You’ve made the commitment to launch a photo contest or video contest to engage your customer audience on social channels. It’s a great idea since it clearly addresses the question: what do I do with my Facebook and social media following?

But all user generated content contests are not cut from the same cloth. Some work tremendously- relative to the goals of the sponsor. And some probably flop- though we’re unfamiliar with that variety.

There are a lot of factors involved. But while we’ve recently shared our thoughts on Why Social Media Contests Work and, earlier, simply How To Do Social Media, we’ll continue on the theme and get closer to our sweet spot. Today’s lesson, polled from our full-service client team: 3 Features that Push a Social Media Contest to Success.

1) Geotargeting: Localize the User Experience

Big brands are gravitating toward a localized content experience on Facebook, mobile and beyond, writes Lauren Fisher at SimplyZesty.

Or as Dave Williams, Bling Media CEO, wrote recently on Ad Age:

“Localized creative is effective at generating awareness and ultimately driving people into stores, building higher order value, and powering transactions. Think of it like the Sunday circular that runs in the newspaper every week. Instead of buying ads in the paper, brands can push weekly specials out to localized audiences, and do so far more efficiently with mass reach and frequency.”

The social media promotion feature that solves this: Geotargeting. Say you’re a retailer, restaurant or service provider and you want to talk to customers based on proximity to your retail locations. Either through Profile information (on Facebook) or by asking for a zip code, geotargeting allows you to promote events (store openings), offer coupons or even customize contest parameters and prizes at the local level.”

2) Voter Incentive: Removing Barriers to Participate

Everyone creates content on the internet right? Actually not: as Forrester Research reported last autumn (via ReadWriteWeb’s Sarah Perez), fewer than a quarter of the internet audience are Creators of social content.

It’s true that in nearly a year since the Forrester study was released, new forums for publishing social content abound. Not just Google+, Quora, Tumblr and the other surging social networks, but also apps like Instagr.am and services like Spotify are empowering users with even more opportunity to publish content (like stylized photos and personal playlists) to the social web.

Still, content creation is a barrier for some would-be participants of a photo or video contest. So on the one hand, a significant chunk of your brand’s audience are Creators. They are in the habit of creating content for the web, and they have more tools than ever to do so. That user generated content will lead to authentic engagement, viral brand storytelling among your customers, and a repository of content (video, images, words) to be repurposed for future use (with permission). Many contest sponsors would be thrilled with that result.

But on the other, you can generate far greater participation in the contest if you also remove the Creator barrier from participation.

A Voter Incentive does just that. This feature layers a sweepstakes, in which anyone who votes, or comments, or shares a submission, is eligible to win a prize, on top of the contest. Rewarded for participating, voters who haven’t submitted content still have incentive to check back daily or weekly, see the latest entries, cast a vote, spread the word again, and most importantly for you, reconnect with the brand.

Check out ABSA’s My Team, My Passion photo and video contest, which promotes the Currie Cup- South Africa’s premier rugby competition- and is sponsored by one of the nation’s largest banks. ABSA’s contest is perfect example of a well-staged user generated content contest- especially because the winning video will air during the Currie Cup Final, but also because the Voter Incentive awards weekly prizes to voters.

3) The Viral Incentive: A Round Trip to Spreading the Word

This refer-a-friend feature is critical for creating the word-of-mouth effect that is typically a goal for any social media contest. In essence, the contest participant gains additional entries to a sweepstakes each time someone they invite registers, votes or otherwise participates in the contest. It is a simple and powerful form of referral marketing and it virtually ensures word-of-mouth will happen.

You’re investing in a social media promotion- a great step to engaging and expanding your pool of potential customers and advocates across digital channels. Don’t forget about the details- those premium features that broaden participation, personalize the experience and trigger word-of-mouth.

Last week we offered up 4 reasons why Social Media Contests work in summer, in the marketing blitzes leading up to the school year and the holidays, or any time of year. Today we continue with 4 more reasons you should consider Contests and Sweepstakes as part of your social media strategy on Facebook and beyond.

5) Contests Work for a B2B audience, Too

93% of B2B marketers already use some combination of social media for marketing, according to SocialMediaB2b (via B2B magazine’s study).  Using social media for B2B marketing isn’t so different than for consumer brands, wrote Inc.’s JJ McCorvey: define your target audience and go to the channels they use with consistent, resourceful content.

