When did “campaign”
become a dirty word?

“There is no such thing as a
Social Media Campaign. Social
Media is not a campaign. You
cannot view it through an
outdated advertising lens.”
– Deborah Schultz,10/18/07

Doing social media campaigns
“is like buying a new car each
time you want to drive to the
grocery store.”
– Joe Marchese, 7/15/08

So to recap,
social media campaigns are
outdated cars that don’t exist.

But saying social media isn’t
about campaigns is like saying
a marriage isn’t about sex.

Social media marketing campaigns
keep things interesting.
Plus, not every fling has to be a
lifelong commitment.

Having a social media presence,
or even a strategy, while vital,
is not really that interesting.
Campaigns can create buzz,
re-energize your brand and
open up opportunities.

A campaign can also
sell executives on the
potential, scope, affordability
and relative ease of social media
as a new channel for your business.

OK, enough soapboxin’.
Let’s look at pretty pictures.

Product launches
In the old days, they were all about
the ad blitz. Now a launch is a great
chance to spark buzz that can quickly
perpetuate itself.

Facebook Connect: Marketers are
just scratching the surface of this
social networking tool.

Augmented Reality: Opening up
social interaction with the inanimate
world around us.

What’s next: Making these
technologies truly social and practical.

Surprise
delivery:
Grasshopper, an
800 provider for
small biz, sent
grasshopper
snacks to 5,000
influentials.

CNET’s Josh Lowensohn eats a grasshopper.

Results:
• 4,911% traffic increase
•144,843 video views with 162
comment
•1,500 tweets
•120 blog posts in one month
• 7 national TV mentions
Source: Mashable, “Dead Grasshoppers Give Life to Social Media
Marketing Campaign”, 6/15/09

The new art of
the giveaway
How a few free laptops can increase
your traffic 600%.

#squarespace: What started as a
giveaway for podcast hosts quickly
became a top topic on Twitter.

Results:
• Gave away 30 “iPhones”
($199 Apple gift cards)
• Twitter followers skyrocketed
from 815 to 32,000+
• 60% increase in site traffic
• 20% increase in free trials
Source: SocialMediaHacks.com, 8/4/09

#moonfruit: Web site builder
Moonfruit gave away 10 Macbook
Pros over 7 days, with bonus iPods
for creative entries.

Results:
• Followers went from 444 to 44,113
• 600% traffic increase
• 100% increase in signups
• Campaign shortened from 10 days to
7 due to claims of “Twitter pollution”
• Mentions were 82% positive
Source: Social-Bug.com, 7/19/09

InternHero.com

How it works:
1. Interns send in photos asking for
Little Debbie Muffins
2. Photos get featured on
InternHero.coom
3. Interns win huge sampler boxes of
muffins for their workplace

A few of the companies who entered:
MTV GE Radio Flyer
Showtime Boeing Assurant
Digitas Citi Oscar de la
Modernista! Carfax Renta
BBDO Penguin Red Hat
Poke NY The Wall Ologie
Nickelodeon Street Journal Arnold

Targets of opportunity
Social media is teaching marketers to
monitor the conversation and pounce
when the right moment arrives.

Reebok sprints in :
When Arien O'Connell
lost the Nike Women’s
Marathon on a
technicality, Reebok
gave her charter
school free shoes for a
year, T-shirts and
$2,500.
Source: Adrants, “Nike Minuses. Reebok Pluses.”, 11/8/08

Chicken fix: KFC couldn’t honor its
free chicken promotion, so El Pollo
Loco offered to do it for them.
Source: Consumerist, 5/7/09

Brand enhancement
A good campaign can prove your
brand promise. A great campaign can
take on a life of its own.

Buzz down under: Victoria Tourism
hit a social media (and PR) goldmine.

It even inspired Delmarva Coast
tourism officials to try it themselves,
with slick results.

Asheville’s Foodtopian Society:
What began as a campaign is now a
vibrant part of a destination’s draw.

Twitter.com/Foodtopia – Now has 2,000+ followers

A few lessons learned for
social media marketing campaigns:

1. Learn from others, but find the
next evolution of an idea.

2. Be prepared to adapt as parts of
the campaign fail or flourish.

3. Always be looking for ways to
turn a short-term campaign into
part of a long-term conversation.

4. Don’t let your
campaign go out
with a whimper.

Thanks for your time.
david.griner@luckie.com
TheSocialPath.com
Twitter.com/Griner