Developing a creative Social Media Campaign for your project, business, organization or event is a lot like a journey. You decide to go on a journey away from the way you have been doing things, in favor of an adventure into new territory, new ways of relating with your clients and your audience.
There are at least two ways to go on a journey, and each way creates different results. One way to journey is without a map, just randomly going wherever you feel drawn, and experiencing whatever you find there. This can result in good experiences along the way, but it often leads to crucial losses, and sometimes bad experiences, as well.
The other way to journey is with a plan and a map. Together, we can map out a Social Media Journey for you and your business. This map will guide you in where to go with this campaign, but you will still have the flexibility to change your plans along the way, to make sure you end up where you wish to go.
As we work together to create a Social Media Road Map for your business, we have several factors to take into consideration, so that we craft a Social Media Road Map especially suited for you and your clientele.
*I will want to consider the nature of your business or project, whether it is mainstream or counter cultural. It's been my experience that each of these kinds of business responds more productively to certain marketing techniques. Countercultural businesses tend to do best with organic, relational, community building techniques. Mainstream businesses tend to do best with straight advertising, marketing and public relations techniques. I would love to try countercultural techniques for a mainstream business, but I have yet to find one who is interested! So I remain hopeful for that challenge.
Also, a Social Media Campaign for a Natural Health Food Store will be much different than a campaign for a musician who is touring on the Festival Circuit. Each business should craft it's own unique Campaign or Journey, and a well-planned Map to go with it.
*I will think about the kinds of people who will be drawn to what you are offering. I will look at the things they tend to be interested in and what they tend to respond to. For example, some audiences respond to personalized, one-on-one direct contact and "friending", and tend to value things like natural healing and green technologies. Other audiences prefer more anonymity or distance, or don't care much for personal contact, and they respond more to popular culture and mass media trends.
You will want your Road Map to take you through the local, mobile and social media territories where you will be seen by your own specific target audience, in ways they will respond to and be stimulated by, so that they are driven to connect with you and to do business with you, and be satisfied with their experience with you.
Once you establish a presence in these online locations, you will want us to pay attention to where people are "living" online, and keep up with them accordingly. For example, when Facebook first took off, many good people were left behind, still doing Yahoo groups, while all their friends were starting new lives on Facebook. It took time for them to move out of Yahoo and into Facebook, but they have not regretted the move, and have not looked back.
*I will want to know what your highest dreams and goals for your business are, and what you imagine your goals are for achieving that. For example, we need to look at how your business is doing now, how you want it to grow and develop, and by how much and by what date. Then we can break that down into smaller chunks that are achievable on a day-by-day basis. If you wish to grow a community fan base of 500 clients within one year, and for a certain percentage of them to be making regular purchases with you, then we need to plan accordingly, for example.
*Finally, I will want to be able to assess the resources that you wish to access in order to accomplish those goals. I specialize in local, mobile and social media platforms and services, put together in a start up package to launch you, and then a maintenance package to keep you rolling along on your Journey. You can access resources such as Citysearch or Google Boost, QR codes, and many, many other resources, depending on your goals.
First, we will look at the overall Map, the terrain of the social media landscape, so to speak. This includes but is not limited to the following:
*social networks and online communities, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, Tribe.net, Razoo, Ning, care2, and so forth
*consumer review sites, such as Yelp
*social bookmarking sites, such as StumbleUpon and Tumbler
*video and photo sharing sites, such as Youtube, Flicker
*blogs, forums and discussion boards, such as Hipforums, where countercultural people discuss everything.
Then, as we survey the Map so that we can choose where you want to go, we will converse about what each of those online places can do for you and your business.
*Some tools, like Local Search Engine Optimization, can actually drive customers to your door, by making you visible on the first page of Google Places. When people search for your kind of business, you are among the first listings they see, and they contact you and do business with you.
*Other tools, such as Mobile apps, will incentivize your campaign, by sending out text messages with built-in coupons that also drive customers to your door, to do business with you.
*Finally, Social Media platforms will serve you well by doing things like direct customer relations, management of your image and your reputation, reception of feedback from your customers, and community building! So, a Journey like this is actually both fun and profitable, for both you and for your future satisfied customers!
As we do this, we will listen in on the other travelers along the path of your Journey, so to speak. We will do regular trending analysis, also known as image management, to find out what the people out there are already saying about you, your business, or your industry in general. We can then respond to that with your own thoughts, opinions, and principles in relation to that. This will give your target audience a strong feel for who you are and what you stand for. And that is a strategy that wins both hearts and wallets!
Our next step in creating a Social Media Road Map for your business or project is to choose your destinations along the way, including some from Local platforms (such as Google Places), some from Mobile platforms (such as mobile apps and custom QR codes linked to a mobile landing page, to be swiped by customers with Smart Phones), and some from Social Media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). At this point, we will craft the marketing strategies and tactics that will engage and stimulate your target audience to do business with you.
At this point, we will actually go on the Journey! We will set up and post regular content to relevant blogs, to capture people's attention and to pique their interest in you. We will start interesting, meaningful conversations on the social media platforms that will prompt people to comment, respond, and put in their own two cents worth. Readers will be able to see a discreet link to your website, blog, twitter and so forth, in case they want more contact with you.
Above all, remember that your Social Media Campaign is a Journey that is all about building RELATIONSHIPS. In this day and age, people are going to respond best to people they feel they can trust, people they feel they know, even if only online. The only way to build online relationships is to have someone representing you online each and every day, posting fresh content, overcoming negative feedback, growing your networks of followers with people actually interested in you, building alliances with people who respond to you, and so on.
You are essentially building a community for your project or business. People want to be in a community that resonates with their own kind of energy and consciousness.