A well-targeted contest geared toward business participants can certainly be part of your B2B social media strategy. Much more on this topic to come, but check out  the city of Yonkers, New York’s efforts to attract start-ups and “smart” businesses through its Y-Your Enterprise video contest. Small, growing businesses are entering to win office space at the Y-Enterprise Business Center; finalists videos will soon be posted. The contest also attracted press from Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove when it launched in May.

6) Contests Integrate Well with Digital Ad Campaigns

Any social media promotion can- and should- be supported with an ad campaign that drives users and attention to it.  Speedway isn’t relying on word-of-mouth alone to drive (highly entertaining) submissions to its Fountain Palooza video contest. It’s also supporting the promotion with a digital display ad campaign that drives awareness and clicks from other entertaining websites to the contest home page.  Retailers with physical storefronts can  also represent the promotion with an in-store display, and add Twitter, Facebook and YouTube components, to attain cross-media awareness. And vice versa: a contest can support a broader ad campaign, and the video and photo submissions can (with permission) be repurposed into future ad content.

7) Contests Bring Your Brand’s Subject Matter to Life

Let’s say you’re an established business introducing a complex new technology, or simply launching a new product into an established market.  How do you hold the audiences’ attention long enough to convey the benefits of your latest innovation?  A contest is an effective way to tell the story of something new and breathe viral life into any discussion.

Waste Management, the long-reigning king of waste removal and recycling, launched a new product- the Bagster- to fill a void in the home waste removal market.  How does WM get consumers to think about this alternative, which fills a void between the curbside garbage can and the dumpster?  By asking customers to demonstrate the impact the new product could make in the Bagster Home Waste Loss Plan photo contest, which taps users for Before and After photos of home renovation projections where the large-capacity container could’ve come in handy.  It’s a clever spin on asking customers to show how they would use a new product.

8 )  Contests Build Through Stages To a Remarkable Conclusion

Finally, a great contest tells a story not as a one-time exposure (like seeing the same ad over and over), but through multiple stages of  activity.  Brands sponsoring a contest can engage the audience at several touchpoints- from announcing the imminent launch of the contest to collecting and showcasing submissions to announcing semi-finalists to hosting a finalist stage or grand prize event.   It’s easy to incorporate a lot of event milestones and multimedia elements to keep the audience engaged and checking back often.

Bank of the West’s recently-concluded Rockin’ O!maha Band Contest first collected videos of emerging groups performing original songs, and built to the crescendo of a free outdoor concert and fireworks show that took place over Independence Day Weekend in Omaha.  The contest winners- Take Me To Vegas- won the honor of opening the show for .38 Special and Cheap Trick in front of an estimated 62,000 fans. That’s an incredible build-up to a very memorable event.

There you have it- 8 solid reasons why social media contests can help you break your brand through the historically slow summer months and continue to build a following on Facebook and other social media platforms.  Please contact Votigo if you have questions or want to start planning something special. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

The summer months can traditionally be a tough time to get something good going in marketing. Brand managers throttle back spend to ensure they don’t overshoot their budgets by midyear. Media planners and creatives head for the coasts for well-deserved holidays. Traditional media programmers broadcast a season of reruns and (admittedly riveting- don’t tell anyone that some Votigo people are captivated by this) reality fare. In short, July and August are historically surrendered by marketers.

But social media changes everything, enabling a year-round calendar of opportunity to engage your audience and reach potential new customers. Launching a summertime Contest or Sweepstakes on across social media- from Facebook to microsites to mobile platforms to Twitter to YouTube- is one effective way to harness social media and jumpstart your audience.

Make sure to check out the Summer Social Marketing Sweepstakes Powered by Votigo - a preview of our Sweepstakes app and an opportunity for you to win a $5,000 credit to run a social media promotion through the Votigo platform.  Meanwhile, here are 4 reasons that Social Media Contests and Sweepstakes are a great way for businesses and brands to burst through the dog days of summer.

