Often businesses contact us wanting to develop a social media campaign, which as a discipline we have mastered very well. Do we have a crystal ball for making social media campaigns successful and are our people just that good? No, and sadly no!
What allows us to have successful social media campaigns, are two things 1) We develop every campaign with a strategic plan and approach 2) Our people are not good, they are very smart. People who settle with being just good are often also very lucky and luck always runs out down the line.
Often people think that they should be on Facebook and MySpace because it is the thing to do. I say if you sell rollerblades and you join a community with over five million Baby Boomers you have not matched your target audience correctly at all!
According to Andy Sernovitz there are some old-fashion marketing words to follow and those should be “research” and “targeting.” Which I agree with Andy, many agencies will tell you that you need Facebook, MySpace, viral videos, or a blog.
“If an agency is selling you a presence on one of these sites without proving that your customers are already there, then you are being sold their current hot product — not what you need,” states Andy Sernovitz.
Andy Sernovitz’s Key Points:
1. Social media are tools to start a conversation.
2. They are tools to extend a conversation.
3. They are not an advertising tactic.
I feel that it is very important for those running your social media campaign to make sure that they properly research your target audiences. Remember it is theory that will guide research!
So now go get social!