Al: 
Ben:
How to create an effective social marketing campaign
Posted September 29th, 2011 by Ben Fox. No Comments
(Or, how to do good, better)
At Fox Comms we love working with consumer brands and developing big ideas to serve capitalism, where the objectives are pretty straight forward – get people to buy more stuff, visit more frequently, and tell more people how great ‘it’ is.
Simples.
But, every now and again we are lucky enough to be given the opportunity to use our super-hero creative and strategic minds for the greater good. From helping keep the young peoples off the streets across the Summer to teaching those lazy students how to keep their streets clean (not live yet so we can’t show you I’m afraid) we love a good challenge to instigate behavioural change and reach out to traditionally hard-to-reach audiences.
So, in the spirit of doing good things here’s our Do’s and Don’ts for creating a successful social marketing campaign… enjoy the vids
Rule 1 – Make your messages relevant (not from a galaxy far, far away)
Don’t go using the world’s best loved film characters to force a tenuous link to a social marketing message – in this case its C3PO and R2D2…like, a little robot is really worried about the causes of lung cancer…come on C3PO, you’re better than that!
Rule 2 – Don’t create a naff catchphrase, strap-line or indeed advert that will be mocked by kids and teenagers for years to come
Ninja Turtles and Weed anyone?
That’s right – all very well using characters that young uns can relate to but 9 times out of 10 it turns out naff – like this teenage mutant ninja cheesy ad from our cousins across the pond.
Man…all that pot makes me fancy some pizza….COWABUNGA!
Rule 3 – Do get a little EMOTIONAL
A little emotion goes a long, long way to ensuring your message hits its mark. This doesn’t always mean the use of shock tactics to drive the point home.
This uber-stylish ‘always wear your seatbelt’ ad for Sussex council shows how much impact can be achieved through connecting with a simple, human emotional truth.
Remember, whilst folk only remember half of what they hear, they remember all of what they feel.
We’re feeling this beautifully made video.
Rule 4 – Just don’t go overboard with the emotion
Now, I’m all for shaming those sinful folks who feel the need to throw their rubbish in the streets, out of car windows at traffic lights and accidently ‘forget’ to pick up that fag packet they just threw on the floor…But check out this here retro video from the states again…
First aired on ‘Earth Day’ in 1971 this video is claimed by some to be a major factor in the start of the green movement but was there really any need to show one, solitary tear falling down Chief Sad Guy’s cheek?
Which leads us to the final and possibly most important rule of any potential social marketing campaign…
Rule 5 – Don’t get Mr. T to sing for your cause…
Hopefully this rule is self-explanatory – Fool.
To discuss more do’s and don’ts for social marketing campaigns and how to connect with hard to reach audiences DO contact us by email or by dialling on the telephone.
And remember…When you put down one mother, you put down mothers all over the world!
© Fox Communications 2001 - 2011