Why You Should Plan Enough Lead Time For Your Social Media Campaigns

24 Oct Why You Should Plan Enough Lead Time For Your Social Media Campaigns

Last week I gave you 8 last minute holiday campaign ideas to try, but this week I want to discuss the importance of giving yourself some lead time before you launch social media campaigns.

If you’ve got a huge following or you’re a well known brand or celebrity, one link can be all you need to get some traffic and sales but most of us aren’t in that position and even big brands use multiple promotions leading up to big launches or releases. Compare the social media marketing for your event, webinar or product launch to marketing a movie. Movies don’t just pop up in the theaters and sell out millions of dollars in tickets. You see trailers for weeks until the actual movie premieres. Lead time is key in building buzz and getting your fans excited for the big reveal.

Having enough lead time for your social media campaigns lets your customers know when your webinar is, when your new product launches online, and allows them to plan accordingly. Advance notice and a few reminders will increase your chances of attendance or purchases.

Planning enough lead time for your social media marketing campaigns allows for:

Time to research.

Precious, precious research. When you have ample lead time, you have time to put your feelers out there, gather any third party tools you may need, or see if there are any online conversations or resources that can help you get the word out. You’ll be able to narrow down hashtags, influencers and where else your audience may be “hanging out” online.

Time to organize.

This includes creating messaging (like a library of ready to go tweets) get the creative together, post on event sites etc. Content gaps can get filled with different variations of content promoting your event. If something isn’t working, you have time to fix it, or change the strategy to reach your goals.

Time to build your audience.

Having enough lead time before the launch of a project allows you to build up your audience. You’ll be able to plan and publish content to attract people the final product is for or to gather more emails for your list.

Time to create great content.

Lead time allows you to create the great content that will attract the right audience. Teaser and behind the scenes content is always fun for fans to interact with and get excited over – but you also want to give these content pieces time to make the rounds and be seen.

Sometimes you won’t be able to get the lead time you’d like, but the longer you have before your launch or event the better . Ideally usually 4-6 weeks lead time is appropriate for a launch, while for an event you’d want several months notice. I’ve already started promoting my social media advent calendar even though registration doesn’t close for another month and the it doesn’t launch until December 1.

The bottom line is lead time for your social media campaigns will help you and your brand get the most out of your social media marketing. Not only will great “event” based content generate buzz, but it will help gain visibility and reach online.

<3 DhariLo

P.S. If you haven’t enrolled to my social media advent calendar do it now! You’ll receive 10 days of never before seen resources to get your social media strategy 2019 ready. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/2NCcYRt