Before we go, note that generally there are two types of social media software: for management/monitoring and for creating app-powered content. A few offer both as an integrated solution, on a higher priced plan. What I want to talk about is the later, platform that offers you tools to create specialized content on your social media page, in this case specifically for Facebook brand page.

When you research for these tools or are reached by their sales rep, the most-popular and biggest selling point is usually the contest module. With this you will be able to extend your audience as you can encourage the entrants to share it with their friends and hope for them to be more familiar with your brand or products. Your loyal customers will be excited to participate and post about it on their own social media timeline(s). From there, you are reaching to an almost unlimited number of new potential followers like the number you see from “Friends of Fans” info on Facebook’s insights.

If you are building a solid brand social media profile, the first item will very likely come to realization. If you plan your campaign well, in no time you will start receiving a few dozens or even hundreds of entries. But to expect the massive ‘viral effect’ by making the number into thousands is the next big challenge, especially if you do not have tens of thousands of followers to start with. Only relying on your current number of followers most of the time may not be able to boost the campaign to your expectations.

So what to do in this situation? You will need to actively promote the campaign, not only as posts within your profile(s), but use your existing (and new) digital marketing channels too. For example, most of these services will encourage you to create Facebook ads for campaigns that you are running as the catalyst to reach wider audience. Considering the acquisition cost of Facebook ads can be as high as $0.88 (source), this can add a significant cost to your budget if you are expecting hundreds of new entries from that channel alone. You can also submit your contest to giveaway directories, some offer to post it on their premium listings for a reasonable fee, but from here you can expect a higher ‘drop-out’ rate once the campaign is over. If you have significant traffic on your website or blog, it can be an excellent medium to pass on the information about the contest too.

So, before you propose that budget to sign up to the best social media marketing software you found, do consider the possibility to add promotion costs on top of it. I am not saying it is the only way to reach social media success, there are case studies of very successful campaigns where the only factors are the company itself, its loyal customers and partners, but having up a supporting plan is always a good idea. As social media has become a mainstream channel to any business, you are not the only kid on the block who can offer this kind of promotion therefore the new standard is born.

The post What They Probably Don’t Tell You Before Signing Up to Social Media Promotion Software appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

Had the interview back in October 2012, but have not been able to share it here. Check it out, I can honestly recommend ViralSweep if you are thinking of running a giveaway on your website.

The post ViralSweep for Your Social Media Powered Giveaway appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

Here are a few items that you should check with your online marketing and e-commerce strategies before deciding whether to place them and where.

Know the difference between “sharing” button and “follow” button

I have to bring this up, as not all people truly understand that these have totally different functions. Sharing button is like giving a thumb up to that specific URL but that person will not become a fan or follower on your social media profiles. For that you need the follow button, which is like an invite to follow your updates.

Consider the content that you want your visitors to share

Do not, I repeat do not, put social sharing button on every single page on your website. Please consider how likely visitors will want to share the page(s). If your website is talking about, then most likely you want to put the buttons on the product pages. You can exclude the other ‘boring’ information pages like Privacy Policy etc. If you have a blog, then you can put the buttons on each of your post.

Think of it as an encouragement tool not reinforcement tool

Unless you are offering something very special in return, do not force your visitors to like or share the page. This is not how social media works. Instead you are putting the buttons to make it easier for them to distribute the content to their friends/followers. To be able to share and discuss about interesting information they find on the web is the basic principle of creating online buzz.

Carefully decide on the placement

The last thing you want to do is to make the buttons reduce the overall experience in browsing your website. You do not need to place them everywhere (read above, visitors will share if they want to), just pick a spot where they can complement your page layout.

Pick the right networks

Every social media network has its own personality of followers. While Facebook and Twitter are the two with biggest users base and cover practically every type of Internet users, there are specific networks that probably fit best to your content. For professional and business, you can consider including LinkedIn, Pinterest is great if you post nice graphic assets, and so on.

Create a starting point or evaluate the results

By the end of the day, like any other features that you embedded into your website, measure the effectiveness of your social sharing functions. This can be analyzed from traffic and social media reach growth, number of shared content, interactions and so on. By marking the “before state”, you can later evaluate if the approach is positive or only lowers your site’s overall score without providing a reasonable gain. Remember that your site’s load time and design are directly impacted by this.

Now that you are ready to start, I can recommend AddThis to easily create customizable widget that allows you to pick and add buttons to many popular social media networks.

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