1) Contests Are Opportunities to Engage Customers And Tell Your Story

The best contests generate repeat audience participation. An ideal lifecycle for a participant in a Photo Contest on Facebook, for example, would look something like this:

User receives an email from a friend to vote on friend’s submission -> He visits the Facebook Brand Page and “Likes” it -> Casting a a vote for his friend’s photo, he gets swept up by the contest’s stunning graphics or compelling incentive -> He decides to enter, finding a great picture to submit or taking a new one -> He shares his entry via email, Facebook, Twitter and more to friends, asking for their votes -> He checks back frequently to see how many votes he has or whether he made the Final round…

Contests give your brand’s audience relevant reasons to engage, or check-in with your frequently.  They are opt-in by nature- participants choose to submit, comment, or vote- always a more powerful form of engagement. And they help tell the story of your brand.

2) Contests Put Your Customers In The Spotlight To Create Content

A well-designed contest conveys your brand message quickly and effectively…and then gets out of the way, allowing your audience to take center stage, tapping their creativity and asking potential customers to share their favorite picture or produce a clever video. American Cancer Society does just that with it’s Create More Birthdays Contest & Sweepstakes, asking participants to submit art or music inspired by the organization’s life-saving work.   Flipping through the early submissions is already inspiring as entrants tell their stories in visually or with music.

Similarly The Drummer of Tomorrow Video Contest, presented by Mapex and other percussion and music brands, continues to generate soul-thumping videos from hardcore and hobbyist drummers alike, all competing for over $50,000 in prizes.

Why is having your own content important to your brand?  Major brands are finding that producing and publishing their own content increases not only brand awareness but also subscribers and leads, writes Shane Snow on Mashable.  Snow points to inbound marketing expert Hubspot’s recent study that shows that a content-driven marketing strategy can drive a 4x increase in leads within a few months. There is no more authentic way to get creative content for your brand than asking your audience to generate it. So contests that drive UGC can be an important part of a content marketing strategy.

3) Contests Are An Effective Way to Connect To Big Events

There are few better ways to motivate an audience than with the possibility of winning a trip to a huge championship, VIP access to a major concert, or an expenses-paid dream vacation. Great contests capture the buzz of the destination or event they’re tied to. Check out the Four Points Score Tickets Sweepstakes, where Starwood Preferred Guest offers the chance to win a serious travel experience to anyone booking a room by July 15: an all-expense-paid trip to the 2011 Major League Soccer AT&T All-Star Game in New York City.

Contests are an effective vehicle for offering an authentic incentive for customers to spread the word.  Nothing is as authentic as getaway travel to an event or destination that reflects the message of an aspirational travel, hospitality or luxury brand. What would be a fitting giveaway for your brand?

4) Contests Can Easily Involve Babies and Adorable Animals

It’s been said time and again: you want participation?  Ask for photos of babies and pets.  Not only do social media audiences simply respond to these adorable submissions; participants generally have such photos or videos handy on their laptops or mobiles- removing a barrier for quickly entering to your contest.  Zulily- the daily deals site for moms and babies- has a simple branding rationale to ask for photos in their Zulily Cuties photo contest, which features a gallery full of adorable pictures and rolling monthly winners of shopping credits.  But even for brands that don’t center on gear for babies and kids, tapping into parents’ affinities for their children (and pets) is a proven tactic.

There you go- 4 Good Reasons that you can get social media contests working for your brand- even in the summer months.  Stay tuned early next week for 4 More Good Reasons.  Have a great weekend.

OMMA Social was already a week ago today, but the resulting insight continues to float around in the ether. Continuing on with yesterday’s recap of the Top 5 gems of social media marketing, as Heard on the Street at OMMA Social Internet Week New York last week…

3) “…you gotta get local!…”

Marketers know how important it is to reach customers at a truly local level- especially in retail, consumer goods, automotive, restaurants, etc. Digital and social media tools increasingly make this easier and more effective than ever. Integrating mobile features like check-in or real-time coupons is one effective means to the local end. Another is to simply design promotions that are targeted to local audiences. Taste of Dallas did just that to promote its 25th Annual festival, launching the Taste of Talent video contest the taps submissions from North Texas performers for a chance to win cash prizes and an opportunity to perform live at the July 8-10 event

4) “…Create a Destination & Host a Conversation…”

ong before social media, brands did their best to create a single destination on the web, a primary presence for attracting and retaining users. While e-commerce rapidly evolved, though, there was rarely anything inherently sticky (memorable, worthy of a return trip) about even the best company website. Enter social media and Facebook. Even companies that are coming late to the social media party understand: it’s not nearly enough to set up a basic Facebook page. The best brands motivate their visitors to return and participate in an ongoing discussion. SpikeTV gives MMA fans plenty of reasons to return with The Ultimate Fighter’s Facebook destination. Set as the default tab on the show’s Facebook page, this tab illustrates how video, comments, Twitter feeds and polls are great examples of content that engages users for longer and repeat visits.

