Everybody loves a good contest, right? For the customer, the contest is all about the prize; for your business, it’s all about the new contacts you make and future marketing opportunities. Let’s take a look at five steps to hitting the sweet spot for both parties.

Determine Your Goal
When the contest is over, what will you have to show for it? Potential goals might include growing your fan or follower base, increasing click-throughs to your website, boosting conversion rates, creating awareness of a new product, getting customer testimonials, and encouraging likes and shares on your Facebook page. Social media makes it possible to accomplish goals far beyond the contact-gathering efforts of the business-card-in-a-fishbowl, so think outside the box (bowl).Start with something new and check .

Create a Plan
Best Instagram photos, video testimonials, creative pictures of a product in use, and content creation for your website all make great social media contest ideas. If you’re looking to grow your contact list, a simple click-and-share contest may help you accomplish your goal. Make sure your idea will actually help you reach the goal you determined in Step One.

Make the Prize Desirable
The quality of the prize should be relative to the amount of effort participants had to exert. A musician I know is currently running a Facebook contest in which participants send in recordings of themselves and compete for a chance to win a CD recording session. That’s a great incentive designed to reach out to serious musicians. If he wanted to merely increase the number of likes on his Facebook page, he could run a contest with one of his own CDs as the prize. Smaller effort, smaller incentive.

Spread the Word
Social media creates the opportunity for your contest to go viral if you package it right. Offer the right prize and the right level of engagement, and people will want to share the chance to win with their friends. You can also include an option to share your link as part of the entry process. Promote the contest on as many social channels as possible, targeting your existing fans first.

Announce the Winner
Don’t forget to showcase the winner at the end of the contest. It’s not only a feather in the winner’s cap, but also another chance for you to interact with all those new contacts.

Social media contests should be easy to enter and easy to share. In order for your contest to go viral, you need a solid plan, a desirable incentive, and a plan for getting the word out. Oh, and if you’re giving away an iPad, be sure and send me an invite.

The Holidays bring a lot of people to the shopping cart both virtually and through retail stores. There is no time like December to ramp up social media marketing and attract new subscribers and well… “Likes!”  So let’s unwrap Eight tips on attracting more Facebook Likes to your company’s page for Christmas!

1.  Leverage the store-front advantage! Incentivize your customers to check-in for discounts; if they’re willing to drive to your store, they’re willing to check-in!

2.  Post exclusive information or offers that will spark excitement and encourage subscribers to share the offerings.

3.  Words are great; however fans and prospective fans are twice as likely to engage with pictures, links and video content over text.

4.  Everyone likes cheap and free however, people like one thing a little bit more, competition! If the radio station can do it, so can your business. Create unique and engaging competitions every once in a while to attract new customers and more importantly, generate repeat visits to your page and website.

5.  Respond to posts and feedback though sentences that sound like they actually came from a real person, not a robot. Remember, there should always be time to communicate with your followers and clients, they are the first priority.

6.  Use links and keywords to help optimize your content so it’s seen by more friends of existing subscribers.

7.  Don’t just post, sponsor and promote the message.  Organic Facebook page visits are only a measurement of the contact with existing followers, so go viral and make money with videos!  About 80 percent of consumers say they are more likely to try a new product or service based on a suggestion from a friend through social media.

8.  Witty, funny and fresh content wins!  Don’t be shy when posting; get those creative juices flowing to maintain existing subscribers and draw new fan interest.

So just remember to engage, promote and respond to your fans quickly and your business will see the the “Likes” a-flowing this Holiday season!

A quick trip to the mall this morning revealed that stores are already gearing up for Thanksgiving and—yikes!—Christmas shopping. 10 percent of retailers have already sent a Christmas email to their subscriber list, but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet. There’s still plenty of time to get your jingle on. Check out what worked and what didn’t during the 2011 holiday season:

What Worked: Sending Emails During the Week of Black Friday

While email opens were average on Black Friday itself, the week leading up to it was a good week for email marketers. Nearly 16 percent of email subscribers made a purchase in response to an email that was sent during the week of Black Friday.

What Didn’t: Relying on Gimmicks to Earn Better Open Rates (like certain words in the subject line)

Popular subject line word choices for 2011 included “free,” “sale,” and “shipping.” Surprisingly, these words did not result in higher open rates. However, the word “coupon” did entice more people to open an email, although it wasn’t used as often.

