5 Reasons to Run Social Marketing Campaigns Now (and Ideas to Get You Started)

We're nearly three full months into 2016 and it's a great time to evaluate how your marketing efforts are going so far. If you need some assistance meeting your goals, we can help. It's not too late to set yourself up a great marketing plan to keep your company going strong for the rest of the year.Regardless of your progress, it's important to continue the momentum and re-strategize for the second quarter. Did you know the most successful ShortStack marketers create at least 12 Campaigns a year? That means running one Campaign every month. That can seem like a lot, especially if your current marketing Campaigns are focused on just a few major events throughout the year. But according to our recent study, marketers who run 12 Campaigns a year receive 12 times more entries than marketers who run just 3 Campaigns a year. This is because they run more than just contests. Social media campaigns can take any form, from a simple set-it-and-forget-it newsletter signup form to a landing page promoting an upcoming event. Here are some reasons to gear up for the next few months and run successful Campaigns to gather new leads and keep in touch with the customers who are already loyal to your company.

In anticipation of a holiday: "Simple Photo Vote"

Springtime includes holidays like Easter and Mother's Day, which are perfect opportunities to generate some engagement. A giveaway contest with a submission component, such as a photo contest for people to share images of their moms for Mother's Day, allows you to collect leads while connecting with your customers. Contests where users can share images, videos or stories get them invested in the Campaign and incentivized to share with their friends (which exposes your Campaign to more people). Here's a link to the template shown below.

To build buzz around a new product or service: "Landing page"

A landing page is a great way to give your customers a focused overview on an upcoming launch, event or product. Our landing page template includes Widgets to upload images or details about your product, along with a contact form for those who want more information about your new release.If you have multiple products to launch throughout the year, your first landing page can be turned into a template to update easily in the future for other new products.

To start and/or grow an email list: "Newsletter signup"

If you don't already have an email list that you use frequently to communicate with your customers, now is the time to start! An email list Campaign is one to run year-round to grow your list. Here is a Newsletter Signup template to get started, and here are some tips to create an email list. Share the Newsletter Signup Campaign on all of your social profiles to ensure that all of your existing followers get a chance to join the list. Be specific about what your emails will entail so that your subscribers look forward to receiving them.

To gather user-generated content: "Reviews"

A recent article in Inc. magazine highlighted the effectiveness of user-generated content. When customers share their first-hand experiences with a brand, this essentially works as a word-of-mouth recommendation. And word-of-mouth is one of most effective ways to draw new customers to your company, as customers trust the recommendations of their friends and family. Harness this impact by creating a Campaign to display reviews collected from users.

To learn more about what your existing customers want: "Contact us"

It's important to let your customers feel like they have a voice by giving them a chance to offer their opinions or ideas. This is also an excellent way to develop a rapport with your customers. Consider running a crowdsource Campaign to let them weigh in on a decision, such as picking the name of a new product; you'll engage them and get some valuable feedback for your brand. Another way to gather feedback from customers is to create a contact form to host on any of your social profiles. Creating a ShortStack contact form allows you to store all messages from customers in one database.

The possibilities for Campaigns to run throughout the year are endless. Need more Campaign ideas? Check out more suggestions on our blog.