We’re in the throes of developing a really cool Facebook promotion for one of our clients, so I thought now would be a good time to share some do’s and don’ts on social media promotions.
Like any promotion, Web 2.0 campaigns can accomplish a number of things. Maybe you want to collect email addresses, build your fan base, or actually sell some products. Overall, social media promotions are a great way to engage with your fans and build new ones.
Follow the Rules
Job number one is to make sure your promotion doesn’t get you into trouble. For instance, any promotion (i.e., where a consumer enters for a chance to win a prize) on Facebook must be handled through an app. By not doing this you risk being black-balled by Facebook.
If you know programming or have a programmer you can develop your own Facebook app, but it’s really much easier to personalize an “off-the-shelf” app by a number of companies. I really like ShortStack – reasonably priced and lots of options.
Secondly, make sure that your promotion is not deemed a lottery, which is the domain of the government. A promotion is considered a lottery if it contains three elements: prize, element of chance in winner selection and consideration (cash or equivalent, purchase requirement or extensive effort required to enter). It is rather difficult to have a promotion without a prize, so you need to eliminate one or both of the other criteria.
Use Everything in Your Tool Box
Now we get to the fun part. Much of the value in a social promotion is the opportunity to go viral – people sharing your promotion through their social platforms. Make it easy and intuitive, an absolute no brainer, for your promotion to be shared. But note that it is against Facebook policy to directly reward a user for sharing. You can use an app to reward referrals but do not directly incentivize sharing through Facebook.
Be sure to regularly promote your contest, not just at the beginning. Share milestones, applaud entries, keep the interest up! If you are running a user-generated content promotion, share some of the best content.
Don’t forget to promote your contest on other channels – social, website, etc. If you’re doing a Facebook promotion, spread the word on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc.
Speaking of user-generated content, it’s always a good idea to seed your contest with a few submissions to give people an idea of what you are looking for. You can create a few on your own that are not eligible to win, or encourage some folks to enter early.
Finally, if your contest is solely determined by public voting, be prepared for the person with the largest social network to win or instances of vote-swapping and other tricks to game the system.
If you’re running a photo contest for example, the best photo may not win. You can circumvent this by including an element of judge voting (in addition to fan voting), or write into your rules that obvious attempts to game the system will be disqualified.
Social promotions require some work, like any promotion, but don’t be intimidated; a good social contest will provide many rewards.
Here are a couple of social promotions currently being conducted in the tire industry. Take a look:
facebook.com/ToyoTires/app_254553244581393
facebook.com/ KumhoTire/app_117523371720891
Christine Taylor is vice president of social media marketing for JTMarCom,a Nashville-based marketing agency that helps companies with online reputation management and integration of social media into their traditional marketing programs. With a combined 35 years of experience in the tire industry, the agency places a special emphasis on working with tire and automotive aftermarket companies. Follow Christine on Facebook and Twitter (@chrisgtaylor). She can also be reached at 615-714-5469.
