There are lots of suggestions on improving your social media campaigns out on the Interwebs, but this post from Jesse Stanchak caught my attention. He describes how to plan a campaign like an art thief.. Now Stanchak isn’t advocating actual larceny here, but his suggestions are good ones and worth repeating.
He says, “a lot of the potential of social media is tied up in being willing to think big and then plan small, just like an art thief.”
Here are his tips, and no, they don’t include avoiding the law:
- Dream big or don’t bother. Nobody ever steals paintings of dogs playing poker, or the velvet Elvis genre. Unless you’re willing to actually put in the work to create something of value for your audience, they’re just going to ignore you.
- Know what people like. Art thieves don’t just steal works by artists they personally appreciate; they target artists whose work will sell. Don’t know your audience? Then step back and do some research and get a better understanding. When was the last time you looked at your server and chat logs, for example?
- Remember that simple plans are best. Look at your social media presence. Is it more complicated than it needs to be? How many moving parts does it have, and what can be eliminated?
- Sweat the details. Don’t mistake simple for easy. The little things don’t seem very sexy, but when a social media campaign goes off the rails, it’s usually because someone got careless and sent a tweet from the wrong account, or something just as trivial. Find someone who is Type A enough to care about the details.
- Recognize you can’t control everything. There is no such thing as a perfect plan. Putting a plan in motion means involving other people and these other people can be unpredictable. Keep this in mind and make plans for dealing with the unexpected.
- Think about the day after. Law enforcement officials say that most art thieves get caught not while stealing their prizes, but when trying to sell them later. Similarly, too many social media campaigns focus on attracting a ton of fans and followers without any consideration being given to what the brand will do with these relationships once they’re formed. Those of you who have quickly gained followers know that you can quickly lose them too.
