I CAN’T AFFORD PORTFOLIO SCHOOL,

BUT HERE ARE MY IDEAS.

While I do have a lot of ideas for social media campaigns, I do not have $30k to spend on portfolio school.

Instead, I’ve created a poor man’s portfolio with the outline for several social media campaigns I would love to manage.

You get to see my thought process and I get to avoid calling Sallie Mae again. Win, win.

Idea #1: Seeing Social Media Signs in the Bathroom

You’ve seen this sign before:

And almost without fail, if the sign is noticed in the presence of another human, one of the following comments will follow:

Common Response #1: “God, they really have to tell them that?”

Common Response #2: “Guess, I don’t have to wash my hands!”

To me, this social situation provides potential for a fun and innovative social media campaign. All we need is a slightly altered sign and the endorsement of a soap company. Here’s the sign alteration:

There are many ways this campaign could be implemented. Here are a two I’ve thought of:

Consumer Reach

• Place signs in a certain number of establishments in one city. Announce the number of signs and offer a prize to the first person in the city to find all of the signs and upload pictures to Twitter with the contest hash tag. Also require participants to check into FourSquare and comment using the contest hash tag at each place. The first participant to find all of the signs wins the prize. Incorporate contest developments into the company blog/Facebook Fan page to create a buzz and continue to gain excitement throughout the contest.

Business Reach

• Encourage local businesses in the chosen city to participate by announcing that each business that participates will be eligible to win a free year supply of soap. Once a business is “found” by consumers, ask them to announce their participation via Twitter/company blog/Facebook Fan page. When a business is chosen for the prize, ask them to provide updates about what they’re using the extra cash for and incorporate this into the ongoing campaign. Even as the campaign moves to different cities, you can still keep the buzz alive in the first city.

Idea #2: Social Media Opportunity at the Bottom of a Bad Cup of Coffee

I’ve worked in offices for 3 years now. My brain thrives on coffee and if there’s one thing that really pisses me off, it’s pouring a nice cup only to find generic powder creamer as my only option for a coffee accessory.

I’d like to use this often overlooked budget cut to connect with others who are likely just as impassioned as I am.

Here are a couple ideas I have for a company like Coffee Mate:

Consumer Reach

• Ask consumers to participate by taking a picture of themselves with their office’s creamer of choice. Split these participants into two pools. Those who already have your product are eligible to win a cash prize in the end of promo drawing. Those who currently suffer through generic treatment are eligible to win a year’s supply of your product.

Business Reach

• Ask businesses to participate by taking a picture of your product and sharing it on Facebook or Twitter. Want them to get even more involved? Ask businesses to send in a 200 word synopsis of why they only buy their employees the best creamer (yours). Want to get even more responses? Offer some reward for their participation. Enter all participating businesses into a raffle to win a free year’s supply of your product.

Idea 3: Boy Toy Brad Should Be a Star for YOUR Company

In December, my co-workers gave me a blow-up doll as a gag gift for being single for so long. I took him home and introduced him as my new boyfriend in a really awkward video post on my blog. And people loved him. No matter what I wrote after that video post, people continuously found a way to incorporate Boy Toy Brad into the conversation. So after endless hints from my readers, I decided to give Brad the platform he deserved: his own blog (click here to read at http://BoyToyBrad.com).

I think it’s too bad that Boy Toy Brad’s creators nor his distributor, Spencer’s, did not already do this, but in the same light, this just affirms (true to the Geico gecko and cavemen) that people love silly characters and they especially love when they become life-like and take on their own persona.

Further, I think that this character development is a great option for companies who stall when it comes to developing an interesting and engaging social media campaign. Is there any character you can relate to your company or your product? Then you can build out a blog written by that character that gives your audience something interesting and fun to read and share. You can have that same character tweet for your company. And if you have a fun enough character, maybe he can create dance videos for your YouTube account. I’m still working on a dance routine for Brad.