If your business sells anything to anyone, there are some stats of interest within this week’s early returns on Cyber Monday 2011. IBM and eBay reported $1.25B in total Cyber Monday sales (29% more than on Black Friday), and found that more than 6% of consumers shopped online via mobile. Over half a percent of cyber buyers came from social channels- mostly Facebook. All bigger numbers than years past.

What does this all mean for brand marketers? Consumers are as responsive to great deals as ever. They are spending. And they are using their digital tools- especially the social and mobile combo- to find and buy great deals.

So with these seasonal trends in mind, how are you planning your 2012 social media marketing and promotions?

To do this annual planning exercise justice in an explosive growth channel like social media, you’d want to know what the trends are heading into the year, what consumers are responding to, and what may be resonating best by December 2012- the next Black Friday. Even amid this year’s holiday season, agencies and planners are deep into planning the next cycle.

A few things to consider:

1) What is your planning cycle based upon? Is it seasons? Or calendar milestones (like Black Friday?) Or is it geared toward new product launches?

2) What is the internal turnaround time for launching a marketing campaign for your brand? From setting a campaign strategy to budgeting to getting everyone internally on board to designing key ad units and graphics, how long does it take to pull off a big idea?

3) Follow the huge trends: mobile, including mobile access but also check-ins, instant offers and coupons, QR codes and everything else mobile can do. And, cross-platform in general. Facebook continues to be a tremendous anchor for your social strategy, but don’t neglect the other platforms that are great for different reasons.

4) Allow time to get great outside guidance on best practices for your promotion or campaign. From coming up with the big ideas to filling in all the fundamentals- prizes, fulfillment, legal, complying with all social channels’ promotional guidelines- to executing under a short or extended timeframe, it pays to have a third party partner.

What are your goals for the year in terms of social media marketing and promotions, and what cross-channel campaigns and big ideas are going to get you there?

When it comes to creating a winning social media promotion it’s all in the details, and no detail is too small. One seemingly small detail that can have a huge impact on the success of your campaign is the use of a custom graphic. When you create your own campaign with our new self-serve tool, you have the option of uploading a custom graphic into your header. You’ll want to take advantage of this feature, as it can help generate more entries and ultimately more fans for your Facebook page.

So, what makes a great graphic? The best graphics include your campaign details in a clean and straightforward design. This allows fans to get a general idea of what’s required to enter your promotion and what they have a chance to win, quickly and without having to read rules and details.
Here are a few ideas for creating a winning graphic:

1. List the steps required to enter your promotion so that people can see how easy it is to win
2. List the prizes at stake to get your fans excited
3. Take advantage of the space. You can upload large graphics with a maximum width of 520 pixels and a maximum height of 900 pixels

Create a great graphic and you’re well on your way to a successful promotion that grows your audience and engages your fans. Need more ideas for creating a winning promotion? Here are 5 tips for making your contest a success.

If you’re as tuned into the social media marketing landscape as we are, you no doubt noticed yesterday that Google unveiled Google+ Pages, the new capability for local businesses and brands and organizations worldwide to create their official home on the Google+, the rapidly-growing platform with at least 40M users. As Google writes, “…behind every page (or storefront, or four-door sedan) is a passionate group of individuals…For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you.”

You probably also noticed coverage from TechCrunch and others reporting that Google won’t allow contests and promotions on Google+.

So, what can you do? Brands and agencies are already clamoring to take advantage of the reach and authentic sharing that Google+ empowers. We have already given simple advice for our clients: keep doing what you’re doing. Run a cross-platform promotion where a microsite- a simple but well-design website or landing page- serves as the centerpiece. Reference it and link to on your new Google+ page- this is allowed as long as you adhere to all the applicable rules, regulations and laws that pertain to your promotion. And while you’re at it, set up a mobile version, a Facebook app and even a Twitter version (for sweepstakes) or a YouTube hub (for video contests).

Most of our clients recognize the value of running marketing campaigns and promotions across social platforms. Budget and timing- not to mention the unique features of each network- don’t always allow for that, and there are many platforms anchored on Facebook or YouTube that are highly effective.

But don’t forget that before Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and now Google+, there were websites. You can make a great case that a dedicated microsite- with custom graphics, flexible features and all the sharing tools you can imagine- serves as the best anchor for a social promotion. And that increasingly, a mobile landing page is a must-have for engaging consumers on the go.

