7 out of 10 people play a contest on social media run by a brand.
Social media contests are like a one-stop solution to gain new followers, increase engagement, get people excited about your brand, boost organic promotion and convert leads into customers. Moreover, it is also a great way to make existing customers happy, turning them into loyal fans. Over 70% big companies run social media contests for user engagement.
However, coming up with a contest idea and running it on social media is not enough to make it a success. Social media success requires meticulous planning and execution. Here are some tips to help you run a successful social media contest:
1. Be clear of your objective
The first thing you should be sure of before starting a contest is your objective of running it. Contests can be run to attract new users and increase followers, increase brand visibility, reward loyal customers or promote a new product or service. When you know the objective, you can accordingly plan your contest.
If the target is to just increase likes and followers on a social media page, a sweepstake or Like to Win or Comment to Win contest works well. If you want to create a buzz around a particular product, a contest like uploading pictures with the product can help make it go viral.
Source: Facebook
2. Choose a single platform
Choosing which platform to run the contest on is the next important thing to decide. It is always better to choose one platform and stick to it rather than running a contest on multiple platforms, and losing track. However, you can promote the contest on all networks.
Hosting a contest on a single platform leaves no room for uncertainty and there will be no need to modify your contest to meet the rules of different platforms. Moreover, analysing the results and selecting the winner also becomes easier.
Source: Donna’s Promo Talk
3. Decide on the type of contest
The easier it is to enter the contest, the more people are likely to participate in it.
Decide on whether you want the contest to be a sweepstake contest, a like and share to win, photos/videos, guess or quiz and others. Sweepstakes are the easiest to participate in, but have low engagement rates. Photo/videos can go viral, although they demand quite a bit of effort from the users.
Choose a contest based on your objective, but refrain from including too many steps like filling up lengthy forms and make it less complicated. Ask only for relevant information because if you ask for too much, the participation rate will be low. A contest should always have clear instructions, established rules and be easy to participate in.
Source: Facebook
4. Set clear contest rules
The bigger the prize, the more will be the participation. In case you’re offering a big giveaway, there are chances of cheating, complaints about unfairness or remarking that the winners were chosen in a biased manner. To avoid such situations, it is important to have a set of crystal-clear rules for the contest from the very beginning.
Include the dates of entry and the closing date, the steps that need to be followed, the company policies, the way the winner will be chosen and then contacted, the duration by when they will receive the gift and so on. It will protect both you and your participants and avoid any unnecessary complications afterwards.
5. Pay attention to the contest length
Focus on the time period of running the contest. A very short timeline can diminish the chances of getting a decent number of entries and too long a time period can make users disinterested. If your contest is a simple ‘like to win’ or solve a puzzle, run it for a shorter time. However, if the contest requires participants to click a photo or video and upload it, make sure that you give them enough time.
Timing your contest is also very important. For instance, if you are giving out tickets to a concert or event as a prize, make sure that the winner/winners have sufficient time to collect the prize.
Source: Wishpond Blog
6. Keep promoting and monitoring
Just like everything else, even your contests need promotion. Pin the contest details to the top of the page apart from promoting it on all other social channels. You can also ask participants to share the post or tag their friends and in return provide them with a small advantage like allowing them to participate in the contest multiple times.
When the contest is live, it needs to be monitored everyday to keep a track on its performance. Make sure to answer all questions and doubts that participants may have regarding the contest.
7. Know the rules yourself
Remember that every social media platform has their own set of rules to run a contest. Be familiar with those rules before starting a contest, or there may be a possibility of getting banned from the channel.
With proper planning and execution, social media contests can be a great way to get new followers, get them excited about your brand, go viral and generate new leads, all in the process of having fun. To know more about such contests and how it can help your business, leave us a message and we will get back to you soon!
“Artificial intelligence, deep learning – whatever you’re doing, if you don’t understand it – learn it. Because otherwise you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.”
It has been estimated that by 2020, customers will be managing 85% of their relationships with brands without human interaction. This is an indication of the way AI is going to radically change the future of digital marketing. Recently, a study conducted in Cambridge and Stanford University claimed that AI can predict a customer’s personality and preference just by analysing ‘10 Facebook Likes’ by him/her.