Take away: Tried and true subject line methods of stating clearly what your email contains, piquing interest, and promising value earn more opens than gimmicks.

What Worked: Sending Emails to Subscribers on Christmas Day

Surprisingly, 6 percent of the emails sent on Christmas Day were opened, despite the many festivities of Christmas morning and dinner with the in-laws. That’s just 3 percent less than average. Also, people spent over 170 percent more on their mobile devices this year than they did on Christmas Day 2010.

What Didn’t: Expecting Better Response Leading Up to Christmas But Ignoring Christmas Day

Actual customer behavior showed that click-throughs increased on Christmas Day, meaning that the savvy marketers who sent a Christmas Day email were rewarded for their efforts with a spike in sales.

Takeaway: People are already looking for sales and after-Christmas deals even before the wrapping paper has made it into the trash can, so give them plenty of shopping options.

What Worked: Using Social Media to Promote Specials and Sales

Promoting sales and specials on Facebook and Twitter creates buzz as your fans share with their friends, giving you a much broader reach than just your subscriber list.

What Didn’t: Failing to Link Social Media Campaigns With Other Marketing Efforts

Of course, Facebook and Twitter can be limiting in their own way, so don’t expect them to do all your marketing for you. People need commonality across marketing venues to keep them oriented.

Takeaway: Coordinate your social media marketing plans with other marketing campaigns to create a unified strategy that reaches as many people as possible.

The 2012 holiday season is upon us. By reflecting on what did and did not drive sales last year, you can create an effective marketing strategy that will keep shoppers merrily clicking away, even when the weather outside is frightful.

Statistics Source: Epsilon 2012 Holiday Trend Report

Certain businesses have become overnight starlets in the world of social media. Somehow, things just clicked right from the start, and they “get it.” As it turns out, these social media divas all have some essential practices in common. With just a little effort, you too can enter the social media stratosphere.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for fans.
  Let your email subscribers know about your social media efforts by including “Follow Us” buttons in each message you send, including customer service messages. You can also create a special campaign to request followers. Templates are free and easy to integrate into your newsletter format.

• Incentivize subscriptions.
  One-time incentives such as a coupon or discount for liking a Facebook page can be excellent tools to acquire likes. You can also tempt would-be followers with promises of regular Twitter-only specials, sale previews, or VIP access to sales events.

• Integrate your promotion efforts.
  Email marketing is a great way to spread the word about your social media efforts, but don’t ignore other promotion opportunities. Include a link on your website, solicit followers in your print advertisements, and pin your emails to your Pinterest board with keyword-enriched descriptions so your business shows up in a search.

• Encourage your fans to interact.
  Engagement is one of the keys to succeeding with Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm. In order to show up in a fan’s newsfeed, you need to establish a pattern of interaction. Think outside the box and make it fun with ideas like:
  • Post photos of recent community events you’ve worked with.
  • Run a video contest.
  • Ask questions.
  • Invite fans to post their pictures to your page.
  • Link your blog posts to your Facebook page.

• Tailor content to the strengths of each venue.
  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube—each social media venue you choose interact with will exhibit various strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try to shove all of your content into one mold. Create conversations on Facebook, provide how-to ideas and inspirations for Pinterest, and tweet about your online sales. While it’s important to integrate your marketing efforts, it is also important to recognize that your fans have different expectations from each venue.

Proactively building your fan list, providing great content and incentives, encouraging interaction, and capitalizing on the strengths of your various social media endeavors will give you all the know-how, popularity, and success you need to catapult you to rock star status.

HMG Creative knows there are a lot of amazing writers and bloggers out there, and we want to find you. We are always looking for new ways to inform, educate and expand our clients and readers’ industry knowledge.  So with that said, we are looking for some writers who can inject their knowledge, expertise and passion into our blog.

Topics HMG Covers:

• Social Media Marketing
• Social Networking
• SEO
• Mobile Technology
• Email Marketing
• Web Dev/Design
• Something Awesome

Why Write for HMG:

• Exposure to a new audience
• Increase your presence and credibility online
• Get syndicated on other media outlets
• Get new followers on Twitter, of course
• Blog a little or blog a lot
• Because who doesn’t like having their writing featured

Sounds good to you? Great, email us!  Introduce yourself and give us a quick rundown of who you are. Send us an article for review and we’ll place it in queue if we like your stuff. Don’t forget to mention the frequency of your posts (weekly, monthly, etc), or if you just want to be a one-time contributor (we’re cool with that too)! Don’t have an article to post yet? No worries, we’ll help you mull over some cool topics we think would be relative to our blog.

