Page 105 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

launch new ones. However, SMM campaigns are unique in that after they start,
they may not stop when you want them to. It’s like turning off the lights midway
through a dinner party. If you have a conversation going and have brought a com-
munity of people together around your brand, product, or campaign, the last thing
you want to do is to suddenly disown those people. It’s very important that you
plan for migrating that community of people to a broader purpose or goal.

Here are four ways to move people onward successfully:

» Give participants new reasons to engage with your brand.

Your original SMM campaign has a set purpose and objectives. After those
objectives are accomplished, don’t turn off the lights. Instead, think of the next
campaign that you have planned and how you can customize it to this
community of people.
In fact, try to weave the campaigns together into a program that benefits
these people. As you do this, remember the four rules of participation that we
outlined previously: authenticity, quid pro quo, equal status, and disowning
the campaign.
» Encourage participants to coalesce into communities.
Often, the people who participate in your SMM campaign all share something
in common. This may not always be the case, but depending upon the
campaign type, they may indeed be interested in forming a community. If you
believe that to be the case, encourage people to coalesce into self-supporting
communities. It only helps you in the long run and gives new life to the
campaign. Campaigns that have generated good will transform into customer
communities that you can tap into for future marketing and business efforts.
A good example of this is the Walmart ElevenMoms campaign, which
launched in 2008, and is still running today. Walmart tapped 11 mommy
bloggers to go shopping at Walmart stores (they were given a budget) and
then blog about their experiences. They did so successfully (at least from the
perspective of Walmart) and are now organized into a social network. In fact,
over time, they have added more moms and are now simply called Walmart
Moms, as shown in Figure 4-5.
» Treat participants like existing customers.
Someone who’s participated in your SMM campaign may not have bought
your product, but he has given you his time and probably has shared a bit of
himself with you in the process. This may have taken the form of commenting
on a blog post, participating in a contest, sharing your viral video clip with
friends, or testing a product and writing a review about it. Because he has
done more than someone who experienced a traditional marketing campaign,
you owe him more.

CHAPTER 4 Launching SMM Campaigns 89