Month: May 2014

Now that Facebook has evolved more into an advertising platform for brands this means that the reasons for running a contest or sweepstakes promotion on Facebook have also changed. Businesses can’t reach their “fans” as easy or “free” as they used to. So a question being asked now is, do these types of promotions still work on Facebook? Yes, they can if you clearly define what you want to get out of them.

When brands first started out building their Facebook pages their main objective was to acquire fans. They wanted a way to drive people to their page and Like it to become a fan. I would tell clients that if they wanted to just grow their fans, along with their database, sweepstakes were the way to go. You could create a simple sweepstakes offer with a Like-gate attached to it so that visitors to your page would have to Like it first in order to access the entry form. So this was a great way to build up a fan base.

Once you had a fairly good number of Facebook fans, the next step was to post engaging and interesting content on a regular basis so that your brand posts would appear in all your fans news feeds. Well that has changed now that Facebook states that your posts will only reach a very tiny percentage of your fans. So what good is it to have all these fans? That has been a big topic of discussion with some brands stating they’re now going to stop using Facebook all together.

Today, if you want to use Facebook promotions, you first should decide what type of Facebook promotion will work for you. With a sweepstakes people are filing out an entry form, which means you can build up your database with their names, email addresses, and other information that you requested. This will allow you to send the participants emails when you have new product or promotional information to share.

Keep in mind that now more people are accessing their Facebook account from a mobile device vs a computer, so it may not be a good idea to use a Like-Gate anymore. When you require someone to Like the page to enter, they must first sign into Facebook from their mobile device so that the application knows if they are or are not a fan already. This adds an extra step and may deter some from entering altogether.

A contest,  vs. a sweepstakes, may be the best choice for you since contests are a great way to create buzz and increase engagement from fans and key customers while building brand awareness. The most popular type of contests today require some type of user-generated content to be submitted such as a photo, video, essay, recipe, or design. Submissions are then judged or evaluated based on the contest theme and judging criteria and in some cases open for public voting. If you run a contest that invites participants to submit a photo or video you increase the chances that they will share their submission with their friends and family on Facebook.

With a contest you most likely will receive fewer entries then from just a random-draw sweepstakes since you are asking people to do some work. However, if your goal is to reinforce a brand or attributes of a product or service, contests are the better tactic since the content submitted usually includes your brand. It also encourages others to share and help spread the word for you.

Either way if you decide to run a sweepstakes or a contest on Facebook you should follow these best practices:

#1. Include a relevant prize. The best prizes help to showcase your own products or services which should be relevant to your audience. While iPads are still popular prizes, they don’t relate to most brands and they tend to get overlooked because they are too common. Make sure the prize is relevant to the amount of effort you’re asking of participants.  A $100 value prize may be fine for a simple sweepstakes entry, but not if you’re asking someone to create a video submission. Keep in mind that our Federal government requires that anyone who receives a prize valued at $600 or more must receive a 1099 form and claim it when they file their taxes.

#2. Keep it simple.  Don’t ask for more information then you need on the entry form.  Include a “Login with Facebook” button that automatically fills in the name field for the user. This speeds up the registration process and helps to eliminate duplicate entries. When asking for contest submissions, keep in mind the technical level of your audience. It’s much easier to upload a photo of yourself that to create a video.

#3. Follow Facebook Promotion Guidelines. Facebook updated their guidelines last year to allow business pages to run promotions on their page vs. an application. However,  you still can not administer a promotion on a personal Timeline. This means that you can’t collect entries, including additional entries, for having users post on a personal page. You will be in violation of the Facebook policy if you encourage sharing to gain entries. Also,  Facebook has always insisted on clearly stating that Facebook is not sponsoring the promotion. The best way to do this is to include it in your official rules.

#4. Post Official Rules. Any contest or sweepstakes promotion that’s launched on Facebook must include a set of written rules specific to that promotion. Besides the Facebook promotion guidelines you need to have your own rules that basically is a contract between you, the Sponsor, and the general public. These can be especially useful for example in a contest that allows public voting when fraudulent votes are suspected, or when a winner questions what is and is not included in the prize they have won.  Utilizing a company like ours that specializes in sweepstakes and contest administration to draft your rules so that they are compliant within all the U.S. states is recommended.

