(WIN A PRIZE) Using a Contest in Your Social Media Promotion

by Warren on March 21, 2012

Want to get into Tracky early? Go to Tracky.com now and use this code “ontracky”

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Once you know you have something of value to offer, profiting from social media is simple

  1. Create great content
  2. Make it easy to share
  3. Listen and Love

At ProftiableSocialMedia, we like to focus on profitable ideas to help you grow your business, but sometimes all you need is a sponsor with a super prize. Read the sponsored promotion, then let’s talk about how you will use the 3 steps above to profit.

Tracky is Giving Away This Kindle Fire

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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When the clock runs out, we award the prize. Tracky is a start up using the 3 simple steps to promote their upcoming launch. I saw a demo last year, and now I’m using Tracky myself (this promotion is coordinated on Tracky). Tracky has created great content. Once you sign up, you’ll see this. and want to share it. I know the people at Tracky know the value of listen and love,so they are already using the steps. But how do you get those first customers to see your product’s value? You sponsor a giveaway!

It’s Easy. Just Click to Win

Tracky want you to sign up free for their service. I’d like you to profit from the content I create. We both win when you are more profitable, so we went to RaffleCopter and created this simple contest. All you got to do is click on the buttons to share. Something I you would do anyway. As you click on the buttons to share, you will find more of the content. Even though it feels like you have seen this before, it’s very common that readers miss great content. I hope you’ll see some of the social media news, informative interviews (not just Social Media Radio) and more fun. Of course, it’s very likely that you’ll see Tracky pop up on some of my favorite sharing sites. We all have some fun sharing, you start thinking of how the 3 steps will profit you and projects get done faster by millions of people using Tracky. The world will be a better place

Did You Enter? Great. More About the 3 Steps

I like this age of authentic transparency. Once I got used to you seeing my “warts and all” and letting everyone inside to see how things work, I enjoy not having secrets. And, I discover that the more you share, the more you get Smile

Whenever I take on a new client, set up a joint venture, or create a promotion. I use the same structure I shared in the Social Media Profit Checklist. First off, I had to check to see where the profits on this promotion. Giving away a Kindle will get some extra visits to my web site but that would be worthless if I did not have the book and business behind it. Tracky is run by some great people, is wonderful software and is at the heart of what I think is the nexus for future growth in the Las Vegas economy. The sponsored promotion they are doing with me fits, but that’s not a reason to be in business.

Fortunately, I’ve been through the Simple Social Media Profit Formula and know how valuable each reader can be. The contest was a no-brainer for me.

Usually, I tell clients to avoid buying readers with a contest, but the content of this contest was a match and I saw how I could tailor it to a message I want to share with you (you’re reading it) and stay consistent with my brand. Easy sharing is built into the contest by Rafflecopter. Even so, I like offer you a easy sharing on anything here. There’s a floating bar to the left to click whenever you want, and the meme I talk about are specifically worded to make them sharable.

Again, it’s pretty easy to say “prize” or “free” but I spend more time writing headlines and tweets than anything else. The message need to be as simple as bacon and eggsThe other secret to sharing is reciprocity. Make sure you are sharing more of about other people than you share about yourself. This has a huge added benefit in that everyone you know plus everything you read is way more interesting than what you are selling. It’s like Chris Brogan says:

“Always have something to sell, but don’t always be selling it.”

I’ve saved the best for last. These two words sum up what I think will be the best business strategy for the future. It’s been taught in many ways for thousands of years as the way to live. Finally, technology allows us to listen and love like never before.

LISTEN: Every customer, phone call, email, comment, tweet is an opportunity for a conversation. If you listen, you will hear people looking for help. When you help them get what they want, they invariably will be more prone to get you what you want. We were taught business in the 20th Century, a unique time when one way communications made broadcasting and marketing a game of big towers and giant numbers. There wasn’t a way to listen to the TV viewer or newspaper reader in real time. Today, all that’s changed. And you are in on this early. Learn to listen and you’ll be ahead of the competition

LOVE: It simple. Treat people like you would treat the people you love. I’m not talking about romance here. I’m talking doing what you know is right. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that. Think about a time when you called a corporate office, got put on hold, then transferred to a phone that wasn’t answered. When you tried again, you heard “that’s not my department” Is this how you want to be treated? No one else likes it either.

Once you have learned to listen, you’ll know what to do. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Think about the experience that they have with you, your social media content, your sales process, products and company. Make every interaction with anyone a reason for them to say WOW. Like @Zappos says, you want to be delivering happiness.

About

Warren Whitlock, author of the first book on Twitter "Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online" is a speaker, blogger and social media marketing strategist

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