How Long Does a Typical Social Media Campaign Last?
February 7, 2008 | 6 Comments
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The second question of the marketer’s foray into social media series, was: “How long does a typical social media campaign last?”.
I have to admit that this might be one of the hardest questions we get asked as a social media agency. (When I worked in advertising it was hard to answer there, too.) Marketers who are looking into social media are still a little unsure about how much of their budget to allocate, and equally unsure about how long they should expect the “campaign” to last.
Of course with every client, timing and length are entirely dependent on the goals and objectives of the company. But we know that isn’t the answer you are looking for. So to give you a general rule of thumb, we think a “campaign” centered around content creation needs at least 90 days to really build momentum and start showing results. (This is in part a function of how long it takes to build SEO credibility if you’re
starting fresh.) That being said, however, most of Ignite’s clients have signed on for 6-month and 1-year contracts. We’ve found that things tick up nicely at 90 days and then hit another level at 6 months and then build from there.
Now for the more “abstract” answer to this question - and that is to look at social media marketing from the marketing objectives. The following are some of the most common objectives that we’ve run into, and how to answer the timing for each:
1) Social Media as a Long Term Platform: We believe that social media is more of a new communication tool than it is just a “campaign”(which implies short term) or a “channel” (which implies you can use one-way tools).
Companies that need/want to improve communication with customers or seek to improve overall perceptions of a company or product, need to realize this takes time. Six months at the minimum - with the realizing that “talking this way” should not have an end date. This doesn’t mean the social media agency has to be on contract for more than a year, but it does mean that companies should allocate resources to sustain this for the long-term (like you’d sustain PR or trade shows year-to-year).
2) Social Media to Accomplish a Short-Term Goal: At this point in the lifecycle of social media marketing, we’re seeing a lot of interest in shorter-term stuff. A company needs to accomplish an objective, and they want to do it through social media. (Plus they only really want to tip their toes in the water.) Depending on what these objectives are, your timing will vary. Again, in order to develop an audience from scratch - we require at least 90 days. Anything less and we would advise client’s to seriously consider advertising. If you have some existing assets (blogs, followers, Facebook groups, whatever), then you might be in a position to do an activation campaign that is shorter.
3) Social media promoted by other assets. Of course, there can be shortcuts, if you’ve got other resources. You can launch a social media site with a SuperBowl ad and jump start it (nobody did in 2008, but you can). We’ve got clients whose campaigns got great traffic on day one because they bought TV and did great PR. So if you’ve got other ways to drive traffic (and you’re ready with something interesting to engage people when they come), then you can either shorten the campaign (or at least front-load the work).
4) Social media that is truly social: Many “campaigns” online can really be platforms for communities to engage. The marketers jump starts the conversation and promotes it for a while, but over time the community does a lot of the work and the marketer just has to listen and monitor a bit. Dell IdeaStorm is a great example of that, as are many, many user forums. Those live on forever, but don’t require the marketing teams to feed them forever. (Which is not to say you can or should ignore them, of course. If you want to do that, why would you build it in the first place?) These platforms can be great brand builders.
Summary
I wish there were an easy answer, but like most things in life, your answer depends on your situation, your goals, your abilities and what you have to offer. If you think about it that way, and then factor in the realities of building credibility online, the timing for you just might reveal itself.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on campaigns you’ve done, how long you’ve allocated for them, and how they did.
Ignite Social Media Introduces Social Media to Carolina Ballet
February 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Jim Tobin announced that Ignite Social Media will be the official media sponsor of Carolina Ballet’s Cabaret. As media sponsor, Ignite will be providing Carolina Ballet with the technical expertise for promotions using its social media services.
“We are excited at the opportunity to work with the Ballet,” Tobin, president of Ignite Social Media, said. “Social media is all about building relationships with customers – relationships that go beyond just a one-time sale. As a social media agency, our objective is not only to help the Ballet use social media tools to reach new, younger audiences, but to help build lasting relationships that will keep audiences coming back.”
Joan Caviness, Director of Sales and Marketing for Carolina Ballet, will work with her team and Ignite to develop and implement social media tactics for the Ballet.
Caviness stated, “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Ignite. Adding this unique skill set to our team will allow us to make connections with new audiences like never before.”
