Campaign vs. Series
Let’s touch a little more on content! A few weeks ago we talked about planning content and SMART goals.
Here’s a quick recap:
Think about what types of content could work for your audience type. Be responsive by adjusting content as needed. You can easily decide if something is working based on the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) goals you set for your content.
With all of that in mind, I’d like to talk about campaigns versus series. Very often you’ll hear social media professionals use these words interchangeably. However, the two are different especially in relation to content planning so it’s important to distinguish which you’re intending to create when you devise a strategy. Both will require a specific goal! That means you’ll need to measure success by creating a SMART goal.
Now this is where it gets a little confusing so, please bear with me. A campaign consists of a series of posts. However, a series of posts doesn’t consist of a campaign or need to be structured around a campaign. Therefor the two are not the same. When crafting a series of posts for your social media, you may consider the following before deciding if you want to turn this series into a campaign:
How much time am I dedicating to this? Is this a part of an ongoing effort/goal or is this something short lived on my feed?
Campaigns typically are a more coordinated effort and therefor are carried out over a longer span of time.
Will I be making adjustments to the content over time?
Campaigns will usually be consistently evaluated and adjusted to ensure success whereas a series will be evaluated upon completion. The results of a series can still be very helpful regardless of whether or not adjustments are being made over time.
Are you unsure about the content you’re considering?
Campaigns are typically a big (on-going) commitment. When you’re just starting out with planned content, you can often be unsure about the best way to execute something, the messaging and the larger ideas that can’t be adjusted once you start it.
For example, you may have a broad goal like improving company sales over a specific quarter. You launch a full campaign showcasing your best selling products on (let’s just say) Instagram in an attempt to boost sales. A week later, your research suggests that people actually spend more after watching tutorials from professionals on (once again let’s pretend) YouTube. Additionally, you’re not finding much success from any of your Instagram posts. Instead of dramatically changing gears, a series helps you to test the waters. This way you can work smarter rather than working harder. It can also save you from dropping a campaign at a mid point due to lack of success or poor planning.
If you’re new to social media or you don’t quite understand your audience yet, starting a series will help you to develop a better understanding of the type of content that might be successful, explore audience trends, and help you test out related content without too large of a commitment.
Ready to a series or campaign on Instagram that focuses on your goals?
Make sure to circle back to my past blog post about understanding your insights for more information about Instagram’s in-app metrics to help guide you along the way.
Okay, that’s it for now!
