Social Promotions: What You NEED To Know

by Shane O’Neill, Vice President Companies always seem to talk about, or promise, ways to get more fans. That’s easy, but what’s more important is understanding how to acquire quality fans and followers. These “organic” fans can be the difference between a successful social strategy and one that fails to deliver results. Most “strategies” for acquiring fans involve contests and promotions. This isn’t really a strategy at all and should NEVER be the primary method for acquiring fans and followers. While there can be a time and place for such efforts, true strategies do not revolve around contests and promotions. However, if you are going to engage in such efforts, be aware that if not done correctly they can attract the seedy underbelly of social media. These include people who only enter contests and “dead” fans, who live nowhere near your store or are fake accounts. To reduce exposure to these types of entrants, here are a few musts: 1) Restrict entrants to your general area or state. 2) Insert judging components; when you select finalists, it will dissuade most contesters who will manipulate voting contests. 3) Provide detailed rules. This protects you and defines requirements. 4) Above all, know who you’re working with. Skilled social marketers know how to properly run contests and have other consistent strategies.