It sure is hot out and all I can think about right now is a good old fashion Ice Cream Sundae. You know what I love about Ice Cream Sundaes? I love that they can be consistent and comforting, but given the right toppings, new and exciting. As I sit here, I realize this treat and social media have a lot in common. Having engaging, consistent content is critical base for a healthy Facebook environment. But sometimes, your audience craves something a little extra, maybe some rainbow jimmies or crunch coat. This is where special campaigns come into play.
Regular Content (AKA Vanilla Base): Your regular content consists of your everyday posts. These posts will likely cycle through different “verticals” that you determine are important to your brand. Maybe there is a mixture of lifestyle, heavily branded content and current issues. Whatever your regular content may be, we like to think of this as the foundation of your social media presence.
Objective: The number 1 goal for your regular content is to keep your audience engaged. You want your content to keep them happy and thinking about/ interacting with your brand on a regular, and consistent basis.
Special Campaign (AKA: Crunch Coat, Jimmies, Cherries, Chocolate Fudge etc.): We like to think of special campaigns as the extra toppings. These campaigns can be contests, holiday campaigns, seasonal campaigns or whatever you like. The main difference between campaigns and everyday content is that they are special and for a limited time. By creating a sense of urgency for your audience you are forcing them to interact and engage at a higher level. When we do special campaigns we like to center them around holidays or special times of the year that are relevant to the brand. For instance, the National Chicken Council does a campaign around National Chicken Month, and around the Super Bowl. These are both highly relevant to chicken, and give the fans something new and exciting to look forward to.
Objective: The objective for special campaigns is simple: to increase interaction, increase engagement, and attract new followers. Campaigns should be limited to 2-4 times a year. They should be well thought out, full of engaging content, images, games, contest etc.
So, the next time you are in line to get an Ice Cream Sundae, think of your social media strategy. Do you want to stick to the basics or are you ready to add on a few more layers of excitement?
