Campaigns Are for Wars, Not Web

Most large brands, and the agencies that represent them, are still thinking in what I [Jackie Peters] like to call a "campaign mentality." Prior to the social web and the democratization of everything, pretty much all marketing strategy was campaign based. Let's think about how campaigns work: they are typically top-down, one-directional, one-to-many crusades designed by the originating party to convince an "audience" of something. Essentially, this mentality is the antithesis of how the social web works. For marketers to be successful on the social web, whether they are a big brand or a small one, they need to start thinking about contributions and let go of the campaign mentality

(from heavyBlog). A short name for the social media efforts done in the service of a larger marketing plan is often "social media campaign" as if people are to be carpet bombed. Something equally concise is "social media initiative" and suggests beginning something, like a conversation.

I've also begun to reconsider the word "target" when discussing the intended recipients of a message. Perhaps "audience" or "people" as the identifier may work better.