Social media contests are win-win opportunities for consumers and brands. Consumers enjoy the opportunity to win something–a gift certificate, a vacation, a t-shirt, a book, or a lamp. Who doesn’t love free stuff? And brands have the opportunity to grow their fan bases, build awareness, and engage with their target audiences. Here’s how contests can benefit your brand:
Considering a contest of your own? Read about some successful social media contests here: 5 Social Media Contests That Boosted Consumer Brands and 6 Stellar Social Media Contests. Then brainstorm a winning contest idea of your own.
You’ve probably heard that too much of anything can be bad for you, and this is certainly true of promotions. Discussions of social media strategies almost always include ideas for using promotions, sweepstakes and contests to gain exposure, acquire fans, boost engagement, and spur sales. And while such promotions can draw attention to your brand, they are not without pitfalls. Running too many promotions might, in the long run, lead to a less-engaged fan base. Here are some potential pitfalls to consider:
One of the major disadvantages of frequent promos, contests, and sweepstakes is that your audience may stop viewing them as special. To put this in perspective, consider that holidays are special, in part, because they do not happen every day. You look forward to them because they aren’t part of your routine. Now, what if your favorite holiday happened every day? At first, you might view it as fun and exciting. After a time, however, it may become ordinary or even boring. The same holds true with too frequent promotions. Your audience may grow to view them as less valuable or even as part of the background noise of the Internet.
Fair-weather friends only want to be friends when the sun is shining, and there are no storm clouds overhead. This be the same with some “fans.” Fair promotion fans are only interested in your brand for what they can get for free. If you’re giving something away or offering the chance to win something, they’re willing to take you up on it. These types of fans aren’t interested in really engaging, and your chances of converting them to customers are slim. If your goal is to attract brand advocates? You are unlikely to find them in this batch.
What about your true fans? These people come to you because they really like your brand and your products. They really want to engage with your brand and build a relationship with you. Sure, they want to hear about sales and sweepstakes, but they don’t want this to be the only message shouted at them. Repeatedly.
So how can you be confident that your promotions are just enough? Here are some things to consider:
What’s your motivation? Don’t just create a promotion for promotion’s sake. Create promotions for a good reason, such as to celebrate a brand milestone or to reveal a new product. If you have a good reason for a promotion and share that with your audience members, they are more likely to value your offering.
Make sure your promotions reach a significant percentage of your audience. Those that reach only a small percentage of your audience waste your time and your resources.
Develop promotions that help build brand equity rather than merely getting attention.
Aim for short-term promotions. They have more bite, and you’ll have less risk of annoying your fans with frequent reminders to enter.
Sweepstakes and similar promotions can definitely play an important role in your social media strategy. However, careful planning and moderate use are the way to go if you want to engage your audience members rather than bombard and overwhelm them.
Stephanie is the Founder and CEO of Crackerjack Marketing.
She’s been in social media for over 20 years, and teaches digital marketing at universities in Barcelona and Bangkok.
Follow her on LinkedIn
for expert LinkedIn and marketing advice.
Stephanie founder and CEO of Crackerjack Marketing.
She’s been in social media for over 20 years, and teaches digital marketing at universities in Barcelona and Bangkok.
Follow her on LinkedIn
for expert LinkedIn and marketing advice.
Are you stressed out by the time it takes to create great content?
In this handy Google Doc, which you can save and use on your own, you’ll get a super-simple layout to guide your content creation and management efforts.
Social media contests are win-win opportunities for consumers and brands. Consumers enjoy the opportunity to win something–a gift certificate, a vacation, a t-shirt, a book, or a lamp. Who doesn’t love free stuff? And brands have the opportunity to grow their fan bases, build awareness, and engage with their target audiences. Here’s how contests can benefit your brand:
Considering a contest of your own? Read about some successful social media contests here: 5 Social Media Contests That Boosted Consumer Brands and 6 Stellar Social Media Contests. Then brainstorm a winning contest idea of your own.
You’ve probably heard that too much of anything can be bad for you, and this is certainly true of promotions. Discussions of social media strategies almost always include ideas for using promotions, sweepstakes and contests to gain exposure, acquire fans, boost engagement, and spur sales. And while such promotions can draw attention to your brand, they are not without pitfalls. Running too many promotions might, in the long run, lead to a less-engaged fan base. Here are some potential pitfalls to consider:
One of the major disadvantages of frequent promos, contests, and sweepstakes is that your audience may stop viewing them as special. To put this in perspective, consider that holidays are special, in part, because they do not happen every day. You look forward to them because they aren’t part of your routine. Now, what if your favorite holiday happened every day? At first, you might view it as fun and exciting. After a time, however, it may become ordinary or even boring. The same holds true with too frequent promotions. Your audience may grow to view them as less valuable or even as part of the background noise of the Internet.
Fair-weather friends only want to be friends when the sun is shining, and there are no storm clouds overhead. This be the same with some “fans.” Fair promotion fans are only interested in your brand for what they can get for free. If you’re giving something away or offering the chance to win something, they’re willing to take you up on it. These types of fans aren’t interested in really engaging, and your chances of converting them to customers are slim. If your goal is to attract brand advocates? You are unlikely to find them in this batch.
What about your true fans? These people come to you because they really like your brand and your products. They really want to engage with your brand and build a relationship with you. Sure, they want to hear about sales and sweepstakes, but they don’t want this to be the only message shouted at them. Repeatedly.
So how can you be confident that your promotions are just enough? Here are some things to consider:
What’s your motivation? Don’t just create a promotion for promotion’s sake. Create promotions for a good reason, such as to celebrate a brand milestone or to reveal a new product. If you have a good reason for a promotion and share that with your audience members, they are more likely to value your offering.
Make sure your promotions reach a significant percentage of your audience. Those that reach only a small percentage of your audience waste your time and your resources.
Develop promotions that help build brand equity rather than merely getting attention.
Aim for short-term promotions. They have more bite, and you’ll have less risk of annoying your fans with frequent reminders to enter.
Sweepstakes and similar promotions can definitely play an important role in your social media strategy. However, careful planning and moderate use are the way to go if you want to engage your audience members rather than bombard and overwhelm them.
Are you stressed out by the time it takes to create great content?
In this handy Google Doc, which you can save and use on your own, you’ll get a super-simple layout to guide your content creation and management efforts.
Stephanie founder and CEO of Crackerjack Marketing.
She’s been in social media for over 20 years, and teaches digital marketing at universities in Barcelona and Bangkok.
Follow her on LinkedIn
for expert LinkedIn and marketing advice.
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