The difference between a social media strategy and a social media campaign

What is a social media strategy?

A Social media strategy is something you do around six months before you launch a social media campaign, and involves deciding what tools to use and how to use them as well as identifying your objectives  – are you focusing on marketing, sales, product awareness, customer service, driving traffic or all of these things?

Your strategy should integrate into your existing marketing efforts, and your aim is to have a clear analysis of your target audience so that you can provide a solution to their problems. It’s also when you plan the allocation of your resources – who will undertake this and when?

For a social media strategy you need to:

1. Define your goals
2. Determine your metrics
3. Become active on the platforms your audience use
4. Listen to what your audience is saying so you can better understand them
5. Respond to their concerns
6. Provide valuable content
7. Measure the results
8. Repeat

So it’s basically where you begin to analyse and engage with the online community without asking for anything in return yet.

What is a social media campaign?

You implement your campaign about six months after you decide your strategy, and it’s usually a one to three month exercise to launch a new product, event or service. The campaign is decided by the data you collect from your strategy and focuses more on the short term impact and immediate financial return.

It’s essential that a social media campaign is supported by advertising, PR, Internet influencers, marketing, partners, customers, and investors.

It’s easy for me to help you work out what you want from social media (your strategy) but a successfully, professionally executed campaign is best dealt with by someone who is an expert in social media marketing who can oversee all the essential elements of your campaign from beginning to end.

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