 #5. Don’t forget to promote your promotion.  You can plan and launch the best promotion in the history of your company, but if you don’t get the word out about it, then it will be set-up to fail.  Promote it on all your social sites, not just Facebook, and include links back to your Facebook page or the Facebook application. Include these links on your website, in your newsletter, emails, Twitter, blog, Google+, etc., and on any printed materials such as ads, point of sale, direct mail and collateral.  Just remember that you need to include abbreviated rules on all printed pieces and communicate where the full set of rules are posted. This may also be the time to consider running some ads on Facebook to highlight the promotion. Keep them simple and include an eye-catching image.

Once your promotion is over, review all the data you’ve collected and use it to plan for your next one. One of the recommended practices I tell clients is to make sure you follow up with the winners in a timely manner and let them know how and when they will receive their prize. You don’t want a winner posting negative comments all over their social networks about a lack of communication and not getting their prize. I’ve seen that happen in cases where the promotion was a huge success up till that point.

Let me know if you if you’d like any more information on running these promotions on Facebook or other social networks. It’s hard to keep up with the rules and regulations of each platform along with new ones. Feel free to share some of your experiences here as well. What has worked for you and what hasn’t?

This weekend is Memorial Day, referred to as the unofficial start of summer, and with that many summer-themed promotions targeted to consumers of all types. Also it kicks off the summer movie season which normally includes many action-adventure type movies hitting the theaters.

“TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION”, the fourth film in director Michael Bay’s global blockbuster franchise, will hit theaters on June 27. It stars some of my favorite actors, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammer. The film’s PR release states that the movie “begins after an epic battle that left a great city torn, but with the world saved. The characters are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climactic battle across the world.” Sounds like another classic adventure movie! You can watch the trailer here.

Big Red Soda has partnered with Paramount Pictures on this movie to launch a promotion offering fans a way to win big prizes and collect some Transformers swag. The Big Red $25,000 Transformers Sweepstakes just launched on May 19 . Fans can enter the sweepstakes at bigred.com/tf4 which is off of Big Red’s Facebook Page. Prizes include TRANSFORMERS collectable figures, Hasbro toys inspired by the movie, wearables, DVDs, posters and even  a cooler that transforms into a picnic table. All in all, Big Red will be giving away over nine hundred prizes sure to create some excitement at all levels. Sweepstakes ends on August 15.

The promotion also includes Limited Edition TRANSFORMERS themed cans found only on Big Red Zero soda. The series of six cans will feature renderings of TRANSFORMERS figures Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Fans will even be able to pick their side by choosing between Autobot and Decepticon themed cans.

“This is our opportunity to offer everyone a chance to receive something ‘Deliciously Different’ in anticipation of one of the biggest films of the summer,” says Thomas Oh, Big Red’s SVP of marketing. “We are thrilled to be part of bringing the explosive on-screen action of TRANSFORMERS to life with not only our Limited Edition TRANSFORMERS can series but also a sweepstakes offering fans the chance to win some unique TRANSFORMERS prizes.”

So get ready for an action-packed, hot summer. After the hard, cold winter that most of us experienced this year, we’re all so looking forward to it!

Consumers are getting more comfortable using mobile devices to shop and not just for m-commerce sales, but for in-store shopping as well according, to some recent studies.

An April study from Deloitte highlighted in this article from eMarketer found that 22% of mobile users were more likely to visit a store after browsing on their devices, while 19% said they were less likely to do so. Deloitte also found that 19% of last year’s in-store purchases were influenced by the use of mobile devices. This research found that the use of mobile devices before or during in-store shopping trips influenced or helped to convert approximately $593 billion in US in-store retail sales in 2013—or 19% of total brick-and-mortar sales—compared with $159 billion in 2012.

Omni-Channel Marketing, or also referred to as Shopper Marketing, is not some new trend in marketing, but like consumers (shoppers) it is constantly evolving. Combine that with the increasing number of platforms businesses can utilize to connect with their consumers, it has become quite a challenge for marketers to send effective and meaningful messages. Therefore, it is more important than ever today for brands to communicate one simple message across all platforms in order to make their message more effective and influential.