5) “…Be Authentic…”

Probably the most repeated mantra of all social gatherings at Internet Week - from technologists demoing their latest tools to  brands sharing success stories to comedians talking about building loyal fan bases on Twitter - was “be authentic.” For brands, this means, among others, addressing the audience directly and with a level of (in)formality and transparency that matches the venue. On Twitter and Facebook, talking 1-to-1 with fans, responding to questions or comments, and dealing with critique are all part of it. In these social channels, brands simply can’t fake their way through a marketing campaign. Users are far too savvy. In general, the audience is okay with being marketed to if it’s not disruptive to how they are otherwise using the channel. And if it’s authentic. There’s no substitute.

The National Australia Bank Group (NAB) is a major sponsor of the Australian Football League, and a Melbourne-based banking business  in a community full of AFL fans. So when NAB launches a contest dubbed NAB Commentator- asking Facebook users to record audio commentary for memorable AFL moments - it uses the authentic voice of a sports fan (vs. a staid financial institution) to address the crowd, entice entries and activate the audience. Beautifully written and inviting- and the reward is authentic as it gets (an opportunity to call a quarter of AFL action and also attend the league championship.) Nothing could be more appealing to a fan.

If you’re like us and made the near-cross country trek last week to join the citywide festivities at Internet Week New York, your head was still spinning into the weekend from the abundant content, impassioned speakers and spirited meet-ups that marked the 4th annual Manhattan pilgrimage for thousands of laptop-toting, mobile checking-in, tsotchke-collecting, iced coffee-swilling, sweltering heat suffering, blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking mavens of the digital realm.

While our schedule was jammed from jackhammer-on-10th Avenue sunrise through OMMA Social on Thursday (which we proudly sponsored) to rooftop-party sundown, we had time to take note of certain recurring themes  that strike us as shareable. With a heavy nod toward social media promotions, and generous paraphrasing, here are 5 gems on doing social just right, as heard on the streets last week in New York.

(Note: So good was the word-on-the-street that we’ll break it up over two days…)

1) “…Roll out the welcome mat…”

Not simply because new users are visiting your microsite, reading your Twitter feed or logging on to your Facebook page for the first time should you spend an inordinate amount of time on your landing page . It’s been the rule of the internet for almost two decades, and the same now applies to your social media presence. Carefully design and test any destination page to your sites or microsites. Nail the description on your Twitter home. And on Facebook, invest in great tabs.  It may be the difference between a quick bounce and a return visitor, but more important, it’s as much a representation of your brand as your logo, your ad on TV, or your booth at the trade show. See an example in the home tab for Craftsman’s Finding American Treasures photo contest landing tab on Facebook. It’s visually striking, to the point, and an authentic homage to the timeless tool brand.

2) “…Define your audience…”

Know your audience…target your audience…understand your audience…cultivate your audience…  You’ve heard it so much  that it’s almost cliche.  But it could never be more true.  Social media is not mass media, despite the opportunity to reach a vast audience.  Every component of a social channel can be geared to a carefully defined audience.  The narrower the target, the more interactive their response will be. Great promotions- like great brands- don’t try to be all things to all people. This theme comes up repeatedly in a forum like OMMA Social- so much so that we can break it down further:

(part 1): Address an Affinity

Identify the affinities- professional interests, personal passions- that unite your audience and center your social media efforts on them. We are not all drummers even though we all may wish we could channel an inner John Bonham. But percussion & music publishing brands Mapex, Remo, Zildjian, Vic Firth and Alfred didn’t worry about targeting the whole universe when they launched the Drummer of Tomorrow user-generated video contest. They simply targeted the whole universe of drummers with a relevant call-to-action (and extremely relevant prizes).  The reaction from the community has been a robust and heart-pounding flood of entries from drummers laying down their beats over the downloadable soundtracks.