To learn more about social media best practices or its applications in marketing and customer outreach, please visit www.ignitesocialmedia.com. For tickets to Cabaret, which runs from February 7 to February 10 at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, see www.CarolinaBallet.com.
Is Fox Sports Doing a Link “Bait & Switch”
February 5, 2008 | 3 Comments
What’s this? Anyone know? I’m on Fox Sports tonight looking at some Super Bowl coverage and I see a link that says “Start Your Own Sports Blog.” Being a social media geek, I check it out. The status bar says it’s going to take you to: “http://msn.foxsports.com/blogs.”
So I click on it, to see what they’re up to and how cool or uncool their blogging platform is. (I actually thought it might be pretty cool. I mean, what a great opportunity to put your sports thoughts on a community of big time sports fans.)
But what I get after a quick redirect is a link to http://www.grab.com/, which appears to be some sort of pile of crap that doesn’t seem to let you start any sort of blog, let alone a Fox Sports blog. Online games, ads for Zwinky (which is spyware in our view) and a bunch of other nonsense.
Anyone know what’s up with this? Has Fox Sports sold out? Is it an error in the link? Is it really an ad that looks like a link? What’s up?
Do People Really Watch User-Generated Online Videos?
February 4, 2008 | 5 Comments
One of the things that social media is great at is soliciting and distributing user-generated video. With all the platforms available now (from YouTube to Viddler to Seesmic and JustinTV), creating and sharing video has never been easier. As a social media agency though, we come across clients all the time (usually old-school marketers or PR types) who are just skeptical.
"Sure, Jim, you can get the video and put it out there, but do you really think people sit around and watch this stuff?"
Um, yes. They do. And not just a little–a lot. Only 22 billion views of user-generated video in 2007. This is projected to rise to 34 billion views in 2008. So, yes, note to all clients, people are watching this stuff.
So the next question that always follows is some version of, "Really, what’s wrong with these people? Who watches this stuff?"
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project (as reported by e-Marketer), there is a clear age difference, with 30% of 18-29 year olds reporting that they actively visit these sites versus only 4% of folks over age 65.
Men are also about twice as likely as women to watch user-generated video than women (20% to 11%), but there is not much difference as you look at education level, income or ethnicity. Remember this is user-generated video. The numbers are different for all online video viewing. I’ll share those numbers in a couple of days.
The bottom-line lesson here is clear: There’s a tremendous opportunity for video to help folks with their social media marketing. If you do it right, people are clearly willing to watch. Here’s a little video I did to explain what a social media agency is and does. Ya know, just in case you’re looking for something to watch right now…
How Will a Social Media Agency Work With My Current Agency?
February 1, 2008 | 6 Comments
Today I’m going to dive into the first question in part of the Marketer’s Foray into Social Media : How will a Social Media Agency Work with my Current Agency?
First off, we have received this question numerous times, mainly from companies with existing PR and Advertising agencies who still quite haven’t figured out what the role of a social media agency is, or the relationship this type of agency will have with their existing agencies.
To answer this question - a social media agency should work seamlessly with these agencies, almost as additional partners rather than competition. After all, the work of the social media agency is to not re-brand a company, but to translate the current existing branding or messaging (from the advertising agency and PR agency) into a campaign that is appropriate for social media and its audiences.
With that being said, how we work with the company and these agencies is entirely up to a company’s budget, current resources, and social media marketing objectives. That’s why below, I’ve outlined some ways that Ignite has worked with companies and agencies to give a better picture of how a social media agency really works.
1. Consultant: Playing the role of a consultant, we’ve worked with companies to outline the specific social media strategies and tactics that will help achieve company objectives. At this point, we may even look outside the realm of social media marketing and into the applications of social media as it could be used internally or for customer service.
2. Trainer: As a social media trainer - we work with a company’s already existing resources and train internal staff on how to use social media tools (effectively). Typically this type of relationship is good for companies who have the current staff to employ social media, but don’t have the budget dedicated to hire an agency.
3. Executioner: This is when most of our clients seek our services: when they need a social media partner who will develop strategies and provide the resources and staff that they need to execute them. In this case we sell our team’s time and expertise in this field, which often saves internal resources. It also is a safer way for a company to enter social media, as it makes us a social media scapegoat if anything goes wrong.
I’m sure that as we progress in social media, these roles will change even more. For those who have worked with a social media agency, feel free to share your experience.