Once you have a clear idea of what your goals are, you need to figure out the best method for achieving these goals. You may already have a fair idea of what may work, but a little bit of research will help you:
- Benchmark your effort
- Be inspired by what others are already doing
Why is benchmarking important? Well, those all-important KPIs actually mean nothing unless you can compare them to something. In other words, metrics only have meaning when compared to something else.
So how do you do this? Ask these questions:
How does this campaign compare with other campaigns we have run? Keep in mind the goals for these campaigns and activities. These stats will be useful for your close out report.
Which social platform am I using, and how do each of these platforms compare to the other? I’ll do an article on the benefits of each for a campaign soon, but feel free to ask me questions about this in the comments below. Remember to only compare with other platforms that share similar objectives.
How does the social activity compare with other marketing channels? Asking this question may mean you find other platforms to incorporate into your plan. That said, some companies treat each channel (even each social channel) as a different campaign altogether. See this case study by Maersk. Remember, only compare with channels that have similar objectives.
How does the planned activity compare to our competitors? It’s so easy to forget to follow and track your competitors, particularly if you dont want them gain that extra figure on their follower total, but you have to know what they are up to. You do this in business, so why not with your marketing. Again, only compare platform to platform, otherwise your comparisons are meaningless.
Lastly, have some fun in looking up other campaigns that had similar objectives. It can be hard to find full results, but the big successes are smeared all over the web, so get searching. This will inspire you, hopefully, and mean you are finding cutting edge methods.
Now go back and check your objectives. Keep coming back to them at every point. In doing so, you will have consistency with your campaign and your customers will thank you.