A whopping 92 percent consumers say that they accord the highest level of trust to word of mouth recommendations from friends and family members, before going ahead with any purchase decision. As of today, 4 out of every 5 small businesses are utilizing social media platforms for marketing purposes. Unlike traditional marketing campaigns that involve hardcore selling within fixed timelines, social media marketing is about communicating thoughts and ideas, reinforcing a positive brand image and building relationships on a long term basis. There are ideally no “on” or “off” periods as far as social media campaigns are concerned, since your visibility and responsiveness are highly decisive for your overall success in this realm. We have attempted to collate the best social media campaign ideas that can revitalize your social media campaign.

1.    Invite thoughts, ideas and opinions

The very purpose of social media platforms is to enable people to voice their thoughts and interact effectively. Asking your fans for their opinion through a method as simple as an online poll, is a great way of arousing interest. As a member of a relevant online community, you can ask your users to pin your brand to the community board. Further on, engaging them in simple contests asking for opinions, suggestions and thoughts by putting up Facebook posts like, “Tell us your most fond memory of savoring ABC Instant Noodles. The best fifty will feature on our noodles pack!” is a sure-shot way of generating a positive buzz. Strike up conversations with your fans and let their testimonials and reviews speak out for you.

2.    Integrate your efforts with social media apps

A wide range of social media apps and tools are available today to aid your social media campaign. For example, the SocialMention tool can be used to monitor who is talking about you and what is being talked about, while the Buffer app can be used for scheduling your posts on multiple social media platforms to ensure consistency. Every platform has its specific set of metrics to help you adjudge the effectiveness of your campaign.

3.    Use content as the driving force of your campaign

Content marketing and social media marketing go hand in hand. For stronger brand promotion, your social media marketing campaign must be augmented by strong content marketing strategies. The essence of content-driven social media marketing lies in focusing on your message and envisaging how to distribute it across various networks. Not only should your content be original, appealing and engaging; it should be crafted appropriately based on the particular social media platform that you are using. To give you a very small example, if you are trying to promote XYZ cookies, your content would differ platform-wise as follows:
Facebook: I like XYZ cookies.
Twitter: I’m eating #XYZ cookies.
Foursquare: This is where I eat XYZ cookies.
Instagram: Here’s a vintage picture of XYZ cookies.
Pininterest: Here’s how you can make a delicious pie from XYZ cookies.

4.    Center your campaign around current events

The probability of a marketing communication catching fire, or sizzling quickly across multiple social media networks is much higher if you center your campaign on current events. This is illustrated by the fact that for the daily figure of 140 million tweets, 92 percent re-tweets occur in the first 60 minutes. Sparking dialog around contemporary happenings pertaining to your niche will create high levels of engagement and give you publicity. The famous Oreo Super Bowl Tweet within half an hour of a blackout at the New Orleans Superdome, that showed a picture of a single Oreo cookie against a dark background, and said, “You can still dunk in the dark” is a classic example of real time social media marketing. But again you must be careful not to create a controversy as had happened in case of Kenneth Cole in 2011, when the tweet, “”Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at [Kenneth Cole’s website]”, referring to the Tahrir Square Revolution, generated massive objection and negative publicity.

5.    Go Visual

Given the surge of interest shown towards visual social media platforms like Instagram and Pininterest, visuals are becoming increasingly popular on social media platforms, with 70 percent of social media conversations being image-centric today. Good visuals invoke instant reactions and drive in huge amounts of traffic towards your site. You can use pictures to tell your brand’s story or present your in-sights through an eye-catching infographic. Incorporating visuals as part of your social media campaign needs to be backed by a definitive goal, and involves good amount of research and analysis. When it comes to incorporating the visual element, don’t stick to one style. Use community pictures, behind-the-scenes pictures, short videos, collages, how-to pictures, graphs as well as infographics for obtaining a wider reach.

Conclusion

The motive of your social media campaign should be to humanize your brand, so that people can associate with you and feel connected with you at all times. You have the liberty to come up with the most unconventional and “out-of-the-box” ideas to achieve this by surprising them, engaging them, enthusing them, entertaining them, catching them off guard, bewildering them, exciting them and so on and so forth. Whether you have been able to strike a chord with your target audience or not, is all that matters.