With over one billion active Facebook users, and similarly impressive numbers on other social media sites, there is an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to market and attract new business. Utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and other social media sites as a marketing strategy provides vast-reaching marketing at a relatively low cost. To get the most out of your marketing strategy and successfully increase your ‘likes’ and ‘views,’ follow these steps to get started and avoid any unnecessary setbacks.
1. Check the rules
Most of the social media sites have rules and guidelines that you must be in compliance with in order to run a promotion. Break the rules and you run the risk of getting blocked, removed, or even challenged legally which is definitely counterproductive for your goal. An example of a commonly overlooked rule on Facebook is that promotions cannot require a person to “share” anything in order to enter. Along those lines, you must provide your participants with a full disclosure of the terms and conditions of entry.
2. Decide on the type of promotion
Giveaway? User-generated contest? Consider your goals and your prizes, and plan accordingly. There are pros and cons for every type of promotion. A giveaway on Facebook when a page reaches a certain number of ‘likes,’ for example, will encourage users to share the page without requiring it for their entry. However, it’s important to set a reasonable 
goal that won’t take too long to reach so your followers are motivated to keep coming back to your page. User-generated contests are also a great way to encourage sharing so that those who have entered can get more votes. This method of promotion, however, opens the door for cheating. Using a combination of public votes and a panel of judges ensures your page gets plenty of views and shares, but also ensures the winner was chosen fairly so there won’t be a public outcry.
3. Promote, promote, promote!
You’ve come up with your promotion, you’ve reviewed all of the rules, secured your prize, and you’re ready to rake in the new business! You share the contest and you see some initial interest, but it eventually plateaus. A MAJOR mistake businesses make with promotions is failing to maintain communication after the initial launch. Remind your audience OFTEN about your contest. Share milestones, examples of entries, remind them of the prize, and hint toward future contests. REMIND THEM FREQUENTLY AND KEEP THEM INTERESTED! Don’t let all of your planning and hard-work go to waste. Schedule regular posts in the planning phase to prevent this downfall.
4. Choose your winner
This may be the hardest part of your entire promotion. There isn’t a tool to randomly pick a winner, and depending how many entries you had, you may spend a lot of time scrolling through ‘likes.’ A third-party app can help with this, but make sure to consider this before launching your promotion to get all your data in the right place.
If you’re looking for social media services in Leesburg, stop by or call Alphagraphics today!