Thundersong Social Media Services can do that with you--it's our passion and our specialty!
There are at least two ways to go on a journey, and each way creates different results. One way to journey is without a map, just randomly going wherever you feel drawn, and experiencing whatever you find there. This can result in good experiences along the way, but it often leads to crucial losses, and sometimes bad experiences, as well.
The other way to journey is with a plan and a map. Together, we can map out a Social Media Journey for you and your business. This map will guide you in where to go with this campaign, but you will still have the flexibility to change your plans along the way, to make sure you end up where you wish to go.
As we work together to create a Social Media Road Map for your business, we have several factors to take into consideration, so that we craft a Social Media Road Map especially suited for you and your clientele.
*I will want to consider the nature of your business or project, whether it is mainstream or counter cultural. It's been my experience that each of these kinds of business responds more productively to certain marketing techniques. Countercultural businesses tend to do best with organic, relational, community building techniques. Mainstream businesses tend to do best with straight advertising, marketing and public relations techniques. I would love to try countercultural techniques for a mainstream business, but I have yet to find one who is interested! So I remain hopeful for that challenge.
Also, a Social Media Campaign for a Natural Health Food Store will be much different than a campaign for a musician who is touring on the Festival Circuit. Each business should craft it's own unique Campaign or Journey, and a well-planned Map to go with it.
*I will think about the kinds of people who will be drawn to what you are offering. I will look at the things they tend to be interested in and what they tend to respond to. For example, some audiences respond to personalized, one-on-one direct contact and "friending", and tend to value things like natural healing and green technologies. Other audiences prefer more anonymity or distance, or don't care much for personal contact, and they respond more to popular culture and mass media trends.
You will want your Road Map to take you through the local, mobile and social media territories where you will be seen by your own specific target audience, in ways they will respond to and be stimulated by, so that they are driven to connect with you and to do business with you, and be satisfied with their experience with you.
Once you establish a presence in these online locations, you will want us to pay attention to where people are "living" online, and keep up with them accordingly. For example, when Facebook first took off, many good people were left behind, still doing Yahoo groups, while all their friends were starting new lives on Facebook. It took time for them to move out of Yahoo and into Facebook, but they have not regretted the move, and have not looked back.
*I will want to know what your highest dreams and goals for your business are, and what you imagine your goals are for achieving that. For example, we need to look at how your business is doing now, how you want it to grow and develop, and by how much and by what date. Then we can break that down into smaller chunks that are achievable on a day-by-day basis. If you wish to grow a community fan base of 500 clients within one year, and for a certain percentage of them to be making regular purchases with you, then we need to plan accordingly, for example.
*Finally, I will want to be able to assess the resources that you wish to access in order to accomplish those goals. I specialize in local, mobile and social media platforms and services, put together in a start up package to launch you, and then a maintenance package to keep you rolling along on your Journey. You can access resources such as Citysearch or Google Boost, QR codes, and many, many other resources, depending on your goals.
First, we will look at the overall Map, the terrain of the social media landscape, so to speak. This includes but is not limited to the following:
*social networks and online communities, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, Tribe.net, Razoo, Ning, care2, and so forth
*consumer review sites, such as Yelp
*social bookmarking sites, such as StumbleUpon and Tumbler
*video and photo sharing sites, such as Youtube, Flicker
*blogs, forums and discussion boards, such as Hipforums, where countercultural people discuss everything.
Then, as we survey the Map so that we can choose where you want to go, we will converse about what each of those online places can do for you and your business.
*Some tools, like Local Search Engine Optimization, can actually drive customers to your door, by making you visible on the first page of Google Places. When people search for your kind of business, you are among the first listings they see, and they contact you and do business with you.
*Other tools, such as Mobile apps, will incentivize your campaign, by sending out text messages with built-in coupons that also drive customers to your door, to do business with you.
*Finally, Social Media platforms will serve you well by doing things like direct customer relations, management of your image and your reputation, reception of feedback from your customers, and community building! So, a Journey like this is actually both fun and profitable, for both you and for your future satisfied customers!
As we do this, we will listen in on the other travelers along the path of your Journey, so to speak. We will do regular trending analysis, also known as image management, to find out what the people out there are already saying about you, your business, or your industry in general. We can then respond to that with your own thoughts, opinions, and principles in relation to that. This will give your target audience a strong feel for who you are and what you stand for. And that is a strategy that wins both hearts and wallets!
Our next step in creating a Social Media Road Map for your business or project is to choose your destinations along the way, including some from Local platforms (such as Google Places), some from Mobile platforms (such as mobile apps and custom QR codes linked to a mobile landing page, to be swiped by customers with Smart Phones), and some from Social Media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). At this point, we will craft the marketing strategies and tactics that will engage and stimulate your target audience to do business with you.
At this point, we will actually go on the Journey! We will set up and post regular content to relevant blogs, to capture people's attention and to pique their interest in you. We will start interesting, meaningful conversations on the social media platforms that will prompt people to comment, respond, and put in their own two cents worth. Readers will be able to see a discreet link to your website, blog, twitter and so forth, in case they want more contact with you.
Above all, remember that your Social Media Campaign is a Journey that is all about building RELATIONSHIPS. In this day and age, people are going to respond best to people they feel they can trust, people they feel they know, even if only online. The only way to build online relationships is to have someone representing you online each and every day, posting fresh content, overcoming negative feedback, growing your networks of followers with people actually interested in you, building alliances with people who respond to you, and so on.
You are essentially building a community for your project or business. People want to be in a community that resonates with their own kind of energy and consciousness.
Thundersong Social Media Services can do that with you--it's our passion and our specialty!
