Recently we were featured on a website called The Adventurous 500. We talked about our company’s services, then hit the streets to see what people in Denver thought about Facebook, Facebook relationship statuses, and “Facebook Official.” The video turned out great — come check it out below! Sadly, the iPod Touch contest we announced in the video has already ended, but if you’d like to be informed whenever we run future contests, come sign up for our email updates on our website homepage.

As a company and as an individual Twitter can be a very useful tool, if used in the right ways.  We will look deeper at both sides of Twitter: the individual and the company, to see “How to avoid being a fail whale” when it comes to involvement on Twitter.

Back in January we lined out how Twitter works, and a few suggestions for companies on how to involve themselves with consumers on Twitter.

Once a company is involved in Twitter how do they expand their reach?  How does a company become well versed in social media, specifically Twitter?  Here are a four points on how to avoid being a Twitter fail whale.

1. Consistent Interaction

The key to building a good Twitter following first and foremost is to be consistent with everything that is involved in the account. We’ll be the first to say, and many twitter people will back us up, if a company is going to blow up with tweets once a week, or even once a month, we’re going to unfollow them.  A consistent, daily posting time (studies show the 8-10am EST times to be the best), or even weekly posting time (depending on how much content the company wants to have out) in order for followers to be expecting content.  This constant interaction deals with a companies following as well.  If someone ReTweets (RT) the companies tweet or @ replies with a question, a response is expected quickly.  For larger Twitter accounts an immediate to hour response is expected.  On smaller accounts a response on the day of or next morning is typically expected. In this point as well as the following three, both individuals and companies can put these into actions.

2. Useable Content

The best way to have an active account on Twitter is to post content.  The best way to gain a strong following is to post interesting and usable content.  Content that relates to the company as well as the following.  When a company posts usable content, it will get retweeted and followers will share the company account with their followers.  This in turn grows a committed following that looks forward to tweets.  The best way to find content is to follow blogs related to the company, or have the company post their own content.  If a blog post seems worth sharing with the companies twitter following, the company could even set up a scheduled time for the link to post, as long as the company is prepared to interact with its following once it is posted.

3. Networking

Doing networking on Twitter in the correct way can build an unparalleled community.  This works both with individuals and companies.  Follow all of the companies in your chosen field.  As an individual follow the companies you’d like to work for.  Follow people who tweet about the company, or even just tweet about the company’s field of expertise.  Doing these things will build a community of like-minded people.  Having a community like this fosters creativity as well as keeps the company ahead of the curve, because they are able to see trends. They are also able to keep an eye on what the competition is doing.  The proper networking can even lead to jobs as well as job promotions.

4. Account Aesthetics

A company should have a good looking account.  It should be consistent with the company’s website.  Studies have shown that people are more likely to relate to a profile picture of an actual person instead of a company logo — however there are ways to overcome this.  First, if the company is rather small, their Twitter audience oftentimes personally knows the people tweeting for them. Second, if the company keeps the logo and they have multiple social media employees, simply have them tag their first name or initials at the end of each personal post.  Third, the tough part with the photo of a person is that should that particular employee move on in their career, they have built a face but are now gone; this can cause a harder transition.  The profile description is another thing.  Make sure it is professional first and foremost, but also doesn’t appear to be form writing as well.  There should also be a link that leads directly to the company’s website.  The profile should be filled out in such a way that it invites people to follow it.  The profile and profile picture are the first two things that potential followers see and can be the deciding factor in whether they follow the company or not (we know it is for us).

Watching these four things can help a company or individual avoid being a Twitter Fail Whale.  As always, we are here to help with your social media needs. Come and get in touch with us and we will respond back at the earliest time available.

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In both January and March we held two separate contests, in each giving away an iPod Touch.

In January our contest was promoted through our various social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and this blog) as well as through a social media company called IWearYourShirt.

Then in March we hosted a similar contest with our same social media accounts, which correlated with promotion from The Adventurous 500.

Not only did we net some great videos from both IWearYourShirt and TheAdventurous500 but we also gained some serious audience member numbers as well.

Since January our Facebook fans have increased 590%, our email list has grown 363%, and our Twitter following has seen a 320% increase.

Now obviously we gained an increase from using IWearYourShirt and The Adventurous 500 but we can also correlate this back directly to the contest as well.  There’s something about giving away free gifts that draws the masses.  The unique thing about contests is that it draws in people who hadn’t even thought that they may need to use your services.  Traditional advertising works because people have a need and so they see companies who fulfill that need.  Contests work because they build rapport with consumers as well as connect with them on a more personal level.  When consumers make this connection they are more likely to recommend your services to friends in need.

