70 percent of respondents to a Pew Research Center study said they check Facebook at least once per day. If you’re using social media to connect with consumers, the more followers you have, the better. One way to get more followers for your business is to run and promote a giveaway. By providing a free product or service to people who follows your blog, social media profiles, or newsletter, you’ll attract customers who haven’t yet signed up to learn more what you’re promoting. The most important part of giveaways is making sure they’re attractive to the right set of people and that they get in front of the people who you want to sign up. [Read more…] about How To Use Giveaways to Boost Your Followers & Grow Your Social Audience
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How to Work With Bloggers for Social Media Contests
Bloggers that cover topics within your business’ industry can be a great untapped resource when it comes to promoting your social media presence to your target market. Some bloggers may be willing to post company-sponsored giveaways and guest posts on their blogs. These two options can help a company reach people who are interested in their products without spending a lot of money on advertising or branding campaigns.
Reaching Out
Send an inquiry letter to the blog owner or head writer offering to either do a blog post or giveaway on their blog. Try not to come across as salesy or spammy– otherwise your inquiry email might just get deleted immediately without consideration. Bloggers are getting requests for these types of promotions on a regular base so do your research. Come up with one or two specific things you like about their blog (such as a certain post or reoccurring feature) to prove that you are a regular reader. Be respectful and positive– bloggers encounter so much negativity and scrutiny on a regular basis so it’s important to come across as a great company to work with.
Guest Posts
Offer to do an original guest post on their blog (or compensate them for writing it) that includes some information about your business’ products. This content must also not be too salesy or spammy, as it can affect the blogger’s reputation and may turn off readers. At the end of the post, some blogs may allow you to give your social media profile links to get their readers to further interact with you online if they are interested.
Giveaways
Another option is to offer to host a giveaway of your products (or of a gift card to a well-known retailer, like Amazon) to readers of the blog. The acceptance policy of giveaway promotions will vary widely depending on the blog, so be sure to follow all the guidelines. Using a giveaway widget like Rafflecopter is an easy way to integrate social media into the giveaway. Make sure that the giveaway items are worth the effort it takes to enter. For instance, if a hair product company only gave away 1 hairbrush, it might not entice readers as much as a hair products gift basket with shampoo, conditioner, a flat iron, styling spray, and a Beauty Brands gift card. Bigger giveaways will get more attention.
These are just two options when it comes to working with bloggers to promote your social media and overall online presence.
Do you have any other ideas? Let us know in the comments.
How Can the 2012 Olympics Help Your Social Media Strategy?
The 2012 Summer Olympics is just around the corner, and there are several different ways that company can embrace this popular worldwide event to tie it in with their current products or marketing campaigns. However, before starting an Olympics-type campaign, it is important to pay attention to copyright and trademark issues. For example, in most cases, the Olympics does not allow their logo (the six multi-colored rings) to be used on any content or media without their prior approval. Remember this when beginning any Olympics-related marketing or advertising.
Giveaways
Giveaways are an easy thing to incorporate into social media while tying in the Olympics. Because social media engagement and participation usually thrives on current events and happenings, holding Olympic-related giveaways can be a great way to make customers feel more connected to a company’s social media presence. This is because the company is involving itself into what customers currently care about, such as events like the Olympics. As mentioned previously, Rafflecopter is a great social media and blog giveaway tool. It makes automating giveaways extremely easy, and it is free to use.
Building Community
Besides giveaways, another way to drive engagement through social media by using the events in the 2012 Summer Olympics is to post conversation builders. This may include asking trivia questions about current Olympic events (e.g. “Who won the Gold medal last night in synchronized swimming?”) as well as posting photos from the events with proper copyright approval. Because many Olympic-watchers are getting into the events every evening, giving customers an outlet to discuss it via Facebook, Twitter chats, Google+ Hangouts, and more can help build a larger community on the company’s profiles.
Conversation builders can also be tied in with giveaways— prizes could be given for the first correct answer to a question or users can post photos from the Olympics to win trips, company products, or other items.
Sponsorship Opportunities
If a company is based in London or does a lot of business in the United Kingdom, then there may be several different sponsorship and advertising options available for reaching participants, fans, and the staff of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, the deadline for advertising on the Olympics grounds has passed (it was March 31, 2012) but many London newspapers, stores, restaurants, and other establishments that will experience an increase in business may be looking for sponsorships, advertisers, or partnerships during the Olympics.
Giveaways, community building, and sponsorship opportunities are all great ways to tie in the 2012 Olympics with your company’s social media strategy, as with any other global or major event. The Olympics are a part of human history, which makes it a great opportunity to bring companies and individuals together in a positive way.