As I begin to work with larger brands and companies that are just beginning to make the transition into social I keep running into this question: How do I start?
It's a fair question. For companies with millions of dollars in advertising tied up in regular campaigns and strategies the concept of going into social media is terrifying. They don't even know how to begin the process.
A painless way does exist though: Jump start your social media program by launching it on the back of a traditional campaign. How? By merely continuing the conversation once the campaign ends and building yourselves a path/plan to enter into a more robust social presence.
Why is this more effective then simply jumping into social? It allows upper management and your employees to become accustomed to the social space and allow yourselves to have a beach head. You know how to utilize traditional campaigns, use that knowledge to branch out into social.
How do you make this leap?
1. You have to allow for flexibility within the campaign. Let go of the message to a certain extent. Otherwise you won't have an opportunity to learn how to engage and encourage your customers into a conversation. If you can't be flexible this technique won't work.
2. Don't use a hard sell. This isn't a normal campaign. You want buy in from customers for the long haul. You don't want to scare them off by being extremely aggressive.
3. Listen to your customer's feedback. Otherwise, you won't gain any benefit from taking your campaign into social. This way you can have access to and receive immediate feedback from your potential customers.
4. Social alone is worthless. You need to have all of the benefits of a fantastic traditional campaign in order for this to be effective. Otherwise the social won't be able to get off the ground. The goal here is to build up a following out of a non-social exercise then transfer those relationships into social media.
5. It doesn't count if you don't continue the conversation. If that singular campaign is your sole goal, don't bother adding a social media component. The solution for that is called "digital" and it has existed for some time.
This method is a painless way to enter the space. You eventually won't even notice that you are utilizing social techniques until you are truly vested. Play to your strengths and go traditional first and then launch into your social component.
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tagged as campaign social media, social media campaign, traditional media into social media, traditional media transformation, turn traditional into social
I always worry when companies decide (or are advised) that they want to "do" a purely social media-led campaign. It very rarely works (the Skittle homepage mess with Twitter feeds) and is only as good as the audience it's reaching (so, potentially more limited).
Like you say, mix it up - complement an existing and traditional approach and tailor it accordingly. It's true what they say - two heads are better than one.
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