AI can also power businesses in various ways with relationship intelligence, search intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, forecasting, providing recommendations, predictive analytics etc.
“ 88% of businesses are known to use solutions that rely on AI and 62% of companies are likely to use AI by the end of 2018.”
Here’s how AI can be a boon for digital marketing:
1. Sales support to get more personalized
A global survey revealed that 37% customers prefer shopping online. In such a situation, the usage of chatbots can be revolutionised with the use of Artificial Intelligence. Apart from serving simple automated messages, chatbots can provide product recommendations based on user’s past history and search. For example, if you search for a new dress online, the chatbot can suggest matching shoes to go with it. This 24*7 service will also encourage customers to make more purchases.
AI can greatly improve user experience by making shopping more of a self service. Instead of trying to resolve queries and getting confused by going through FAQ pages or community forums, customers can make their shopping experience simpler by asking for what you need and jumping to topics that talk about what you’re looking for.
Source: tagove.com
‘A recent study shows that 80% of customer’s queries have been resolved by chatbots without human supervision.’
2. Search can get better
With AI, searching on the Internet will soon become smarter, easier and more hassle free.
AI can be used to track user behaviour and even predict future behaviour. Based on this information, companies can improve their web ranking with better keyword optimisation and the use of semantic keywords.
Source: LinkedIn
3. Image recognition
The newly launched iPhone X comes with a True Depth camera system that uses the facial recognition technology to unlock the phone. This image recognition feature with the help of AI can be a great boon for marketers in the future.
The machine vision technology will help marketers sell products to customers through images. For example, a customer can upload the image of a shirt he plans to wear and look for a matching tie on your online shop.
A live example of image recognition is the Smartify app, which uses this technique to scan and identify artwork, providing information about it to users.
Source: taptitude
4. Voice recognition
“It has been predicted that more than 30% of searches will be done without screens by 2020.”
The popularity of Siri and Cortana are enough proof of the importance of voice based interfaces. More and more consumers are using it to get on with their daily activities. More than 20% searches are now voice-based. It is important for marketers to create pages that will help answer long-tailed voice queries in natural language, not just selected keywords.
Source: PCWorld.
5. Advertising will get better
“Website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert.”
Advertising is very important, and with such short attention span it becomes all the more important for marketers to target the right people. While programmatic ads makes use of data like search histories and location, the selected ads are still neutral or impersonal.
With the inclusion of AI, advertising can get more personal, targeting the relevant audience with more accuracy. For example, AI ads will know that users who do not respond to a particular type of advertising should be avoided.
Source: everyonelinked.com
If AI can target users with more precise ads, it would mean improved and better user engagement on websites. The audience will be shown only those ads that are highly relevant to them and the people who visit your website will be the ones who are really interested and are most likely to make a purchase. This is a win-win for all concerned.
Artificial Intelligence is on the rise, and the current trends indicate that it has the ability to revolutionize the digital marketing business and how brands connect and engage with their audience. What do you think about AI in digital marketing? Tell us in the comment section below.
“92% of marketers say that social media has helped to increase exposure of their business.”
Today, the business world knows the importance of social media to maintain relevancy and visibility in front of their audience. It is no doubt a game changer and if your business is not using it well, it’s a great loss for your company.
There are numerous social media channels available now, and choosing the right one for your business can be a daunting task. Deciding on the ideal platform depends on your type of business, target audience, type of content that you share and the goals you would like to achieve. Take a look at the top 4 social media channels that are strengthening the digital marketing game –
1. Facebook
Total number of monthly active users worldwide – 2.13 billion
Total number of monthly active users in India – 250.0 million
Works Best For – B2C, B2B (in some cases)
Top Industries – Fashion, Ecommerce, Entertainment, Retail, Auto, FMCG, Health & Wellness, News, Sports, Real Estate
Facebook is no doubt the biggest social media platform in the world. Along with a huge user base that allows you to connect with people from all over the world, Facebook also offers a myriad range of marketing features like Facebook ads, business pages, live videos, paid advertising etc for businesses.
Facebook is a great medium to connect and engage with the audience, mostly with the help of campaigns and contests. At the same time, getting feedback from customers about products and services becomes a lot more easier.
