12 Traits of an Effective Marketing Campaign using Social Media

1. It must not be Spammy! 

This is a sure fire way to make your campaign fall flat on its face. The social graph is a social tool not a marketing tool. So to market on social sites effectively write with caution and be aware of your words sounding like spam.

2. It must provide Value! 

When selling we should all be aware that good business is simply the exchange of value between two parties. Your social campaign needs to provide a level of value to attract attention.

3. It must Spread Like Wildfire! 

A great social campaign will be so compelling that its readers will want their friends/followers/connections etc to know about it, then those friends should want their friend to know about it etc. Research the most successful viral campaigns and see what they did to achieve that success, then model it.

4. Brand It! 

It is essential to clothe your campaign in your branding and identity i.e. taglines, slogans, your unique selling points company colour scheme, links anything that defines your business.

5. It Must be Well Maintained  

Make sure people know there are human beings behind the campaign who will respond to tweets, reply to messages and updates and generally give the campaign a little personality.

6. Build Trust  

Following on from number 5 if people can see there are genuine people there responding and interacting positively the it gives your campaign more gravitas. This is what is great about social network marketing. Giving good service and interacting with your audience acts as a advertisement for you. People can actually witness the dialogue of you giving a good service.

7. Stand out! 

I know this is more difficult than it sounds but you have somehow got to do something different to get noticed in the sheer ocean of campaigns out there.

8. Use Good Copy  

In most instances with Social Media we have limited space to write so what be write must compel the reader to click through or at least remember what they just read.

9. Measure It! 

How will you even know if your campaign is a success if you don't measure results. There are your usual tools that you can use i.e. Google Analytics that can be installed on your Facebook Fanpage. You should also track your URL clicks if you are shortening them for tweeting, posting and updating purposes.

10. Build Relationships 

This is really what using Social Media is all about. Interact with people and participate in the community and your relationships with your target audience will flourish

11. Be Organized
Before you start an campaign you must first know your outcome. What do you actually want to achieve from this campaign? Do you want more larger followings/ more friends and connections? Do you want to drive traffic to a site? Do you want to generate awareness and a "buzz" about something, do you want to find out what your target audience want or what they think about a topic? Fail to Prepare...Prepare to Fail!

12. Listen To Feedback
The best campaigns have ears! They listen and respond to feedback. It is important to be flexible so listen to what people are saying, take it on board, don't take criticism personally and be prepared to change your approach.