We’re often asked for “the key” to success in social media marketing and promotions. It’s a complex answer and there isn’t a single key but a series of essential steps, from building the foundation of an active audience across social platforms, through aligning an incentive that fits your brand and the promotion. We have written and tweeted and spoken about all of the above and we mean it when we say: don’t skip a step (and we’re happy to help).

But there is one element of a great promotion that is easy enough to overlook, to disastrous consequences.

You have to tell people about it.

To kickstart the viral effect, to draw the critical early adopters, to cultivate the Godinian Sneezers (or the Gladwellian Mavens) who influence their networks to pay attention, you have to promote the promotion.

Fortunately there are plenty of tools to spread the word. You can tell your existing social media audience by:

1) Post messages and updates about it on your Facebook page (and make sure to “Like” it yourself)
2) Tweet about it
3) Post about it on your company’s LinkedIn profile page, and on the status updates of your individual employees
4) Post about on Google+ (and make sure to “+1″ it from your own account)
5) Create a video about it and post it on YouTube
6) Write a blog post about it on your corporate blog
7) Announce it in your email marketing messages, newsletters and even the footer of day-to-day emails
8 ) Tell your clients about it directly
9) Post signage about it in stores
10) Broadcast a consistent message about it in your traditional media (radio, TV, print) advertising
11) Point PPC ads from AdWords to the promotion home page
12) Set up a display advertising campaign on Facebook and AdWords
13) Contact industry associations to message their members about it
14) Tell influential bloggers and Twitterers about it
15) Put out a press release about it

Check out how GORE-TEX updates its Facebook audience on the “YOUR-STORY - OUR GEAR” contest currently running on its Facebook page.

It’s a simple blend of old and new tactics for spreading the word, but you might be surprised by how many brands fail to lay the groundwork of their promotion from the beginning.

Also, a few quick nuts and bolts. Any time you promote your promotion, you should:

1) Include a link directly to the website, mobile landing page, YouTube channel or Facebook tab where the contest or sweepstakes is live
2) Use simple calls-to-action, such as “Tell your friends about our contest…”
3) Be responsive to users who reply, comment or re-post your messages

While you can’t always expect a glut of entries at the beginning of a campaign, if you tap into the cross-channel reach of all of the social and traditional media channels above, you can expect the viral effect to kick in and generate awareness and participation. You’ll increase your “Likes” and expand your overall social media audience, collect a great opt-in mailing list of potential customers, and (for UGC contests) inspire great content that you can use for future branding.

What strategies have been most effective for you in promoting your own branded promotions?

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.

Team Detroit is no stranger to accolades for its Ford Motor Company work, so it isn’t merely to sing praises that we highlight The Global Ford Ranger Challenge. The latest Ford social media promotion also illustrates some important mobile functionality and user experience queues- not to mention that it’s visually striking with great alignment of brand and call-to-action, and powered by Votigo.


The just-launched Global Ranger Challenge asks users to submit photos, videos or essays of how they would put Ranger’s Dynamic Stability Control to the test, in competition for a chance to attempt and film their challenges and ultimately win a new Ranger. One entrant promised to relive a long-ago family road trip; another would head straight to Ayers Rock for some off-roadin’ in the Outback. A quick browse of the Challenges already submitted is enough to inspire a dream holiday to the home of Uluru.


Viewers can see featured entries and share them via Facebook, Twitter or email, but must register and log-in to submit, comment or vote. Sharing drives traffic back to the microsite-FordRangerChallenge.com.au- which then links to the Australian home page for the truck.


To accommodate the campaign’s incredible geographic reach- it launched first in Australia as homage to the truck’s design and engineering heritage but will ultimately extend to 11 countries, from South Africa to Thailand- entries can be submitted from any mobile device, including smart phones but also feature phones and basic handsets. A must for any brand launching an international promotion with a critical mobile component is to extend access to the broadest range of devices possible, not to mention to get expert guidance on the local regulations in every jurisdiction where the contest or sweeps is open.

Every brand stands for something.  The highest quality.  The cheapest. The most luxurious. The happiest. The toughest. The quirkiest. The one with the most unique/innovative/irreplaceable characteristic that no competitor has ever offered.


One of the most powerful ways to communicate your brand’s meaning to customers in a competitive market is to let them do the talking.  That’s where a powerful User-Generated Content campaign comes in.  With UGC, you empower your customers to tell the story of your brand.


Digital media is the most open forum in the history of commerce for giving customers a voice.  Some of the most dynamic destinations on the web- from YouTube to CNN iReport to Wikipedia- are built on a foundation of users contributing content.  For your UGC promotion, a microsite dedicated to the campaign, plus social venues like Facebook, are the ideal places to host a campaign featuring your fans’ creative work.


Ask Votigo’s Account Services team about the keys to a great UGC promotion, and you’ll get fundamental advice from savvy marketers:  Accessible entry requirements that don’t require entrants to climb a mountain or do anything outside of the typical person’s reach.  A great theme; kids and animals are always a draw, but the contest should be authentically tied to the brand.  And great incentives.


Great brands from every industry are asking their users to create content that is authentically tied to their products.   Check out three Votigo-powered UGC contests in different stages:

• Yahoo Messenger capped off its one-month UGC promotion Faceoff: Which Emoticon Are You? on Facebook by crowning a winner whose photo submission of acting out a new emoticon (facial expression symbols that are shorthand for emotion in chat sessions) that won the most user votes.  The winning emoticon: “Whatever!”

• Folgers is set to announce the finalists in its second annual Best Part of Wakin’ Up Jingle Contest. Entrants produced their own renditions of the iconic Folgers jingle to enter via microsite or mobile. The final quintet will go to New York for the Grand Prize Audition in front of celebrity judge Kara DioGuardi- and a chance at $25,000.

• And Febreeze Carpet Care just launched the It’s a Dance Video Contest, motivating the audience to submit videos of themselves dancing to the tune of six downloadable music tracks while cleaning their floors.  The promotions spans the rest of 2011 and will award monthly winners and one grand prize. And every entrant walks away with coupons for the Procter & Gamble cleaning products.

These UGC promotions ask the audience for photos and videos that directly connect the contestants to the brand: facial contortions fit for an emotional chat, memorable covers of a coffee-sipping classic, and rhythmic dances that convey floor-cleaning fun.  All three encourage their audiences to spread the word about the contest- and the brand- and provide incentives with great prizes and experiences.  And all three put the customer in charge of telling the story.