Page 106 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

FIGURE 4-5:
Walmart Moms.

Treat him like an existing customer, whether that means sending him special
offers, inviting him to participate in focus groups, or asking him to beta test
new products. But always remember that when you send your customers a
special offer, it must be on an opt-in basis. Don’t spam them if you don’t have
their permission to communicate with them.
» Extend the campaign to the website.
Many an SMM campaign has failed because it was kept separate from the
company website. The campaign is traditionally built on a microsite with
display advertising promoting the campaign. When the campaign has run its
course, the microsite is shut down and the advertising is stopped. In the case
of an SMM campaign, don’t shut down the microsite. Instead, promote the
SMM campaign on the company website, and when the campaign winds
down, find a place on the company website for it. That way, your customers
can always find it, and if they coalesced into communities during the course of
the campaign, they always have a place to return to. In fact, it may be best to
launch the campaign on the company website itself and move away from
developing discrete microsites.

Often, your participants may know better than you how to create greater meaning
from the SMM campaign in the form of a community. Ask them what you should
be doing, if anything at all. You’ll definitely get strong advice from the people who
care the most.

90 PART 2 Practicing SMM on the Social Web