2016: The Year of Social Media Integration (Finally?)

We are well into 2016, but will this finally be the year of social media integration among Marketing Service Providers (MSPs)?  It’s way overdue, but we’re finally seeing enough social media integration in self-promotion and client campaigns that broader industry adoption may finally be right around the corner.

When I say social media, I really mean Facebook. While MSPs and their clients may be shying away from other forms of social media marketing, the integration of Facebook is becoming increasingly common. We see use of Facebook parties among nonprofits, in particular, and I’m seeing more and more use of the “post your selfie on our Facebook page for a chance to win” approach among smaller businesses.
Here are some ways our industry has used Facebook as part of their clients’ multichannel marketing campaigns:

• Provost Academy, an online high school, decided to boost its response rates with an iPad sweepstakes using Facebook as a platform and a text-for-more-information feature. The MSP that helped with this particular campaign was Barnett Murphy Direct Marketing.

• Stein Mart, a regional retail chain working with Dukky, offered customers $10 off a $25 order and a chance to win one of ten $100 gift cards or a $1,000 shopping spree. It gave customers a chance to share the offer with friends via Facebook, Twitter, and through SMS, greatly multiplying the reach of its campaign.

• Innovative Business Products sends out personalized birthday cards to its customers, encouraging them to post a selfie with their cards on its Facebook page for a chance to win a prize.

• When Rosemont College (working with Pacesetter Enterprises) wanted to increase engagement with younger alums, it threw a Facebook networking party.

• The Girl Scouts of America in Arizona wanted to increase donations by getting alumni engaged. Working with Allegra Print & Imaging, it created a Facebook Cause page where alumni were encouraged to connect.

• Auburn Printers & Integrated Marketing was rebranding as API Marketing. Each week for five months, it positioned a life-sized version of its mascot, Prince Perfect, at a different local business. Community members were invited to take their pictures with the mascot and post them on Facebook in order to be entered into a weekly drawing.

The use of Facebook still isn’t the norm, but we’re seeing it more and more. Many of these are simple implementations, so there is no reason for your clients not to be integrating similar implementation into their multichannel campaigns this year—or for you to be helping them do it.