Communicators who develop successful social media campaigns are not necessarily blessed with good luck. Well, maybe there’s a little bit of luck involved. But the communicator who consistently creates campaigns that resonate on social media does a lot of research and strategic planning before a launch.
Alexandra Kirsch, account supervisor for the digital practice at Finn Partners and featured speaker at PR News’ Social Media Conference in New York City on Oct. 9, recently shared with us four key elements that communicators must take into account when developing a social media campaign.
- Timeliness: In the social world, it’s hard to predict when exactly a brand may decide to declare a day theirs, or when a celebrity might do something that triggers a trending topic. That said, plan events around times and dates that you know your respective audience will respond to and engage with proactively.
- Reach: Do your best to build campaigns around efforts that will stretch across audiences and have cross-platform appeal.
- Audience: A campaign is only effective if it’s well received, and that can only be done if you have an understanding of your audience—who they are, and what they want. Evaluate audience demographics and conversation trends before launching a campaign to determine whether or not there is true potential for a strong ROE (return on engagement).
- Campaign Lifespan: It’s nice to think that your campaigns have lifespans that go beyond the immediate activation. When you plan and build campaign strategy, look for ways to make the launch memorable, as well as to extend the idea’s relevance through sustainable tactics.
There is still time to register for PR News' Social Media Conference, taking place on Oct. 9 in New York City.
Follow Richard Brownell: @RickBrownell