We see more and more businesses move their services online, and even more emerging every day. The web becomes a saturated place where everyone wants to make a big difference and stand out in the crowd. That's why it is vital for you to find ways to promote your business in a fashion that will distinguish you from your rivals. For that, you need to learn the ins and outs of conducting a highly successful social media campaign that will spread like wildfire.

Your main goal when considering having a social media campaign is to create a buzz about your offerings in a hope that more and more people will want to buy what you are selling. So far so good. The difficult part comes next when you start wondering how to make your campaign special.

To help you rock with your social media endeavor, I have put together a list of 20 qualities that every highly effective social media campaigns should possess. So, follow these tips, and you will be heading the right way:

Qualities of the perfect online campaign:

1. Viral in nature

Successful social media campaigns spread extremely fast. The truth is that If your campaign is not spreading, it couldn't be defined as effective. Your social campaign should be so compelling that it will provoke an instant desire to share it with friends/followers/connections.

Advice: Research the most successful viral campaigns and see what they did to achieve that success, and then model it. (you can also learn from the other failures)

A good way to gauge the potential success of your campaign is to try a micro campaign. It is much easier to test the effectiveness on a small scale and when it proves prudent to jump in with both feet in a grand campaign.

2. Innovative

Regular campaigns mostly go unnoticed, usually because they say nothing new, they are not much fun, or their resemblance with many other similar campaigns can only bore your viewer/readers to death. Innovation adds 'flavor' to your campaign. Taking an innovative approach and presenting your idea in an exciting and not common way will lure most people to get involved.

Advice: If your campaign is dull and boring, nobody will pay attention. You need to make sure that your social media campaign has your unique voice, which is genuine, exciting, creative, and touches them in some way.

3. Have bait

You need to offer some sort of incentive to convert visitors into leads. It's very important to convince them that you have something that they can't live without. You can use eBooks, free products, free shipping, white papers, discount codes, free samples, free vouchers, and all other stuff you can come up with as bait.

Advice: The main message of your campaign should be like irresistible bait which tempts the readers, listeners or viewers to do what you want them to. The copy and images your visitors see should prime them for certain behaviors.

4. Well planned and organized

Before you start a campaign you should carefully plan it in the first place. Setting goals and knowing the outcome you are heading for, will set the stage for success. Answering some questions like: What do you actually want to achieve from this campaign? More followings/ more friends and connections? Drive traffic to a site? Generate awareness and a "buzz" about a product, brand or something else? - will help you clear up the idea and thus organize better your campaign.

Then, you have to find out what your target audience wants; how they feel about the topic; which online places they frequent most.

The final stage of creating a plan is to elaborate your entire strategy based on the research and ideas you have already come up with, and then start realizing it step by step. Plan your steps well, so it is easy to follow through the steps smoothly.

5. Use the right networks

The campaign couldn't be as productive as it should be, if you try to run it on too many social media sites at the same time. That is because you won't be able to adapt it according to the specific requirements and audience's expectations that vary from site to site. The campaign won't be well targeted and eventually won't convert. That will only burn you out; your campaign will be fruitless, and it will be a waste of time, money and resources.

6. Well targeted

If you truly want your campaign to be spread like wildfire, you will have to do your homework in the first place and figure out what social networking sites you should be focusing your marketing efforts on. And it all depends on where your audience is hanging around.

To learn more about the top social networking sites and find additional info regarding their audiences – such things like gender, age, income, and education demographics, you can read "How to Choose the Perfect Social Network for Your Marketing Campaign".

7. Use photos and videos

Photos and videos leave a lasting impression on people' minds.

Advice: When choosing images for your campaign, think carefully about the message you’re trying to send. Pick images that are meaningful and that embody that message or feeling. Also, don't forget to put your logo, when you make a video.

8. Have a call to action

What is the essence of a marketing campaign without having a call to action of some sort? Call to Action is an indispensable ingredient for every successful social media campaign. It is the way for your visitors to connect with you on a deeper level after reading/watching your message.

Advice: I suggest you use your social marketing campaign to generate leads before trying to sell anything. "Signup below” and “call us now” are not the only call to action examples. “Click to view our portfolio” is an instance of call to action, too. Your call to actions must follow a sequence; from the beginning of the campaign to its end.

9. Integrate offline marketing

Social media marketing and traditional marketing walk hand in hand to make your business more recognizable. You have to put your brand everywhere possible, after all the more exposure your business gets the better.

Advice: Print some t-shirts with your logo, Twitter handle, Facebook fan page URL and your slogan on it and spread them out. Send out paper printed catalogs to your online leads. Add your Twitter and Facebook URLs to your contact address. Integrate offline with online.

10. Funny

Adding humor to marketing is a cool way of saying “we are a friendly business”. It makes your marketing memorable. And don't forget that the good fun is the shortest way to your customers' hearts.

Stay tuned for the second part of this post. It will list the rest 10 quilities of running a successfull social marketing campaign.