So as far as leveraging Google+, play by the rules and take advantage of what is already there. Create a microsite to serve as the hub of your video contest, photo contest, sweepstakes, instant-win giveaway, coupon- any branded promotion you’re ready to run. Outfit it with all the sharing features available- including the +1 button. Create a complimentary mobile version that can also incorporate check-ins, QR codes and real-time offers. And then simply link to it on your new and rapidly-growing Google+ page.

A quick plug for pragmatism. One of the noteworthy aspects of the latest from Google+ is how drastically different of a policy it is compared to Facebook promotions. As a Facebook Preferred Developer- and more importantly as a full-service provider accustomed to providing legal resources among our service offerings- we are advocates of knowing the unique policies of each platform. Whether you let Votigo help you navigate these platforms or entrust it to someone else, please do invest the time to do it right.

So don’t waste any time in creating a Google+ page for your brand, business or organization. And when you’re ready to integrate Google+ into a cross-platform promotion, with web and mobile components or a simple independent landing page, let us know. We are ready to help.

With Internet Week New York (#IWNY) off to a stellar, if scorching, start in Manhattan, Votigo has been soaking up the social media-packed agenda - a diverse range of digital topics ranging from mobile and video to how comedians like Michael Ian Black (among others) build an audience and advance their art form in social media.

Tomorrow we get hands-on at two Thursday events:

Check out Votigo president and co-founder Jim Risner as he joins Likeable Media CEO Dave Kerpen and other social media marketing technology leaders on a panel at LikeableU. The panel drops Thursday at 10am at the brand new Yotel at 570 10th Avenue. Registration is here and the event is in conjunction with the launch of Kerpen’s soon-to-be-bestseller, likeable social media.

Meanwhile Votigo will be at OMMA Social the entire day- from the early hours through the keynote by Bryan Perez, Senior VP/General Manager, NBA Digital, to the final panel - included two much-needed coffee breaks we’re hosting. Votigo VP of Business Development Mark Hodson and others will be on hand; we hope to see you there.



Drop us a note here or here (twitter.com/votigo) if you’re going to be at either event.  We’ll see you there and we’ll save an (iced?) coffee for you.

Whether you’re readying for your first foray into social media promotions or you’re a veteran of engaging directly with your customers through these digital channels, you may find yourself wondering, “Where do I launch my next branded social media campaign?”


Here are 4 ideas to get you into the arena.


1) Facebook: It may seem obvious at this point, but the World’s Most Widely Used Social Media Network is a great place to start. Boasting 600M users and counting, Facebook is where users “Like” brands 50M times per day, according to @LeenaRao via @TechCrunch. Facebook treads the impossible balance of centering on genuine, person-to-person interaction, while also still being a widely-accepted forum for brands to interact with users in authentic, unobtrusive ways. Your Facebook page is a familiar, recognizable place for users to encounter your brand, and a contest or sweepstakes is a proven way to expand the audience. And Facebook features such as Like-Gating, Connect, news feed notifications and other branded sharing functions make it very accessible for users, and easy to inspire a viral effect. UK Style By French Connection launched an easy-to-enter sweepstakes via Facebook to promote the brand at Sears. Users enter the sweepstakes to win the UK Style Tour Car, and can share photos of their own personal UK Style.

2) Microsites: Prior to the broad adoption of Facebook and long before anyone had uttered “Twitter,” there were microsites. Concise, user-friendly websites with highly visual designs, linked to but separate from a company’s main website, dedicated to a specific product or service, launch, event or other singular purpose. Even with the proliferation of new social media channels, having a branded microsite to serve as the primary destination, the campaign home to which all traffic for a contest or sweepstakes can be driven, remains incredibly useful.  Control the microsite’s design, it’s functionality, and how users interact with it- including generous linking to Facebook, Twitter, and other sharing services. Destinations like NovaSure’s Get Back To Life Video Contest and The Follett Challenge: Recognizing Innovation, are thoughtful extensions of the parent brand, but more importantly, completely dedicated to their standalone video contest campaigns: For NovaSure, sharing stories of how their procedure improves womens’ health and lifestyles. And for Follett, tales from schools who have used technology innovation in their libraries to improve student engagement and information literacy. Both incredibly important missions for highly respected brands, and both executed on the foundation of a microsite.


3) foursquare: When Starwood Hotels and Resorts launched a new Resorts web destination to promote the loyalty program Starwood Preferred Guest and its 200 luxury resort destinations, SPG not only orchestrated the SPG Pack Your Bags Giveaway and gave away 10 resort stays to lucky winners from 20 nations, it then extended the brand message to foursquare, the wildly popular mobile check-in platform. SPG invites users to connect their SPG and foursquare accounts, earn Starpoints for check-ins via foursquare, and get more chances to win Free Resort Night Awards. Tremendous cross-platform branding, from corporate sites to microsites to one of the hottest emerging social platforms.


