The Do’s & Don’ts of Designing Social Media Campaigns
A social media campaign is a planned marketing effort that uses one or more social media platforms to support or further a company's objective. Campaigns differ from everyday social media efforts because of their increased focus, targeting, and measurability. In order to design a successful social media campaign, you need to follow these do’s and don’ts. Let's start with what you SHOULD do when designing a campaign for social media.
Step 1: Define Your Social Media Campaign Goals
Working together on the campaign's specifics with your team is the initial step. Are you promoting an upcoming event? Maybe you and a non-profit partner are collaborating on a social giving campaign. Recognize the campaign's end goal, no matter what it is. When a user or follower sees your post, what action do you want them to take? Is the objective stated clearly while remaining enjoyable, endearing, and shareable? How will the campaign's effectiveness be determined? It's important to understand these ideas first before moving forward.
“Successful social media campaigns start by identifying specific campaign goals.” - Erika Lenkert
Step 2: Research Components Of The Target Audience
It is important to understand who will be viewing the campaign and how it will need to be designed based on that audience. If you are designing a campaign for an event for kids, you will need to research and think of ideas that will portray that message. Specific colors and themes go with specific events and emotions. This is all important detailing of designing a social media campaign.
Step 3: Define How To Promote On Each Platform
In this next step, you are deciding how you will promote the campaign on each social platform. Maybe you will post a reel on Instagram along with a few posts on Facebook. It is important to figure out your plan so that it will be easier to maintain scheduled posts and be consistent. Being active on social platforms is crucial to get the word out about your campaign.
Step 4: Design Visual Content
This is the step where you design your social media campaign. This step is important because the visual design is what people will notice first and what will draw people in. As a graphic designer, using Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop will be best to create your campaign. Using good imagery and the right typography, your design should follow the same idea as your campaign. Consistency is key in design. Be creative and have fun with it!
Step 5: Schedule Posts & Start Campaigning
The last step to creating a social media campaign is to set up scheduled posts so that you are staying consistent when you are using your platforms. You can use Hootsuite, as well as HubSpot social media scheduler. Buffer is another option that you can use to schedule your social media posts.
Now that you know all the important steps to creating a successful social media campaign, here’s what you should NOT do:
Do NOT begin the process by designing content first. It’s important to understand the goal first and define your audience. If you design before researching, your design may not make sense to your overall goal, and then you will have to redesign.
Do NOT post the same campaign multiple times a day on social media. People are more likely to ignore your posts if they see them more than once a day.
Do NOT use one social media platform for campaigning. If you are looking for people to hear about your company or product or event, you will want to get the word out across several platforms to ensure your audiences will see it.
Lastly, do NOT create a poorly designed campaign. As stated above, the design is most important as the visual content is what people will notice right away.
I hope that these do’s and don’ts for building a successful social media campaign will be useful and informative in your future campaign!
Source:
https://www.adobe.com/express/learn/blog/social-media-campaign