Next month the Brand Activation Association (BAA) is hosting the Marketing to the Omni-Channel Shopper Marketing Conference which will include presentations from some top brands and retailers reviewing how they filter through all the digital clutter and prioritize the pieces that are most important them.

Laura Gordon, VP, Marketing and Brand Innovation for 7-Eleven products and services in the US and Canada is one of those presenters. She will be the Day 2 Opening Keynote Speaker at the Conference in New York on June 5th. In an preview interview Laura stated “Mobile is the channel that is most critical for the on-the-go 7-Eleven customer. We have begun to invest in mobile via smart phone but there are many mobile networks that our guests participate in today, including a few that are right in our store. We are actively working to test and learn in many mobile channels in order to better adapt our understanding of the new path to purchase”.

Another presenter, Mike Messersmith, Senior Director of Shopper and Experiential Marketing at Chobani, says “you can’t improve what you can’t measure.” Mike uses insights and analytics to drive his ideas and includes hard numbers in their marketing campaign, however he believes “it’s what you do differently with the data that will set you apart”. Linda Crowder, Senior Director of Peapod Interactive and a BAA Board Member will be speaking on Day 1 of the Conference, June 4th. Linda believes that “the best channel is the channel(s) that is the most relevant to the ultimate shoppers. The successful organization is going to have to develop the feedback loops that allow them to be as current with the shopper ‘s life as the shopper.”

If you’re interested in learning more on the Omni-Channel Shopper Marketing Conference taking place June 4-5 at the Highline Hotel in New York City you can check out this video promo the BAA created.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday and while I appreciate a day that celebrates moms, I feel it has become a bit too commercial. Whatever form of media you may engage in right now you will see a “Mom” message in one form or another. Marketers have again come out in full force positioning their products as the perfect gift for mom. For me, what I really want this Mother’s Day is warm weather and, as tradition, some flowers to plant.

One of our company’s long-standing clients is Lane Bryant and each year they tend to run a Mother’s Day promotion. Last year I wrote about their Mom and Me Photo Contest. This year we are assisting them with running the Makeover My Mom Contest. Consumers were invited to visit the Lane Bryant Facebook page and click on the Contest app to participate.  During the submission period, you could submit an essay (up to 250 words) describing why your mom deserves a makeover.

The Submission Period ended a few days ago and we’re now in the Voting Period of the Contest. All of the submissions are posted in the Contest app and the general public is invited to vote for the one that they find most deserving of the Grand Prize. The three submissions that receive the most votes by the end of Mother’s Day, May 11, will become contest finalists. The sponsor will then have their panel of judges review these three submissions and determine the winners based on the following criteria: Entrant’s genuine love for their mother (50%) and the Entrant’s creativity and uniqueness (50%).

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a trip for two to the Lane Bryant Corporate Office in Columbus, OH, which includes round-trip airfare, 2 nights hotel accommodations and a $500 Lane Bryant makeover for the Winner’s Mother or Mother-figure. The other two finalists will each receive a $250 Lane Bryant gift card. The winners will be contacted next week, around May 14.

We’ve been experiencing some issues with contests that include public voting, so we now make sure that the official rules include a clause that state that the Sponsor may disqualify any vote or voters who tamper or attempting to tamper with the voting process or who may submit more than the one vote per day allowed. The rules also states that the use of any voting board or voting forums are not allowed and anyone suspected of using them may be subject to disqualification. Including a judging component to determine the final winner also allows the Sponsor the ability to choose the submission that best meets the criteria and not just solely determined by votes. This is a recommendation that we consistently make to our clients when setting up a public voting contest.

There appears to be over 800 submissions in the contest and many of the submissions, from what I have read, include some heartwarming stories. So it appears the contest has been a success. Happy Mother’s Day to all those moms who’s stories are shared here as well as the rest of us moms. Mother’s Day is a bit depressing for those of us whose moms are no longer living, which some of the contest stories shared. The holiday now reminds me of how much I miss my mom and how I really miss saying the word “mom”. It is one of the first words we learn and one we tend to take for granted. Happy Mothers Day Mom.