As billions of people move onto the web and into social media, there is little incentive to remain isolated from platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Those who want to keep track of their friends and family are basically obligated at this point to sign up and use these services, but the same is quickly becoming true for brands and businesses that want to stay in the loop when it comes to what their customers and readers think. Many businesses and websites now run marketing campaigns via these platforms as a way to attract more business and traffic, but not all campaigns work as intended. While there is no sure-fire way to guarantee success for your particular campaign, you can augment the likelihood of success with a few simple elements. In the following article, we will discuss what you can do to help your next marketing campaign thrive in the world of social media.

It’s Focus Grouped

It is not always feasible to run each status update or piece of content by a group of individuals prior to publication, but a second set of eyes may catch something that could spell disaster for your otherwise successful social media campaign. As you are pinging URLs to your readers in rapid fashion to spread the word, you may inadvertently make an off-color comment or create an inappropriate situation that was unintentional. When you focus group your content, you not only avoid scenarios such as this, but you can also ensure that others find your content desirable and acceptable. Nobody wants to be left with a PR nightmare to clean up, so be sure to compile various elements of any campaign in advance and seek a second (or third) opinion.

It’s Well-Timed

There is always a need for evergreen content – whether that be on your blog or on social media circles. This, however, should not be the fundamental basis for your social media campaign. Current events and late-breaking news can be a great way to gain traction with new readers and increase your exposure. You can use a variety of different tools to determine what is hot and trending; sites like Twitter even show you what is trending on the network. Many large brands capitalize on these events through the use of cutesy photos and multimedia that combine their products and current events in a fun way. Whatever the choice, be sure to be punctual and relevant when you publish content.

It’s Measured

No social media campaign can be successful unless you can determine whether or not its reach is having the desired effects. While you may be able to determine that there is an increased number of shares, more people pinging URLs to your website or comments on articles without an analytics program, you will be flying-by-night in regards to documented, measurable progress. Depending on the social media network, you may be able to take advantage of in-house analytics to keep track of your progress. There are also a wide variety of free and premium services available that can monitor multiple networks simultaneously.