When Brands and Strategies Say ‘I Do’

When a brand chooses a social strategy, a romance blossoms. Promises should be made. Vows should be read.  There is a marriage that occurs between a social strategy and a brand, and it is never short term. The brand and strategy need to love each other for the duration of their time together; in good times and bad, in sickness and in health. Yes, there are definitely obstacles in the road that could create problems for the brand, but the goal remains the same.

Social media campaigns should be considered the children of this marriage.  Campaigns should be commitments. They must never be neglected, and must be maintained with the support of the strategy.  When a campaign is launched into this world, it needs to be announced everywhere and the focus of every social media profile, just like a new baby. All the fans, all the other strategies and brands (competitors) – everyone – must know about this new baby. The baby will need to be lifted off the ground and set into motion by the strategy.

Rules of a Social Media Marriage

1. Believe in your strategy – This is the strategy that was chosen for you. There was a lot of work and thought that went into this strategy. And although it may not be easy, it loves you and has you in its best interest.
2. Stay focused on the goal – There are going to be people who do not support your strategy.  Remain focused and try to rise above any negativity that might come from their comments and opinions.  It is all based on jealousy anyway.
3. Give your strategy tons of love and attention – Don’t ever stray from the original plan to support the campaign and the strategy. Update social networks every day. Pampering the community instead of being respondent to the strategy and its needs will surely result in the brand being hurt and ignored.  The more attention that is given to the strategy will make the brand appear special and important to its community.
4. Pay close attention to detail – Monitor the keywords and conversation pieces around your strategies.  Make sure to track all tweets, blog posts, brand mentions, Facebook mentions and all other social network mentions that are applicable to your brand and strategy. The brand will surely be hurt if the strategy is not carefully paying attention to its surroundings.
5. Embrace the family – Your PR team, IT team, Web Dev team, and Marketing team is your family. Let’s face it, the families of the strategy and the brand might not always get along, but they all see the “big picture” and want what is best for the union and the children (AKA the campaigns). Working with their support and advice will only help to strengthen bonds and garner more success.
6. Have patience – When a brand chooses a strategy, there is no such thing as overnight success. If all of the other rules are followed, the brand must be patient.  Sometimes it takes the strategy a little while to get comfortable in the social space and adapt to the new community and atmosphere.
7. Have a crisis plan – Be prepared for things to not always run smoothly. There will be bumps in the road.  Plan for the day that your child (campaign) gets insulted, or the day that the strategy and/or brand doesn’t look so beautiful. Nothing is perfect. Hard times cannot put a damper on the relationship.

The idea of a social media strategy being compared to a union or a marriage (with children) may be new to some people. However, there are well-respected articles that have been talking about this notion for some time.  Even though digital agencies know that there are huge differences between campaigns and strategies – long-term vs. short-term initiatives – there are still brands that choose to ignore these important rules.  The lack of success in social media can easily be compared to the lack of success in a marriage.  Both things need care, work, understanding, and attention to be able to succeed.

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