The Brickwire: What's the Right Incentive for Your Social Media Contest? - Scott Tieman - MediaBizBloggers

Recently my clients have been beating a path to my door to run social media contests and sweepstakes They39ve read the buzz about companies unlocking tremendous value through these programs and want to get in on the actionMy original intention for this article was to outline the key considerations I talk to them about differentiating the concept keeping the participation simple integrating crosschannel promoting the heck out of it and aligning incentives Each of these warrants its own discussion but the one that seems the most obvious and yet is the least intuitive is the latter aligning incentives So I39ll start there firstToo often contest and sweepstakes planning focuses heavily on logistics without regard for the incentive structure The reason is obvious Marketers care about their return amp8211 increased awareness sales etc But participants only care about what they39re going to get out of it Without this value exchange these programs failBelow I outline three key considerations when planning contest and sweepstakes incentive structures choosing between cash and prizes using incentives as a promotion vehicle and targeting the incentive to your desired audience and outcome1 Cash may be king but it costs more than you might think People barely notice anymore when marketers offer the chance to win 1000 or even 10000 They39ll gladly take the money if it39s given but won39t go through the effort of contest participation Cash prizes only start to cut through the noise at 100000 or more However at this incentive level the program must be far reaching to earn back the investment in awareness participation or outputAs an alternative consider incentives that would be valuable to the intended audience but would require less cash Focus on noteworthy unique prizes that people can39t get elsewhere or can39t afford This might include tickets to the Olympics producing your next commercial or even digital brand badges When you do a cost comparison between cash and these types of prizes the prizes are usually cheaper and stand out more2 The incentive should help promote the programNoteworthy incentives generate buzz which helps further promote the contest or sweepstakes When planning the incentive structure consider how buzz worthy the prize is will it help promote the programState lotteries are great examples Participation grows as the prize pool increases amp8211 not only through increased investments from regulars but also from people normally on the sidelines The odds of winning don39t change The expected payout may be higher but even that isn39t guaranteed given the additional participation Yet the bigger prize pool generates increased participation despite little additional promotion The reason is that as the prize pool rises more buzz is generated by media outlets that normally wouldn39t promote a lottery3 Offer bamboo to the pandas eucalyptus to the koalas In planning contest incentives consider the audience Look at the audience research you39ve done and ask what would motivate your target consumer to participate Thinking quotwho wouldn39t want cash or a trip to Vegasquot isn39t enoughBelow I39ve included an example that I think illustrates all three points very wellRecently a well known tech blogger took advantage of the hype surrounding the launch of the Google Nexus One by using the frenzy to increase his own online influence Immediately following the product release he snapped up 10 devices for 6000 He then offered to give away one device randomly for each 10000 followers he collected on Twitter The only requirement to enter was retweeting his offer By the end of the first week he had given away five devices by the end of the second week another 3Several things strike me about this sweepstakes It was simple Participants only needed to retweet the offer The timing was impeccable His prospective audience wanted to get their hands on the product but few had 600 lying around Had he launched the sweepstakes a month later the response rate would have been far lower The incentive was relevant to his audience The people he wanted to collect were precisely the ones that would be most interested in the Google Nexus One He astutely listened to the chatter and used it to his own benefit The economics are astounding Each additional follower cost him 006 amp8211 that39s it You can39t even get one paid click to your site for that amount Had he chosen to instead give away 600 for every 10000 followers no one would have noticed The value generated is substantial Now that he has collected this audience his megaphone is supercharged and each additional communication is quotfreequot What would you be willing to pay to get your message out to 100000 customers and prospectsScott Tieman is an Account Director at Red Bricks Media He is an experienced internet marketer and certified search professional In his role he has directed online marketing programs for SanDisk Nestle LA Times and more Scott can be reached at stiemanredbricksmediacomRead all Scott39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at The Brickwire MediaBizBloggersFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBlogger

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The Brickwire: What's the Right Incentive for Your Social Media Contest? - Scott Tieman - MediaBizBloggers

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