..along with Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube images...but no sign of sugarplums just yet.
The past few weeks I have not been doing any holiday shopping. I have been rather busy preparing a social media proposal for a communications firm that would like to launch a campaign in the new year. This is a great opportunity for my company, Connected Media, and the first of its kind.
I learned a great deal preparing this proposal and exploring social media. Here are a few noteworthy points that are clarified in my plan.
Social Media is:
-what consumers are responding to
-a tremendous marketing opportunity for every company willing to commit
-a powerful way to engage consumers
-accessible and fairly simple to use
-a way to broaden and target a company's reach
-a transparent way to increase a company's brand awareness
Social Media is not:
-a forum for direct product or service advertising
-a quick way to boost sales
-an instant way to create or repair an image
-a platform for boasting
I presented my proposal in the form of a website instead of a traditional text based design. This was beneficial to my client in several ways; it provided the ability to view several Web 2.0 interactive capabilities and their use in social media, to see first hand the integration of new technology and the effects on marketing, to grasp the concept of its uniqueness, and to realize the numerous mediums available.
I used Google sites and created a detailed strategy for my client to implement social media in 2010. Google sites is a fairly easy and free way to develop a website. There are many templates to choose from and it does not require an HTML code writing ability. Although some knowledge of this is helpful. Especially if you want to change your design beyond the template.
My home page presents an introduction and the left sidebar contains the navigation links that also serve as an outline for the plan. Here is an image of the welcome page.
The first thing I designed was a logo for my client. It was important to establish a branding element to incorporate into several of the example media outlets I needed to create for the proposal. Both a website and a blog are important aspects of social media, as they are foundations for other channels to funnel through. In addition, an associate used the logo to develop several marketing materials - collaboration at its best. Here is an image of the logo and the business card designed by my associate:
I also provided mock ups of a website and a blog. This was time-consuming but I wanted to offer my client an image, using the logo, as a visual starting point. I used Blogger and Googles sites to produce the mock ups and then took screenshots using Snagit software. Here are the results:
The crux of the proposal explained the strategies and methods of implementing several other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. I found some interesting videos that described the uses of Facebook that I included in my proposal. Although they were designed by Cyber Homes, the messages are the same for any company using Facebook.
The biggest challenges for this proposal were deciding which information to include and the best way to present it via a website. Social media has numerous platforms but jumping into all of them at once is not a good idea. Therefore, I offered foundational tactics that would enable my client to get started. At their request, I conveyed the proposal through a website which offers its own set of technical intricacies. There were many other issues to consider such as usability, navigation, and interactivity that are not necessary for a text based plan. The final result offers my client a plan in a clear, professional, interactive and user-friendly website.
My conclusions provided ways to leverage social media and measurement tools that can help monitor their efforts along the way. I pointed out that launching a social media campaign is a big commitment. It can also be a beneficial one if it is managed appropriately.
I am somewhat of a newcomer to social media but I am sure my client will not be disappointed with my approach. Although preparing this proposal was an arduous task, I am grateful to have had the opportunity. It was very enlightening. I often see the scope of technological change and progression in every day life. Until now, I did not really examine the role and the impact of social media on businesses. The changing landscape of how businesses can relate to their customers is creating new markets and steadily redefining traditional corporate marketing campaigns.
And that is just a bit more technical food for thought.
View the full proposal and offer your comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment