It’s not an understatement to say that social media is one of the most influential platforms of our time. That’s why in 2024, it’s become a must to perform a social media marketing campaign.
Here’s the lowdown for you–traditional marketing isn’t effective anymore. If you want to get started, this is the perfect springboard to launch your first digital campaign. We’ll let you in on the steps to create your first campaign and give examples of what campaign works.
A Step-by-Step Guide To Planning Your First Social Media Marketing Campaign
Don’t be intimidated by the numbers and the work. Here’s an easy breakdown that’s great–even if you’re not a digital marketing expert.
1. Create your vision
Before you start your campaign, it’s important to know what you want to achieve. This will guide your decisions when you’re mapping out your campaign strategy. Here are just some of the things to consider.
- Reach more potential customers
- Bring awareness to a brand or a cause
- Increase website traffic
- Connect with your community
- Promote a new product or service
Knowing your goals will help you create a targeted and effective campaign. So be sure to really zero in on specific and actionable goals.
2. Research your target audience
It’s important to look into who you are trying to reach with your campaign. Research your target audience so you can see what platforms they are most active on, what types of content they are warm to, and what their interests and pain points are. This will help you decide on key factors such as what type of content to make and where to post them.
Tip: Make content twice as effective by marketing it to the right platform. Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube are incredibly popular among Gen Z-ers, especially for video content.
3. Develop your content strategy
Now, based on your goals and audience, you can create a content strategy. It’s important that at this point, you focus on creating content that works on your niche. For instance, the beauty industry responds well to influencer marketing, but it may not work as well in other niches.
If you haven’t made a content strategy before, it’s a general outline of your content that will look something like this:
- Frequency of posts
- Kinds of content (posts, stories, images, motion graphics, blogs, etc)
- List of platforms you will post in
- Copy you will use in the posts
It’s best to use a mix of visual and written content to keep your audience engaged. Most consumers these days respond well to high-quality images and short video content. Add to that engaging captions and hashtags and you’re sure to attract attention.
Hashtags will make it easier for people to discover you, but by being up-to-date with trending audio, videos, and online conversations you’ll be able to get more traction both inside and outside your brand and industry.
Tip: Invest your time to create a content calendars can schedule your social media posts in advance. This will help you create beautiful and curated content like Issy and Co’s Next Level Skin campaign and Nike’s The Code’s of Virgil Abloh campaign.
4. Interact with your audience
Think it’s over? Nope, just setting up your posts won’t cut it. You’d also need to religiously interact with your followers to raise your brand awareness. Liking reactions, replying to comments, and replying to inquiries with a video explanation are just some of the most effective ways to interact with them online.
5. Track your performance
Your goals will dictate what kind of analytics you want to track. Use analytics tools to track the performance of your campaign and see how well it is meeting your goals. This will help you identify what is working and what may need to be adjusted. Numbers are incredibly important to hitting your goals, so be sure to always monitor your key performance indicators.
Tip: If you’re not sure yet what content your audience responds well to, you can try to conduct A/B testing. This allows you to post two versions of your content and check which one performs better.
6. Make adjustments accordingly
Based on the results of your campaign, make adjustments and optimizations as needed to improve the performance of your campaign. Remember: social media algorithms are constantly changing and adapting to new and trendy content. No one really knows for sure what works and doesn’t, so don’t feel discouraged if you aren’t hitting your marks as expected.
[Case Study] Social Media Marketing Campaign Examples
Not all campaigns are the same. And that’s okay. These brands have different goals, KPIs, and strategies that make their projects a success.
1. Rare Beauty
Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty brand may be a newcomer in the beauty industry, but it’s already constantly trending online. Their marketing is people-centric and focuses a lot on their global online community.
Take their “What are you made of” campaign for instance. It focuses on Selena’s global fanbase and heavily features people of Latino and mixed Latino descent talking about their heritage, culture, and identity. To drive home the message, their captions are written in both English and Spanish so they can capture a wider audience.
This campaign is a perfect introduction to Rare Beauty’s conscious and inclusive branding. On top of that, the brand also has the Rare Impact Fund, an initiative that supports mental health organizations in the USA.
2. Megan Thee Stallion
The music industry knows a thing or two about marketing their artists as well. And one of the most heartfelt and socially impactful campaigns we’ve seen in recent months comes from none other than H-Town Hottie, Megan Thee Stallion.
Her Traumazine album campaign is a masterclass in brand activism, cross-promoting social messages with her music releases. Along with her album release, she also launched her Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too site which is chock–full of vetted resources where black women and the LGBTQ community can seek professional help.
It also has CTAs where you can get SMS updates. It’s the appropriate complement to her Traumazine album, which largely talks about her mental health issues following various personal events.
Her Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too campaign has gotten recognition from both mental health organizations and professionals.
3. Apple
Apple has a lot of amazing marketing strategies. From their hyped-up announcement releases to their physical store marketing campaigns. But one of the best and most inclusive is their annual Shot on iPhone challenge.
Not only is this a welcome contest for budding photographers, but it’s also a great way to connect with their community through their products. Plus, it’s also likely that they’ll be getting feedback on their latest product releases.
It’s a marketing win on both sides. Apple gets to interact with its fanbase and see how users are using their features while winning participants will get featured and paid by Apple.
Why Social Media Marketing Campaigns Work
You’ll probably have noticed what these three campaigns have in common. It’s that brands get in touch with their community. Social media marketing campaigns are most effective when you leverage this and get interactions with your brand audience.
Not only does this increase engagement, but you’ll also get information about your customer’s values and aspirations.
The Lowdown
Social media campaigns are not easy. With all the research, content preparation, and analytics involved…it’s definitely not something a one-man team can do. Even if you have all the free tools at your disposal.
That’s why we recommend outsourcing some of the dirty work to agencies or freelancers who can do the job better. For instance, DotYeti offers unlimited graphic design services that are perfect for your first or next social media marketing campaign.
Whether it’s custom illustrations, branded video content, or a simple array of social media posts, our talented yetis can make it happen. And all this comes down to a hefty monthly price that starts as low as $449.
Sign up today and crush your next marketing campaign with DotYeti’s unlimited graphic design services!
