Page 97 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

» What value the customer will get from participating: Customers want
social proof that others you have dealt with have had a great experience. You
need to gather testimonial stories to share. If you can provide video of
previous customers speaking, you have a way to demonstrate authenticity.
You also need to show how your brand will either specifically improve
customers’ lives or contribute to their sense of worth in relation to their
friends (otherwise they won’t share your content).

» People who are impacted; show visual stories: Provide visuals that tell a
story. Well-known screenwriter Robert McKee has said that stories “unite an
idea with an emotion.” Make sure that yours does. And with so much of social
media being visually driven today, using rich, evocative photography has
become all the more important.
» Who the hero is: Have a story about the person or thing that is leading this
effort. It can be a product that works, a founder who wants to do good, and so
on. Show that hurdles have been overcome. The late Steve Jobs was a
visionary who figured heavily in the promotion of Apple products because he
was the heart and soul of the business.
» How internal staff feels about what they do: A recently produced commer-
cial by General Electric shows children talking about what their parents do at
GE. The message comes through loud and clear that not only are the employ-
ees proud of what they produce but their children are, too.

Create an action plan

Obviously, the actions you take are dictated by the length and complexity of
the campaign. Every campaign has special features and highlights that need
showcasing. However, following are some things that are common to most SMM
campaigns you’ll want to consider creating:

» A clear call to action.
Decide what action you want the user to take, and make sure that everything
you do supports that. If the user has to sign up for something, display the
sign-up process front and center at all times.
» Hashtags and other tools.
Most SMM campaigns create a hashtag for Twitter and Instagram so that
people can follow the conversation. A hashtag has the pound sign (#) and a
word or phrase related to the project. For example, a 2011 campaign to feed
people on Thanksgiving was started by Pepto-Bismol with the hashtag
#HelpPeptoFeedAmerica. Whenever someone retweeted the message with
that hashtag, the makers of Pepto-Bismol donated money to hunger relief.

CHAPTER 4 Launching SMM Campaigns 81