How to integrate Social Media to your campaign

With the increasing interest in social media, more and more companies see value in using the medium for its unique brand engagement opportunities

. Despite this interest however, there still lingers hesitance, as some companies simply do not know how to approach social media. Even though there has been a lot of press and news interest in social media campaigns, for the majority of companies, they struggle to find ways to successfully integrate social media to their campaigns. Of course, since different companies have different marketing objectives, it would be impossible to have set guidelines on how companies can integrate social media. That said, below we'll explored three key best practices and framework to help companies consider how they can incorporate social media to their campaigns.

1) Social media as part of the marketing mix

Even though there have been social media campaigns that have generated a lot of buzz such as Burger King's Whooper Sacrifice' application and more recently, the Old Spice campaign the truth is that for most companies, social media is more of a complimentary ingredient. Therefore, companies that do wish to delve into social media should consider it just like any another channel to market and promote brands and products. It is only through this perspective can companies see social media in relation to the whole marketing mix, and less of a single daunting entity of social media networks.

Because the power of social media lies in the ability to engage with customer and increase awareness, companies can experiment tying in offline promotions with online content. For example, they could use high-reach channels such as TV and print to initiate brand awareness, and then supplement this with social media in the later stages of the consumer lifecycle to drive purchases. This way, the company is maximizing social media for its strengths, as this is the platform where consumers are willing to engage further with brands and products.

2) Use social media to monitor, measure and engage

By nature, social media is a useful tool to monitor brand and company reputation, as every individual can make their opinions heard. What this means for companies is the unprecedented ability to observe these opinions and try to create opportunities to engage with consumers. Whether it be simply using keyword-tracking for your own company's name or competitors, social media allows companies to measure and track their campaign's progress and give consumer insight into possible areas of improvement. This gives enormous power to companies, since they can measure real time responses on their marketing activities.

3) Channel for feedback

Because every consumer has a voice in social media, it means it is a powerful channel for businesses to monitor feedback on their marketing. By listening to feedback, companies can continuously improve on their marketing and business activities, ranging from pricing to customer service to product packaging. And this is not limited to just searching online for what consumers think of your products, as more innovative companies have started to invite and welcome feedback. Starbuck's My Starbucks Idea' consumer portal gives consumers the ability to tell Starbucks what they think of the business operations; from product selections to the way coffee is served. With this method, it builds consumer trust so people see that the company wants to improve their service. Because of this, consumers are willing to spend the time helping a company they thus respect. Consumers also like to have their voices heard, and Starbuck's consumer portal does exactly this. Of course, its success lies not only in listening to consumers, but also efficiently executing the ideas consumers have put in.

In order for companies to integrate social media, they must recognise how it can be used for various marketing activities. It is not limited to just engaging audiences or gauging feedback it is a vastly powerful channel that can drive sales as well as provide useful consumer insights. Regardless of company's objectives, social media invariably has a place in the greater marketing mix. By seeing it as another communication channel, companies will be less afraid to embrace social media with its powerful potential for any company.

How to integrate Social Media to your campaign

By: Peter Applebaum

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