(part 2): Multiple Channels for Multiple Audiences


Not all customers share the same perspective.  Hopefully they all end up at the same cash register or check out page, but they arrive at your brand with very different attitudes and motivations.  Whichever audiences you are pursuing, interact with them uniquely.  Case in point: not only is  Mercury Marine’s Mercury Film Festival a well-integrated user-generated video contest microsite (with complimentary coverage on the brand’s homepage) and again, great prizes for entrants; the “celebration of all things marine” also offers a sweepstakes with additional prizes for the voters, the company’s partners and dealers, and even its employees.  These other parties- not typically eligible for an open contest- are often the best advocates for spreading the word. Mercury Marine is giving all segments of the audience their due in this contest.

Tune in tomorrow for Part II of Heard on the Streets in New York: How To Do Social Media Marketing

Further reading: SmartBrief just published a follow-up Internet Week / Social Media recap written by Heidi Cohen of Riverside Marketing Strategies.

In the hustle of a shortened holiday Memorial Day week, it can be hard enough to find Inbox Zero, let alone think strategically about maximizing your social media presence for the rest of the year. And given that it’s nearly 90 degrees on an early June day in Boulder, it may seem an unnatural time to think ahead to the holidays. But today we encourage you to do just that.

Building an audience of passionate, loyal, active customers on Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels, as you know, is an evolving effort that takes an investment of time. Gone are the days of hastily throwing together a Facebook page and expecting users to find you; of waiting for the end of the year to scrum for leftover/experimental ad budget to spend on last minute ads; of being confident that merely reposting your latest products/services on Facebook is the best you can do.

It takes time to launch an effective social media promotional campaign - a contest or sweepstakes, for example, that expands your audience, brings followers closer to your brand and finds new customers, too.  Crafting creative that delivers a high-impact brand message. Customizing the design to fit your brand and all platforms. Adhering to the regulations of the social media channels and various locales you’ll launch in. Integrating a well-designed campaign across media- social and traditional.

Yes, it can be done incredibly fast, especially in partnership with a savvy partner. But why leave it to the last minute to do something spectacular?

This year we propose taking an Upfront Mentality to your social media promotions. Think of planning your social media marketing like TV ad buyers think of their budgets: They look at the calendar, see what program pillars are going to drive eyeballs to the hottest new shoes, and allocate their investments accordingly. They even have big fancy preview events to celebrate the practice. And they invest heavily in upfronts.

Especially if you’re a retailer,  consumer goods or services brand, think about tethering your social media promotions to the signature consumer events of the year.  Here are 3 ideas for Upfront-style events that, like next season’s TV schedule to a broadcast planner, can be the pillars of your Social Media Upfronts calendar.

1. Father’s Day: While it’s all but too late to get in on the paternal celebration- which doubles as the unofficial start of America’s grilling/camping/boating/outdoor fun season- Dad’s Day is a great illustrator of an event that generates a targeted, promotions-oriented audience. (Mother’s Day is no slouch as a retail bonanza, either. Next year!) Brands like Nautica get the appeal of this special mid-June date and tailor their promotions accordingly. Nautica’s Faces of Father’s Day Contest - submissions are due Friday- is just one example.
2. Back to School: Don’t tell the kids, who are just now singing School’s Out for Summer, but retailers are deep into planning for the 2nd biggest commerce season of the year, the magical window of July and  August that long ago transcended paper and pencils and became a $21B+ family shopping spree. Given that consumers have more options than ever, and that the lead time to plan a killer Back-To-School promotion is an ideal 6-8 weeks as of today, why not lock in this annual rite as the first big pillar of your Social Media Upfronts schedule?
3. Black Friday and Cyber Monday: The traditional red-letter date on the annual retail calendar- and its relatively modern digital cousin- continue their reign as the focal point of the retail promotions year.  Allow your brand the next few months to do it right in 2011: figure out what you’re going to promote, design the quintessentially engaging social media campaign, and participate in a shoppers holiday worth nearly $11B on the Friday after Thanksgiving alone.

Scary as it is, the holidays will be here before we know it.  As social media auteur Brian Solis is known to say, “the reality is that you get out of social media what you invest in it.” Even in the dynamic, rapid-consumption environments of the social web, it is worth investing the time to design an incredible social media promotion.