It seems that businesses are finally awakening to the possibilities of social media and understand what it can do help build brands and boost bottom lines.

Social media is the new(ish) darling of the marketing world, but there’s certainly an air of ‘oh, what have I missed?’ emanating from many businesses that have been slow on the pick-up.

So how can businesses get up to speed and set up their social media campaigns?

Firstly, you have to understand it. And to understand social media, you have to use it. But even if you’ve been converted to the ‘social’ side of marketing already, you may not have the first clue about how to execute those rough ideas you have in your mind.

Social media is a broad term that describes a lot of different platforms, people and purposes.

This is why you’ll have to start thinking about creating a brief – the best marketing initiatives are properly planned and social media is no different.

It’s also fair to say that you only get out of something what you put in yourself – so to realise your goals for your social media campaign, you must be as prescriptive as possible in your brief, so that your creative agency or Creative Services Exchange can ensure you get the most bang for your social media buck.

We’ve previously written about how to create the perfect creative brief, and this is a good starting point. But you have to tailor your brief to suit the medium, which is why we’ve put together these guidelines on what to consider when creating your social media brief.

Objectives

It can be easy to jump on the social media bandwagon just because everyone’s doing it, but the objectives of the campaign should drive the design and execution.

Are you looking to:
•    Create your social media presence from scratch?
•    Build your existing social media presence?
•    Create a one-off campaign to support a new product or service?

By thinking about which of these applies to you and your company, this will help social media marketers help identify the best way towards achieving your primary objective.

Choosing your channels

All the mainstream hype is about Facebook and Twitter, so surely they are the only social media platforms that matter, right? Maybe, but do remember that social media encompasses many more channels than Facebook and Twitter. Such as:
•    Blogging: the best way to generate fresh content, promote your brand and reach out to customers and potential customers.
•    YouTube: seeing is believing, so if you have a new product to demonstrate why not create a short video, upload it to your company’s dedicated YouTube channel and circulate it across your blog(s), Twitter feed(s) and Facebook account(s)?
•    LinkedIn: helping businesses network since 2003, LinkedIn is a fantastic forum for spreading the good word if you operate in the B2B realm.
•    Foursquare: it’s all about location these days, and Foursquare can help you connect with (potential) customers across the globe. Used in conjunction with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, this platform is all about cementing your place on the world’s commerce radar.

These are just some examples of other social networks out there, you also have the likes of Groupon, Flickr and Tumblr to consider. Do your homework on which platforms you’d like to engage with, which ones suit your business model best, and include this information on the brief.

Planning, execution…then what?

Okay, there is a myriad of social media experts who can help with your campaign, from design through to launch. But what next? Do you want to pick up the reins yourself, or do you want a fully-managed social media initiative? Including this information in the brief will help a lot, as guidance and training can be provided if you wish to manage this yourself at a later date.

Specific goals

Okay, you’ve covered what your objectives for the campaign are. But what are the specific aims – what do you hope to achieve?

Are you looking to:
•    Promote your company or a product?
•    Engage customers?
•    Build your brand?
•    Provide a customer service channel?
•    Build PR?
•    Launch special offers or loyalty programmes?

Look and feel

Okay, this is a term normally reserved for visual design. But the concept applies to any marketing activity – how do you want the campaign to ‘feel’ to the audience?

Should it be:
•    Light and quirky?
•    Strictly business?
•    Entertaining?
•    Educational?
•    Irreverent?

By including this information in your brief, it then becomes easier for the social media marketers to get a true feel for what you’re looking for.

Money matters

This may be the last point, but by no means is it the least important. Your budget will dictate what you can achieve, but that’s where the brief will prove pivotal towards your campaign’s success.

By looking at what you hope to achieve with the money available, social media marketers can optimise the campaign to increase efficacy and squeeze every penny’s worth from the campaign.

When crafting your brief, you should include your budget. We must stress that it’s important to have realistic expectations about what social media marketing costs. There is a myth that because most social media tools are free to use, that it’s also a cheap marketing option. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. For proper social media engagement, you need to be in for the long-haul which will require a lot of time and dedication, which does cost money.

blur Marketing’s Creative Services Exchange is all about matching creative briefs with the creatives, so why not let our ‘brief wizard’ help you get started on your social media campaign? Click submit a brief, scroll down and you’ll see the wizard there, eagerly awaiting your call.

Social media, as with any marketing initiative requires planning. But there really is nothing to be afraid of – if you focus on creating the perfect brief, your chances of succeeding with your social media campaign are greatly improved. So what are you waiting for…we look forward to hearing from you!