Submit or contact us here.

Continue…

Newsjacking is the (sometimes) clever, quick-response PR tactic piggybacking on current events with an angle benefiting you or your client’s company.  The strategy is not new by any means, but became increasingly popular over the last several years with the rise of Twitter and the constant struggle to stay relevant and timely as news stories can be buried within minutes.

Marketing strategist David Meerman Scott’s definition of newsjacking is the “process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.”

To execute newjacking appropriately you must stay abreast of breaking news stories, know your target audience and most importantly, utilize common sense.  As a result you can increase search rankings and exposure to new customers or clients.  Failing to heed these rules results in you: 1) completely falling on your face in a desperate attempt to promote a hardly-relevant spin on a topic and 2) most likely pissing-off a social community of very vocal citizens.

In the wake of the devastating Hurricane Sandy, I felt the need to bring up the most sensitive and more-often-than-not inappropriate newsjacking, which occurs during a tragedy. Like this gem, below:

President John F. Kennedy once famously noted that when written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters; one representing danger and the other representing opportunity.

It is the opportunity portion of crisis in which many wide-eyed marketers neglect any sense of sympathy or reason and in-turn embarrass themselves, their company and the entire industry of public relations.

HupSpot received much backlash this week in a blog post that has since been taken down highlighting marketers who have newsjacked during the horrific Hurricane Sandy. Hubspot responded in a follow-up post, semi-apologizing and posing the question: “Is Newsjacking Hurricane Sandy Right or Wrong?”

The marketing resource provides some awful examples of newsjacking and a couple that are partially relevant to emergency tactics or supplies.

The worst include InStyle Magazine’s cosmetics story: Hurricane Sandy Have You Stuck Inside? 5 Beauty Treatments to Help Ride Out the Storm and online dating site HowAboutWe’s blog post titled: 18 of Our Favorite Hurricane Sandy Date Ideas from HowAboutWe Members. Yes, because my family on the East Coast’s primary concern is their manicure art or planning their next date during 80mph winds.

I’ve coined this lack of intellect and sensitivity: newsjackassing. But it’s definitely far from the first time this kind of idiocracy has occurred.

A few short months ago the Aurora tragedy was followed by more instances of tasteless and disgusting marketing; most notably a retail boutique whose staff tweeted this, mere hours after the shootings:

“@celebboutique: #Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress ;)”

WTF, right? Insensitive, shocking and complete disregard for all the families and victims affected on that day in Colorado.  The boutique claimed they did not know about the event as they are out of the country, yet they tweet about Kim Kardashian. Don’t buy it. And neither did Twitter.  The CelebBoutique ruined their online image forever.

You will not overcome these very public mistakes mocking or downplaying a crisis; instead exercise tact, empathy and better judgment, if you can’t — then rethink your career choice.

As a PR professional disgust is the word that is most accessible in my mind, as well as other obscenities stemming from the frustration when I learn about horribly misplaced PR stunts. I secretly hope these individuals have zero background in the field, but I know I am just fooling myself. Of course we all make mistakes, but these instances are blatantly crass and unforgiving.

Unless your company or client has a product or service directly applicable to a situation as severe as the above, leave it be. There are very few companies in this category, and if you have to wonder if you apply, the answer is always no.

Don’t be a jackass.

We live in a digital age, the age of communication and instant information. What once took hours, even days to reach people across the globe now only takes a few quick keystrokes and a matter of seconds. But don’t let me bore you with what you already know. What I’m really trying to get at is the fact that, when approached correctly, social networks are viable channels for sales and endless opportunities are within arm’s reach. All sales and business development professionals should consider leveraging this global social trend to broaden their sales funnel or you may one day, find yourself obsolete.

Back In The Day

In our grandparent’s time, business was conducted on a very personal level. The local baker knew what type of bread each family preferred, the butcher began cutting your favorite cuts as soon as he saw you walk through the door, everyone and I mean everyone, knew each other. This was relationship building at its best. Businesses across the globe lost this personal touch as time went on and our world grew a little bigger and busier. Until now.

