Over the weekend I was brainstorming ideas for social media campaigns for a large consumer product. The company is super conservative and social media in their industry is almost non-existent. As a result, I wanted to make sure that I set the right frame for the client before I went into a laundry list of ideas. I developed this as an introduction titled “Social Media Philosophy”. I believe writing a good introduction with any proposal helps the client understand where you are coming from. Let me know what you think.

Social Media Philosophy

The goal with social media is to create something that people want to promote and share. Promotion and sharing, the goals of “social media”, can be accomplished in two completely different ways.

One option is being novel and fun. Burger King is a great brand example with their subservient chicken and unfriend Facebook campaign. This works great for brands that spend a ton of money on lots of short campaigns arnd are willing to push the envelope. The advantages of this strategy are quick viral marketing and huge word of mouth. The disadvantages are the campaigns tend to die just as quick and are really a fad/novelty.

The other option is to develop campaigns and strategies that are really useful, provide value to clients, and support the community of their customers. Mini Cooper’s car community, North American Motoring, is a great example.  They have created a simple forum for Mini Cooper owners to share issues, give feedback , and brag a little through photo galleries.This strategy works great for higher priced products, premium brands, conservative companies, and companies that already have large a customer base. The advantages of this strategy are providing value to owners, attracting new customers, and once established the strategies tend to grow and are easy to sustain. The disadvantages are there are no expectations of a big “pop” immediately and it takes some time to develop. These disadvantages though can be offset by companies with a large database of past customers.