How to Manage a Social Media Marketing Campaign

Co-authored by Sharon Lee

Last Updated: March 3, 2022 References

Social media marketing uses the power of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote your brand or products. This form of marketing is low-cost and highly effective for reaching customers, but it requires a great deal of time and effort. By forming a social media strategy, maintaining a daily online presence, and optimizing your content, you can successfully manage a social media marketing campaign.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Forming a Social Media Strategy

1
Outline your social media goals. When you first start your campaign, you’ll likely just be posting content to grow your number of followers. However, you’ll want to have goals other than just increasing your followers. This could be an increase in sales via posts, more positive reviews, or an increase in first-time customers.^{[1]
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- Increasing your number of followers is always a good goal to have in mind, but if your followers aren’t interacting with your brand or buying your goods or services, you might need to focus on other aspects of your campaign.
2
Conduct a survey of your brand aimed at current customers.^{[2]
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Expert Source

Sharon Lee
Success Strategist
Expert Interview. 2 December 2021.} Using a service such as Google Forms or SurveyMonkey, you can create an online survey to send to customers. To do this, you’ll just input your questions into the survey generator and send the link to your customers via email. You can also post the link on your current social media accounts.
- Include a multitude of questions about their demographics such as age, gender, and location.
- Ask about social media use by saying “How often do you like or interact with posts by brands on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?” or “Which social media apps do you currently use on your phone?”
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3
Identify the best platforms for your brand. Using the information that you gathered from your survey and your traditional marketing strategy, identify 2-3 platforms that will work well for you and focus on those. This will help your content reach people who are your targeted audience and are likely to become potential customers.^{[3]
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Pew Research Center
Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends
Go to source}
- Facebook is the most popular social media website overall, so if you’re looking to reach a wide audience you should have a strong presence there.^{[4]
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  Trustworthy Source
  Pew Research Center
  Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends
  Go to source}
- If your target audience is women ages 18-64, Pinterest is a great platform because women of all age groups tend to post there.^{[5]
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  Trustworthy Source
  Pew Research Center
  Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends
  Go to source}
4
Invest in a mobile-friendly website. Because you’ll be doing a lot of social media marketing, which is aimed at customers on mobile phones, you’ll want your website to be mobile-friendly. It’s a good idea to hire a graphic designer or HTML expert to create this for you.^{[6]
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- Most social media sites will have a “website URL” section where you can insert this link for users to click when they visit your brand’s account.
5
Create a strong social media persona for your brand. In your posts, make sure you have a consistent tone and brand across all networks, even though you might share different content. Determine what kind of presence you’d like to have, whether it’s witty, cute, savvy, hipster, or otherwise.
- An SEO professional does this on a large scale, and can help you manage your online business presence if you're struggling.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Maintaining a Daily Presence

1
Make posts consistently. Make it a goal to share one picture, article, or funny story on social media per day. Make sure all of your content has something to do with your brand, whether it’s product photos, user reviews, or seasonal sale announcements.^{[7]
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- Try to mix it up and not just post sales or reviews all the time. The occasional inspiring article or video will establish your brand as personable and keep your followers coming back.^{[8]
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  Sharon Lee
  Success Strategist
  Expert Interview. 2 December 2021.}
2
Brainstorm a catchy hashtag to increase your exposure. Come up with a 2-3 word phrase that encompasses your desired brand image, your purpose, or is your brand name. Using a unique hashtag will encourage customers to repost your content, or post their own original image of your products or services that links back to your brand, growing your audience exponentially.^{[9]
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3
Contact influencers and ask them to be brand partners. Social media marketing is also done by regular social media users with a lot of followers. Most businesses send these influencers free packages of products or coupons for free services in exchange for them reviewing and tagging the company on their social media. This is a great way to reach new customers.^{[10]
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- In any case where you are providing free goods or services for review, make sure the influencer knows you want them to be honest about their experience.
- For example, you can ask by sending a private message that says “We really enjoy your feed and think you and your followers would like our product. Would you be interested in receiving a sample for free in exchange for an honest review posted on your Instagram page?”
4
Encourage followers to participate in the conversation on your page. In your posts and captions, ask questions and prompt your followers to respond. A post with comments in addition to likes will be more popular and will reach more audiences. ^{[11]
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- You might also consider asking followers to post their own responses on their page and use your hashtag, or tag their friends to share the post.
- Ask questions or include prompts at the end of your captions, such as “Where’s your favorite place to vacation?” or “Tag someone who inspires you in the comments!”
5
Use action-gating to reach a wider audience. Action-gating is when you prompt your followers to repost content or make their own content to participate in a contest with your brand.^{[12]
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Expert Source

