Your Web Campaign Is Like Hitting a Golf Ball

How you follow through will determine the overall value

Our recent post Avoid Social Media One Night Stands has generated a lot of internal discussion. We discuss the common belief that traffic spikes are one metric for success — battling that false notion is the basis for a lot of our work here.

Photo by Adria.Richards

A traffic or interest spike is very easy to achieve and looks great in graph form. You just need to throw some flashy graphics into a microsite and blitz the heck out of Twitter and Facebook with announcements (be sure to have lots of ‘share this’ links).

However, if the long-term strategy is to sit back and watch the flashy, static content continue to draw visitors, that spike will come back down to Earth pretty quickly. And the multi-million dollar campaign designed to generate buzz and (hopefully) drive revenue, has simply generated hollow traffic.

It isn’t only how you start, it’s also how you follow through

Photo by Draconian Rain

Your online marketing campaign needs to be like a golf swing.

There are a million things to think about on the backswing. Left arm straight, head down, imagine you’re swinging a hose, imagine you’re sitting on the back of a horse, clear your head but stay focused.

Then, impact, or, in this case, launch. Keep the head down, make sure you clear your hips, kick that knee for a couple extra yards, keep the arms long…

A single moment when the club meets the ball, defined by everything that came before impact, and made effective by what comes after … the follow-through.

Swing through, keep keeping the head down, shift the weight, and rotate all the way around. You can’t just launch your campaign and not follow through, because that’s where the quality of the shot is generated. Without a planned follow-through, you’ll still hit the ball (maybe), but you’ll slice, hook, fade, draw, chunk, fluff, duff, or whiff because you didn’t think about anything that would happen once your club met the ball.

Think about it like this: the backswing creates power, impact creates movement, follow-through determines quality.

TGI Friday’s — nice impact, no follow-through

The example I used in the Social Media One Night Stands piece was the TGI Friday’s Friend Woody campaign, which promised free hamburgers to their Facebook fans if they hit a half million.

Surely enough, they got their half million, then made a push for a million.

TGI Friday’s didn’t plan ahead on this, despite its being a great opportunity for them to learn what works for them. At least they could have asked, politely, for some feedback about the burgers they gave away. What was good? What wasn’t? With an influx of traffic into their locations, they could have gleaned all kinds of insight into service.

Instead, the company has rarely participated on the fan page and the comments tend to come in two flavors:

1. I love TGI Friday’s!
2. I hate TGI Friday’s!

For people who want to learn more about the restaurant or get an idea if it’s a place they’d like to frequent, this stream of information is valueless.

However, if TGI Friday’s had taken the time to engage those friends who took advantage of the free hamburger, they might have been able to generate some relevant content to develop new fans and new business. Instead, the campaign simply finished and the spike was created.

Follow-through on post-launch activities

The launch of a web campaign is not the end of the campaign; it’s just the middle act of a three-act affair.

You’ll need to participate and engage after the launch. You’ll need to follow through to maximize the campaign’s value. This can mean anything from answering pre-sales and support questions, to keeping the content updated and relevant, and ideally seeking out influential people in your category and getting their insight into the campaign.

Otherwise, you’ll be looking for value in the woods, on the beach, or at the bottom of the lake.

About the author

Brad Schwarzenbach -

As an analyst on the Tippingpoint Strategy team, Brad explores new opportunities for clients to build relationships with their customers. He’s always testing new social media channels, poring over analytic data, and identifying emerging trends. He also speaks at conferences & events about uncovering powerful messages hidden within brands' unique values.

Brad’s research has contributed to the development of content & contributor strategies for such clients as Breville, Rodale, Long’s Jewelers, and Fusionapps, as well as being a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint blog. He’s been “listening” to the way we communicate online since the old AOL People Connection days and watched the way that digital communication has evolved.

An English and Creative Writing major at the University of Connecticut, Brad’s spent most of his career creating web content and becoming intimately familiar with web theory for Bayard, Inc. and TomTom Inc., giving Brad keen ears and eyes to what, exactly, makes web content valuable.

Outside the office, Brad feels most at home with his beautiful wife-to-be Kristina, or on the golf course. “There’s a distinct pace and rhythm to the way people communicate online.  Understanding and taking part in them yields amazing opportunities for my clients to not only grow but to improve their business. I’m constantly looking for those opportunities.”