Mistake #2: No optimization from metrics
This one ties into the first mistake of not allotting the appropriate resources throughout the campaign. Online efforts aren't print. They are living, breathing, and malleable. You're not shoving off from port never to return. This sounds elementary, and yet it always amazes me how many campaigns don't take advantage of the fact that this is online.
Use the power of how changeable your campaigns are to do just that: change them to increase engagement. For everything it is (and isn't), Google Analytics for Flash has a great funnel visualization and tracking method to show you exactly where people are abandoning ship.
Use these metrics to tweak the campaign as they come in. If the campaign goal is to get people to share, and they aren't sharing at the rate you expected, make a change to your call-to-action on day two and see how it goes. If you see that the interstitial is where people drop off, get rid of it! Staying flexible with resources and taking action on the metrics can be the difference between a viral campaign that catches fire or goes cold. Make sure you have the resources and technology to continue adjusting based on the behavior of the people you're trying to please.
Mistake #3: No investment in seeding campaigns
Another strange disconnect is the lack of coordination between display buys and viral engagement campaigns. While companies launch rich media applications in social networks, their display ads are often on portals trying to get hits for a microsite or coupon.
Use your budget to combine forces where there are paid insertions to be had -- and display to be fueled -- to seed the base for your rich application. Many of the seeding points in these networks target people who have already qualified themselves by installing and using applications just like yours in the past.
Seeding isn't cheating, it's giving the audience best suited to use and spread your application virally direct exposure to your campaign at a CPM that will most likely fit within your budget.
As with any online initiative, you can't forget the golden rule: People will spend more time on every other web property and promotion besides yours. Seeding helps put your campaign in front of the right people at the onset of the campaign, so your brand dollars aren't spent twisting in the wind of a vast competitive landscape.
Mistake #4: Not enough social media strategy
Sure, you have a great strategic team working with your brand to help plan campaigns. Yet, it's also likely that none of them have Beer Pong installed on their iPhone (two million downloads) or the "What Color is Your Aura?" Facebook application (growing at a 555 percent rate, according to AllFacebookApps).
These are just two reasons why it helps to develop strategies with companies and consultants that are specialists in social applications and audiences. What may seem ridiculous to you and your team because of your habits and lifestyle could be a sound, winning strategy to those who understand the markets and audiences actually using the network you want to create content for.
This may seem hard to do, with everyone and their mother professing expertise in social media. But one simple question will separate the chaff from the wheat: What is your track record with clients?
Tapping these experienced resources to help define your strategy in the platforms you need for viral adoption can easily be the difference between a budget well spent and one sent down the drain.
Spend a little time upfront to scour your contacts, check out popular applications, check out Google and social search engines like socialmention.com and addictomatic.com to find the people working successfully in social media, to get a foothold on what will work for your brand.
Keep in mind that viral strategies may not seem to make a whole lot of sense in the same way a traditional web or print campaign does. In social, your brand is sponsoring content that helps people express themselves within the context of their peer group. Sometimes, that can be directly aligned with the brand messaging; other times, it can take the form of "What's Your Stripper Name," last summer's Facebook hit among women ages 18-34.
OK, so maybe that example was a bit extreme. The bigger point is that there are companies that have experience creating successful viral, social campaigns, and it's not to the detriment of your team to bring those people in early during your planning process. Quite the opposite. It will be a tremendous learning experience for everyone involved in strategic planning going forward.
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