first step, an assessment is made to assist you in defining and/or refining your primary purpose for participating in social media. We need to be very clear on our goals here. Are you focusing solely on lead generation, are you looking to influence thought leaders or do you want to educate a specific target group?

Second, I’ll explain what social media tools will best suit your objectives and lay them out on a map. I’ll make suggestions, we’ll brainstorm some ideas and we’ll get possibilities out on the table.

Third, we’ll begin the first draft of specific goals and tactics. An example would be: Increase hits to the web site by 20% within 4 months through a FaceBook Business Page and bi-weekly podcast. Or place five new contacts a week into the sales funnel through building a powerful Twitter and LinkedIn account.

And last, I’ll explain the two types of ROI and develop a custom chart to track whether or not goals are being realized.

The goal in the first consulting session is to open your eyes to the possibilities, show you what it will take to accomplish goals and establish an ROI tracking system. This is the foundation for launching a successful social media campaign your business.

Is Social Media a Fad?

Many are wondering if it’s really worth the time to dive into social media marketing. Sure, it’s a hot topic right now but is it just a fad and what type of return might I realize if any? Nelson’s Cadillac dealerships joined Facebook and Twitter, posted beautiful pictures on their sites and announce their specials each week. They haven’t seen an increase in sales.

A recent survey by Quba, a digital communications company in the UK, reveals how businesses currently utilize social media. David Sealey, director at Quba says, "companies cannot simply tweet about their latest product and post a link to it, as that, quite simply, is advertising and will be viewed as spam by the very audience organizations are attempting to reach out to.”

Social media is not a magic wand but it can become a powerful communication tool when utilized correctly with careful planning and precise execution. Going about it the way Nelson’s Cadillac has is an example of what not to do. Of course they won’t see results. Additionally, they didn't set goals so they had nothing to measure.

Sealey continues, "those that can utilize it successfully will do so in different ways and to a different degree. Using Twitter as an example, 52 percent of our respondents did not know how to use this medium as a social marketing tool and were therefore unaware of the potential pitfalls." He added, "for companies to make social media work, they have to have a social media strategy in place. One person doing it as a hobby may not mean the right tone of voice comes across."

Social media marketing is utilized by many large companies very successfully while others are still floundering. Some successes include:

• Dell
• Starbucks
• Jetblue
• HRBlock
• Ford
• Kodak

As to whether or not social media is here to stay; I ask, is word of mouth marketing here to stay? It’s the same thing. Focusing on the broader concept helps to understand social media concept. Twitter, FaceBook or LinkedIn could change or be upped by other social media platforms but marketing on the internet is a standard practice and always will be. It’s just a matter of how versed you are at leveraging the tools. To opt out of social media for business marketing is like saying, I don’t need the shovel, I’ve always used my hands.

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Social Media Time Managment for Business

I wrote a four page report titled "Social Media in a Time Crunch" which is available on my website. Here's an excerpt from that report.

Strategic Tips to Manage Your Time Wisely

1. Based on your goals, decide how much time you want to dedicate per week.
2. Block out time during the day and have a stop watch or a buzzer on the desk.
3. Be disciplined and do not get caught up in Mary-Joes video of her new baby. It’s easy to start wandering. Resist the urge to get caught up during non-business hours.
4. Focus on the activities that will have the most impact. Do the thinking, research and profiling to find out where your customers hang out online. Keep in mind that it’s popular to have many connections but quality trumps quantity when it comes to lead generation. If you’re into sales and marketing quantity is a good thing.

If you’re not disciplined, time on social media is spent mostly wandering and you’ll wonder why you aren’t achieving results. There are many variables to consider if you’re not getting results. The content of what you write, missing the target audience and not having a website that captures leads are all prime weak spots. This is something you can discuss with a social media consultant.

You'll also find in the full report how to be effective with social media in just 1 hour a day.