Page 83 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

» Determine your goals for this type of activity.
You could do a plethora of things with your campaign. The key is to focus it on
one major outcome. Ask yourself, “What action do I want the customer to take
after engaging with the content?” (via tweet, video, link, and so on). This helps
you choose the right first step.
» Invest in the right real-time marketing tools.

Within the last two years, several technologies have been launched that allow
you to truly understand what consumers are thinking, talking about, and
doing on a real-time basis. Real-time tracking can be around your brands or
around topics that matter to both them and you. Whether it be tools that help
you identify real-time trends as they surface or technologies that let you
observe how trends travel from one physical location to another, operating
effectively in real time when your consumers most care about you requires
investments in the right tools and technologies.

» Designate staff to monitor real-time activity.
Make it someone’s (or several people’s) task to monitor the online activity in
real time. That may sound obvious, but when you have very busy people on
your staff, people think that the other person will do it or that they can get to
it later.
» Have resources available to take action.

If you agree that you are going all in on this campaign, make sure to let your
creative people know that they may be required to create something in
response to feedback. Of course, we’re not suggesting that your campaign will
have to be as elaborate as what a Fortune 10 company may do. But you can
get great mileage by simply writing back to the comments made. The idea is
that real people are listening and talking back.
» Monitor news in your topic area.

When you are trying to decide how to make your campaign relevant, consider
riffing off of some current event. This is an old PR trick. It’s why when something
of note happens, you see headlines like, “What X can learn about Y from the Old
Spice Guy.” When people Google “Old Spice,” you show up in the results.

» Use the real words and phrases that customers use.
Related to the item above is the idea that SEO (search engine optimization)
should not be ignored. Pay close attention to the specific words and phrases
that customers are using, and seed them in your campaign.

CHAPTER 3 Getting in the Social Media Marketing Frame of Mind 67