Sharon Lee
Success Strategist
Expert Interview. 2 December 2021.} This method is highly effective at increasing brand loyalty and creating a network to reach new followers.^{[13]
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- There are many different ways to do this, whether it’s by providing customers who give you their email with a coupon, or by having followers post pictures for a chance to win a prize.
6
Repurpose and share content. If you have an old picture from a few years ago, you can repost it by participating in #TBT or #FlashbackFriday. If you like a post by another brand and you have similar audiences, share it on your page and give them credit. Repurposing and sharing content will give you a break from creating original content while still keeping your brand engaged.
7
Respond to negative comments in a positive manner. Social media is a great place to exhibit exceptional customer service. It also gives your customers with bad experiences a public platform for their complaints. If you receive a negative comment, respond positively and try to turn the situation around.
- For example, you can send a private message saying “Hi Jen, I’m a customer service representative from the Thread Makers. I saw your post about a negative experience with our business, and I wanted to sincerely apologize for that. I’d like to offer you 20% off of your next purchase to make up for any frustration we may have caused. Could you reply with your email address so I can send that over to you?”

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Optimizing Your Content

1
Share the best content for each social media platform. It’s no secret that Instagram is the best platform for sharing pictures and short videos, but there are some conventions for sharing posts on other platforms as well. Make sure you’re sharing the best content for that specific platform.^{[14]
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- Facebook is great for sharing articles and links because the mobile user doesn’t have to leave the app.
- Twitter is best for short updates or engaging with customers. The platform is also great for handling customer service issues.
- Visual content performs well on all varieties of social media, so it’s important to have great pictures in your campaign!
2
Utilize management tools to coordinate content across multiple platforms. Online tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social can help you to easily and quickly schedule and make posts on different accounts. If you want your brand to be active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, management tools can save you time and frustration.^{[15]
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3
Proofread your posts carefully. Establishing a brand is exciting and you might be in a rush to get your content out in the world. However, you should always proofread your content entirely before hitting the “post” button.^{[16]
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- Many brands and companies have experienced major social media crises due to a typo, missed word, or accidentally published draft.
- Make sure all of your posts are on-brand and don’t include language that doesn’t fit in with the tone of your other posts.
4
Measure your success with built-in analytics. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have analytics available to business owners that allow you to measure how many people have seen or interacted with your posts.^{[17]
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- Make it a priority to check these analytics 2-3 times per week to make sure your content is effective and enjoyable for your followers.
- Pay attention to how many people see your posts, how many people like them, and how your brand is growing.

Community Q&A

Question

How do you run a successful marketing campaign?

Sharon Lee
Success Strategist
Sharon Lee is a Success Strategist and the Owner of Fearless Pursuits. With over seven years of experience, she specializes in helping others gain clarity on their goals, build confidence, and remain accountable towards their goals. Sharon offers advice to others through life coaching, career coaching, and small business coaching. Sharon holds a Strategic Intervention Coach Certification from Robbins-Madanes Training and has additional training from Erickson Coaching International.

Sharon Lee

Success Strategist

Expert Answer

Market research is key! A lot people don't do it because they don't feel like they have the time, but research is an important way to find out more about your ideal clients.
Question

How can I learn more about my target audience?

Sharon Lee
Success Strategist
Sharon Lee is a Success Strategist and the Owner of Fearless Pursuits. With over seven years of experience, she specializes in helping others gain clarity on their goals, build confidence, and remain accountable towards their goals. Sharon offers advice to others through life coaching, career coaching, and small business coaching. Sharon holds a Strategic Intervention Coach Certification from Robbins-Madanes Training and has additional training from Erickson Coaching International.

Sharon Lee

Success Strategist

Expert Answer

Find out where your ideal clients are hanging out online and spend some time there. For instance, you might join a relevant Facebook group and ask the members some questions there.
Question

How can I make my ad attractive?

Sharon Lee
Success Strategist
Sharon Lee is a Success Strategist and the Owner of Fearless Pursuits. With over seven years of experience, she specializes in helping others gain clarity on their goals, build confidence, and remain accountable towards their goals. Sharon offers advice to others through life coaching, career coaching, and small business coaching. Sharon holds a Strategic Intervention Coach Certification from Robbins-Madanes Training and has additional training from Erickson Coaching International.

Sharon Lee

Success Strategist

Expert Answer

Really try to appeal to the customer's problem. Try getting in their head—how do they talk about their problems? What are they upset about? Use that knowledge to really speak their language and capture their attention immediately in the heading of your ad.

Warnings

Social media can be damaging for a brand if not properly managed. Always double and triple check your posts.

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There are many companies who will let you buy followers on different platforms. If you’re interested in buying followers, try to find a company that guarantees that your followers will interact and engage with your posts.
- Keep in mind that buying followers violates the terms of use for all social media platforms, and is generally illegal. Doing this may result in your account being banned and/or legal consequences. Only do this at your own risk.
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Be aware of current events. Try not to use hashtags that are trending to bring attention to your business, because this can seem insincere at best, and attention-seeking at worst.

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