4) All of the above: It’s a marketer’s dream: design the perfect brand promotion and extend it across multiple social channels where users congregate and interact. Launch a promotion to a receptive audience with a Facebook contest application.  Extend it to users on the go with a custom mobile app. Add in a foursquare check-in component.  Offer the same call-to-action via Twitter. And tie it all back to the a custom microsite, with a sortable gallery of user-generated photo submissions, voting and commenting, and sharing tools for email, Facebook, Twitter and beyond. Find your customers where they are, and make it easy for them to participate, regardless of their favorite social venue.

What do you get when you combine gold foil-wrapped personal treasures (from iPhones to baskets of kittens),  Amy Sedaris, a Twitter trending topic, Votigo’s photo contest tools, an important social cause, and delicious burritos stuffed - as they have been for 18 years- with sustainable ingredients?


A (literally) shimmering case study in cross-platform social media promotion, brought to you by Chipotle Mexican Grill, digital agency Rokkan and Votigo.  The Denver-based purveyors of gourmet Mexican food with integrity launched the Wrap What You Love Contest to promote their high-quality ingredients and engage potential customers by asking them to submit photos of their favorite objects, wrapped in foil, for a chance to win $10,000 or 24k Gold coins.


Burrito connoisseurs can join in the fun via a custom microsite or the brand’s Facebook page, both Votigo-powered. The magic touch: submissions, featuring standard silver foil, are magically turned to gold by an integrated flash app.  The social audience can also learn how to “goldify” from comedienne Sedaris- of Strangers with Candy fame- on Chipotle’s YouTube channel or catch the trending action on Twitter, still buzz worthy by searching #ChipotleGold.


Orchestrated by digital agency Rokkan, Wrap What You Love is a solid gold example of communicating a consistent brand message across multiple social channels and of motivating voters with great incentives and relevant calls to action.  The best evidence may be the 15,000+ (and counting) votes- each contributing a dollar to FamilyFarmers.org. It has also generated residual buzz at ClickZ and MediaPost, among other outlets, and motivated more than a few Votigo people to grab a burrito after work.


Stay tuned to the blog for more on how to execute a flawless photo contest or user-generated content campaign, or contact us now to get started.

Come join us!

We have a creative and forward-thinking team of talented engineers, designers, and product visionaries. We’re looking for more talented people to join our expanding team. Come be part of an exciting company on the cutting edge of the exploding social media movement.

Votigo is a fast-growing, privately held company with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boulder, CO, and India. Votigo is a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant and a leader in the social media promotions industry. The company was founded in 2006 to help businesses better engage their customers, build brand awareness, and increase revenue through the use of user-generated photo and video contests, interactive sweepstakes, and online promotions. Our campaigns run on Facebook, Twitter and stand-alone websites. Votigo works with leading brands and agencies including Ford, Coca-Cola, Intel, Aol, Sharpie, Sears, Dell, Shutterfly, DraftFCB, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Ogilvy, Wunderman, and Arnold Worldwide.

Open Positions in the US

* Account Director - (Downtown Boulder, CO)

* Account / Sales Representative, Social Media Promotions - (Downtown Boulder, CO)

* Web Project Manager, Social Media - (San Francisco Bay Area - Lafayatte, CA)

Check out our Flash Photo Contest Widget in action for Rent.com!

Integrate your video or photo contest on any site, social network profile, or blog. Users can register for your contest, upload their video or photo, get details about your promotion, and share it with friends and family.

Screens of the Topps Sports Facebook Video Contest App start at 1:38.

The Topps trading cards’ The Valentine’s Day Diamond Dig campaign aimed at increasing engagement on its Facebook Page. The promotion asked users to make their pitch to win a $10,000 engagement ring in a video, then win a chance to dig for the ring in a 30-foot diamond ball pit to propose to their loved one at Grand Central Station in New York City.

Votigo offers a full-service contest platform that includes everything you need to run a successful, user-generated video, photo, or essay contest on Facebook. You get your own branded application complete with a separate database for collecting user registration data, a comprehensive list of
features and maximum customization.

Votigo is a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant and has run contests on Facebook for brands including Intel, Ford, Sears, Kmart, Saab, Starwood Hotels, and more.