7 Billion Strong

Yes, our world is no mere village, with over 7 billion inhabitants of planet Earth we are larger and more spread out than ever. Yet, with the advent of social media and its popularity, we have built a global network in which we are all connected; social communities like Facebook , Linkedin and Twitter unite millions of active citizens from all corners of the globe. In addition, smartphones are becoming commonplace in people’s lives allowing interconnectivity with the world whenever and wherever you are. This remarkable and ever-changing technology leads to one thing: communication. And as a business owner, salesperson or marketing executive this is key to reaching a broader audience and more importantly, building a closer relationship with your existing clients and prospects. Learn more about Advanced Telecom Systems to find out its benefits.

Laying The Groundwork

Get to know your social network, it’s great to have 2,000 followers but it’s best to have 200 that you truly know and engage with. Find out about their life, their work and their hobbies. Talk to them as you would a colleague or close friend; let them know you’re listening and that you care about what they have to say. After all, people just want to be heard. This is all part of that “relationship building” I was talking about earlier. So once you build that foundation of trust and friendship, you’ll be more credible when you pitch your business and its services. I say pitch with light reserve as you shouldn’t be pitching your business on social networks- it’s spammy. However, leads don’t always just fall in your lap so use your social network wisely to target specific companies or individuals who could benefit from your product or service. In addition, a humble tooting of your horn from time to time is highly recommended. Design an awesome project that just got posted in the city’s newspaper? Sealed a deal with a major distributor? Your new hire is kicking butt left and right? Toot that horn, baby! You’ll find that not only are people more likely to ‘Like’ and share your post but it also may strike a chord with a reader causing them to pick up a phone and call you directly.

Regardless of what channel you use, never forget that personable, peer-to-peer communication is key. Remember, it’s not about you, your business or your products it’s about your followers, their life and their interests.

Many professionals get jazzed up after reading a social media article, but the excitement and strategy escapes as soon as the page is minimized in exchange for the next enticing link in their Twitter feed.  I see it all too often, a quick high followed by complete memory-loss on what they have just read.  It sounds good on screen, but do those tid-bits of advice make it past your monitor?

Yes, Your Brand is Interesting, Now Keep Them Interested

Content marketing isn’t just for the Fortune 500 and effective social media isn’t reserved for the companies packed 20+ deep in their communications department. But your social strategy isn’t going to be served to you on a silver platter, either.  If you don’t change your actions, you are destined to get the same results. And that shouldn’t be a surprise.  Social media is fun to talk about, tough to implement and an even bigger challenge for companies to be creative and stay consistent.

Getting started is often the hardest part of any task, and social media is no different.  But having a better understanding of your brand will help you navigate and create a social media presence that truly makes an impact.  Get in touch with your company and only then can you begin to create fresh content and a strategy that you can rely on.

Rethink Your Role.

First, we must look at ourselves. If you are a business owner or a professional eager to make big changes with your online strategy for your company, own it. You are now a social media ambassador. You don’t have to be a PR professional or in your 20s to understand the social media game.  Thinking different is almost always a catalyst to act different. Don’t be afraid to jump in with both feet and explore ways to discover and redefine your brand and communication. Mental blocks are your fabricated obstructions, drop them.

Rethink with Your Brand. (If you don’t think you have a “brand,” you do.)

• Find Your Voice:

The kind of content you create centers around a common tone. For some it’s professional, casual, witty, conversational or sarcastic if that’s your shtick. You can be a few things, but not everything. Decide now.

• Identify Goals:

Like a dear friend of mine says: You have to know what you want to get what you want. Increase exposure, gain fans/followers, increase engagement/comments, get more newsletter subscribers, get new leads, position your brand as a resource, educate on a certain topic, find partners, etc.  Decide what you want to gain out of social media and make sure that all content addresses one of these goals.

• Choose Channels:

Not all channels are for every company. Not everyone needs every social outlet under the sun. But brainstorm how each platform could be leveraged and decide what makes sense for you. And you don’t have to launch all platforms at once. Set yourself up for success. Start with Facebook, Twitter and a blog. Then branch out when you have mastered those tools and see how to effectively integrate others.

• Identify Fans/Followers:

Know your audience and always keep them in mind. Outline in brief, categories of your fans and then things that interest them.  Clients, partners, prospects, local businesses, etc.   Create content tailored to your audience and what is important to them. This will help keep you on track when deciding what to post or blog about.

