Page 104 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

In a similar fashion, Shiv’s company Eargo, which has a high-end hearing loss
solution, ran a 2019 summer campaign in which for every hearing aid sold, it
donated a hearing aid to a person in need via charity. With the hearing aids costing
approximately $2,750, this was a major cause marketing effort tying the purchase
to people’s belief that giving back is important. Customers were encouraged to
share their purchase in social media and encourage others to purchase as well
given the altruistic dimensions to the campaign.

Give participants equal status

Many marketing campaigns are designed to make the consumer feel special —
more special than everyone else around them. That’s a good thing. They feel spe-
cial, and they end up having favorable feelings for your product and go out and
buy it. Apple and Harley-Davidson are two brands that personify this philosophy:
They make their customers feel special and different from everyone else.

That’s wonderful, but it doesn’t apply to the SMM realm in the same way. People
across the social web like to believe that they’re as special and as unique as the
next person, as they should. If someone is doing something special, others want
to do that as well. If a person does something interesting, others want access to it
as well. That’s human nature, and the social web encourages behavior through the
voyeurism it allows for.

Let go of the campaign

By virtue of starting the campaign, you probably feel that it is your responsibility
to moderate and shape it. That doesn’t have to be the case. Successful SMM
campaigns are the ones in which the brand advocates take the campaign in new
directions. As you develop the campaign, think of yourself as a participant and not
just the owner of the campaign. You make better decisions regarding its evolution
that way, and by letting go, you allow others to take it in new and much amplified
directions. And as always, remember that your consumers will be in control of the
campaign. That’s what makes social media marketing different. However, you will
always be in control of your own response to the consumer participation, and that
always presents exciting opportunities.

Killing the Campaign Expiry Date

You’re probably used to thinking of campaigns as having a start date and an end
date. And they usually need that. You have a finite marketing budget; the cam-
paign is geared around a series of events (like Christmas sales); new products
replace old ones several times a year, and that forces you to end campaigns and

88 PART 2 Practicing SMM on the Social Web