When a company considers running a contest there are three steps that should be planned out beforehand.

1. What are the goals to gain from this?

Are you looking to gain a Twitter following, Facebook Fans, Blog readers, or subscriptions to your email list?  Maybe you want to gain all four. The thing is to make sure you have concise goals on what you expect.  If you make sure that the other two steps fall in line with your goals, then you should set yourself for a great return on your contest investment.

2. Is the giveaway relevant to the audience?

First, think of giving away your product or services, or at least a discount.  People are following you for your services (unless they’re a personal friend) so give them something that they can relate to.  One thing that will surely increase your social media following is to get your current followers excited about a contest so much they they are sharing with friends.  This can also be accomplished through giving away things that people like, whether it’s a gift card, electronics, or even random gift baskets.  The main thing is to make sure that the giveaway is something that appeals to the audience, otherwise the contest will fizzle.

3. How should it be promoted?

The promotion style should line up directly with the goals set out for the contest.  If you are looking for more Facebook Fans then have something requiring “Likes” on Facebook (you may even consider running Facebook ads to your target audience).  If you are looking for more followers on Twitter, require ReTweets and people to follow you, as well as think about adding multiple #hashtags to create a universal reach.  The key is to promote it heavily, but not to the point that it seems like SPAM.

We have found that contests are a great way to increase a company’s social media following.  The key to is be active in the contest and communicate with new audience members.  Contests are a great, low-budget alternative to online advertising.  A company can gain a significant following without the costs of traditional web advertisement, because the community is doing all of the sharing.

We hope this gives you some good ideas on how to effectively run a contest to increase your marketing audience. As always if you have any questions about online contests or any other web needs, please drop us a line, and we will be happy to help you.

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“There’s a lot of people out there talking, potentially about your brand or what you’re selling. You want to talk to them. Not spam them, but talk to them.”

Social Media, new media, however you refer to it, is currently considered the place of the present as well as the future. Nearly everyone is looking for a way to create their own place in social media.

Whether it’s starting from scratch or creating new goals, social media is quickly becoming a vital part of every company’s marketing plan.

As a Denver social media marketing agency, we are often asked: how should a company set goals that are realistic for them and their clients? After talking with several of my fellow social media colleagues here are things that should be considered when shaping new goals.

1.  Goals should be realistic: This comes first for a few reasons. If goals aren’t realistic then they won’t be attained. If goals aren’t reached then this leads to a depressing situation. Of course it’s not a doomsday scenario but reaching realistic goals creates a winning atmosphere.

2. Design is key: A company’s social media sites should be eye catching. The wow factor is key in social media. There is so much content out there, that a company needs to have some form of wow factor to set it apart then it makes for a harder time to stand a part from the clutter. The design of the social media sites should line up with the company’s website, if it has one, and if not it should at least try to match the company’s general color scheme in some way. This is the easiest form for brand recognition for a company.

3. Plan for your clients: Of course when launching a new social media site it’s easy to reach out to your friends. What is needed for a good presence is reaching clients. Finding clients online is typically done through proactive ways. Searching for people in the area chatting about services that your company provides is an easy way to do this. If a company is focused around web things, search places like Twitter, Facebook, and even blogs for people sharing the company’s online content. (I did this today and found videos made by iwearyourshirt shared in two different places). When a company is able to make that connection, to draw potential clients into their social media group, they have reached their ultimate goal.

4. It’s not about the number of followers: People get caught up in numbers. Granted, the more hits on a site, the higher the google listing, the larger chance to be recognized.  It’s more about the quality follow/followers. This is done through the reaching out process. When the company is reaching out to potential clients, those follow backs that are gained will create a common interest group. The unique thing about social media is that the larger and more interconnected that group becomes, the more like minded people are found. It’s truly one big circle.

5. Have a plan: The easiest thing is to line up the online marketing plan with the offline marketing plan. This provides consistency for potential clients.  When planning out an overarching marketing plan consider how to link the company’s offline plan to draw people online. This will draw in new followers that might not be reached otherwise.  Having a plan also allows for consistency to what the company posts as well. Humans are creatures of habit, so if they know early on what they are going to get, then they will tune in, however if there is no consistency and just sporadic posting, this can cause some people to turn away. A marketing plan that brings a larger social media following is a winning plan.

Putting these five things into practice will not only help organize a plan, they should also bring results that benefit the company.

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