This post is by Andre Kay. He is the CEO and chief marketing officer for Sociallybuzz, which provides social media management, marketing, fan page management and social media consultation. Sociallybuzz is designed to help companies, brands and businesses with social media development and marketing while delivering businesses and brands the greatest number of options in how they define and reach their relevant audiences.
With Black Friday and Small Business Saturday over the weekend, restaurants, franchises and retail stores have racked up a lot of foot traffic and revenue so far this holiday season. Companies are now strategizing how to drive more customers to their location through December. One of most effective ways to create engagement among consumers is through a well-timed campaign. Launching a seasonal campaign such as a giveaway or contest can extend your brand presence to existing and potential customers. Here are three social networks to launch a successful holiday campaign.
1) A Foursquare campaign will engage existing customers to promote on your behalf while rewarding them.
Example: A local Jamba Juice franchisee launched a Foursquare photo contest where consumers had a chance to win a $25 Jamba Juice gift card if they took a photo of their smoothie and posted it on Foursquare after checking in at their local South Florida Jamba Juice store. Therefore, it created excitement among consumers who were eager to show off their Foursquare skills while competing to win the prize.
The result:
- They built a collection of photos showing Jamba’s smoothies on Foursquare pages.
- They drove more customers through the doors who were eager to enter the contest.
- The photos and chatter about the contest from existing customers encouraged their Twitter and Facebook friends to go to the store to join the contest as well. Thereby, they kept steady foot traffic and increased sales.
2) If you already have an established Facebook presence and community of customers, now is the time to reward them for supporting you throughout the year. Launching an engaging campaign by utilizing Facebook’s Sponsor Page Post story ad to connect with your existing customer base will amplify the organic interactions between your customers and business. Page post stories automatically insert your page posts into a sponsored story that is shown to a wider base of your fans.
It makes it much easier for your fans to stay in the know with your most valuable messages regarding your campaign. Therefore, it’s important that you post compelling updates and images related to your campaign. Thus, your real fans and customers will be prompted to join your campaign or giveaway.
3) One of the fastest ways to get your campaign message to your customers is through Twitter. Twitter can make any effective campaign go viral instantly. Utilizing techniques such as a catchy #hashtags along with a message that fans will want to share with friends makes all the difference in making a successful campaign.
Example: Maggiano’s, a national home-style Italian restaurant chain, held a Twitter contest to increase its following. Offering restaurant gift certificates as the prize, they were able to increase their following by a few thousands by issuing a time sensitive call-to-action where respondents had to follow within a 24-hour period in order to be eligible.
Ultimately, it generated excitement and gave fans an opportunity to win a dinner. By extending the prize, the brand stayed top of mind and in turn created an advertising value that exceeded the cost of the prize.
Whichever social platforms you chose to run your holiday campaign, make sure your goals are measurable and achievable with a solid plan of execution.
Image credit: Sociallybuzz