• Have a Baseline:

To know where you are going you have to know where you have been. Note your number of fans and followers so you can track your growth as you move forward. Also use tools on Facebook to see current demographics, which posts were seen by the most people and what was the most viral.

There is a reason that there are thousands of articles online that address ways to improve your company’s social media presence — Social media is fun to talk about, tough to implement and an even bigger challenge for companies to be creative and stay consistent.

The truth is there is no cut and dry answer to social media. It’s subjective, ever-changing and ideas must be adapted to fit your business and brand. Wait, what was that? Yes, adapted means you have to do some work. Perhaps this is why so many struggle with social media. We hear words like “strategy” and “content creation” and we automatically cringe at the thought of where we should start climbing this beast of a social media mountain.  It’s simply too much work. Your company is not that complex, Right? (These are probably some of the same people who said four years ago, “I don’t have time for social media” or “My customers don’t use Facebook.”) Think again.

“Shop the World, Steal from the Best.”

You do learn some things in school. An advertising professor at The University of Texas said the above quote and it holds true for many aspects of marketing in any industry. (Don’t take the word “steal” literally, please.) Shop around for strategy and tactic ideas like Instant Profits with Instagram . Check out all kinds of brands and companies across the board, on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Note what you love and what you don’t. Take a look at regional competitors in your space and similar companies in your industry across the country. See how they engage fans from contests, images, blogs and other creative ways like highlighting clients or staff. Save pages that impress you and that you would one day like to achieve. Even if you aren’t sure how to implement something immediately, put it on a wish list so it can be top-of-mind when planning.  Social media is an a la carte approach, shop away.

Think Big, Be Simple, Stay Fresh.

This section is key to implementation. (Where most of us drop off, me included.) Don’t be overwhelmed or discouraged after looking at brands like Coke or Chobani; adapt (ahem, work) their tactics into your own social strategy. Note: Be sure to share unique content on each social media platform, not everything on Twitter needs to be on Facebook and vice versa.  Remember no company is too small to utilize these ideas; you just have to make them your own and don’t over complicate the concepts. Below are some items to think about and examples on what to adopt and why.

• Relevancy:  This goes back to your audience. Take current industry news and re-write your own opinion in a short blog post or repost to your fans. You don’t always need to start from scratch or re-create the wheel.  If a story is timely, your followers will be more likely to engage.

• Consistency:  This is about expectations. If you are consistent with posts, fans will know what to expect.  One good tactic is posting specific content each day of the week; you can try utilizing weekly hashtags the community will look forward to and share, posting tips or advice on certain days — make it fun, be creative, but be consistent.

• Engagement: Remember, your job is to stimulate desire and action from your audience; how you do that is determined by your goals and creativity. Pictures and videos are one of the best ways to get instant engagement and can be an opportunity for fans to share among their friends.  Don’t constantly pitch your work , but this is a great way to do it, sparingly.  Offer a coupon, have a small contest or solicit feedback from your followers. Whatever combination you choose, offer value, be genuine and ask for engagement — your audience will respond.

• Quality of Posts/Credibility: The more cohesive your approach is, the more credibility you will have. Want to become a credible resource? Provide advice related to your industry, share industry events, community happenings, quotes from experts and of course your own words as well.  Make sure you provide value to your fans and loyalty will follow.

Don’t be Afraid to Flop.

Social media is a living breathing strategy. You aren’t always going to score a home run but you have to start somewhere.   Now is the time when you can come up with actionable items. When you make your own rules, you are more likely to abide and succeed. The goal to creating fresh content and injecting big brand ideas starts by reevaluating yours.

Have some success stories of your own? More ideas to share?  Comment and help other professionals stay creative when delivering social media content.

Our second day of Christmas will celebrate, or should I say educate, you on two dynamic tools in today’s social world: HootSuite and WordPress. If you’re not already familiar with the two, check out the links below to see just how easy it is to get started. If you’re already a pro, take a look anyway and brush up on those skills or discover a hidden feature!

HOOT SUITE TUTORIAL
Hoot Suite is a social media management tool that allows you to control various platforms in one place.  Here at HMG Creative, we use one HootSuite account to allow all of our social media managers to post and schedule content to our various platforms.

WORD PRESS TUTORIAL
WordPress is web software almost anyone can use to create a beautiful website or blog.  The program began in 2003 with a single bit of code and since then it has grown to be the largest, self-hosted blogging tool in the world. Check it out!