Facebook is also great for lead generation, as this platform can be customized based on your requirements to target specific people/groups. Moreover, Facebook Analytics helps you understand which campaigns are doing well and which ones need improvement.
43% of businesses have reported that their Facebook page generates more traffic than their website while 48.1% of businesses claim that a portion of the new visitors on their Facebook page converts into customers.
2. Twitter
Total number of monthly active users worldwide – 330 million
Total number of monthly active users in India – 30 million
Works Best For – B2C, B2B (in some cases)
Top Industries – News, E commerce, Retail, Travel/Hospitality, Health & Wellness, Finance, Fashion, Sports
Twitter is the best platform if you want to reach out to your followers with a breaking news, important announcement or some other immediate information. The 280-character tweets have emerged to be a great hub for recent events, trending news or voicing an opinion.
With the use of catchy hashtags, tweets can go viral instantly, which can be a great advantage for a business. While images perform better on Twitter, textual content is also known to work quite well.
One of the best features of Twitter when it comes to business is customer service. Nowadays, if a customer has a problem with a product or service, he/she can just tweet it to the company Twitter account and get the issue solved much faster. 85% of businesses (especially small and medium enterprises) are known to use Twitter for resolving customer queries.
76% of marketers worldwide use Twitter to market their business, while 61% of them say that they plan to use it more in the near future. Advertising is anyway Twitter’s main source of revenue and the increasing popularity of the platform is an indication that it is going to play a more important role for businesses in the coming years.
3. Instagram
Total number of monthly active users worldwide – 800 million
Total number of monthly active users in India – 43 million
If you have a visual product to offer, Instagram is the best social media platform for your business. This channel is very popular amongst the millennial group. The fact that it has more monthly active followers than Twitter has compelled more and more brands to be on this platform to interact with the audience.
One of the most important things you need on Instagram is good quality images of your product or service. Remember that stock photos do not work here, it has to be original. This platform becomes a priority if you want to capture the attention of your audience, without directly selling your product.
As Facebook owns Instagram, a lot of features and targeting options are similar, which makes it a good platform for engagement and brand awareness. Moreover, hashtags also work really well in Instagram and are a good way to get your brand featured in the newsfeed of users.
There are about 8 million Instagram business profiles and 80% users are known to follow at least one business on this app, with photos generating 36% more engagement than videos.
4. LinkedIn
Total number of monthly active users worldwide – 250 million
Total number of monthly active users in India – 42 million
Works Best For – B2B, B2C (for employment purpose)
Top Industries – Employment, Science & Technology, Financial, Legal, Professional Services, Marketing, Education
For a B2B company, LinkedIn is the main place to be and all the more if lead generation is your main target. The demographic status is also a bit different on LinkedIn, compared to other social media channels with users mostly being in the age group of 30-49 years.
LinkedIn helps a brand establish itself as trustworthy, build authority as well as engage leads through conversations. It is ideal for posting professional content, talking about the goals, objectives and achievements of the business.
LinkedIn also prioritizes building relationships, it’s all about making connections. Therefore it should not be approached as a sales pitch, there needs to be a more humane touch to the content that you share here. Research states that 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn, while 94% of B2B marketers distribute content with the help of LinkedIn.
“People are known to spend time on other social networks, but they invest time on LinkedIn.”
Social media is an excellent tool for every business to build awareness, target the right audience, generate traffic, find new leads and improve customer service. While the options are many, choosing the right platform for your business is imperative for achieving the goals you set for yourself. A digital media agency can help you in this regard. To know more about choosing the right platform for your business, leave us a message below and we will get back to you soon!
Before the marketing world was introduced to digitalization, the most important indicator for key performance was sales. In today’s times however, the scenario has changed. Sales are important now too, but along with it the focus is also on customer experience.
Every business has a marketing team whose job is to find out the true value of the services that they provide or the products that they sell. In order to enhance user experience, new ways to serve customers better and keep them engaged with the brand needs to be determined.
This is where digital marketing comes into the picture.
One thing that cannot be denied is that digital marketing is propelling past analogue. Every day people are consuming more and more digital content – using their desktop, smartphones, laptops, tablets and other devices. Businesses that want to remain at the top of their game require an alteration in their strategy to adapt to the current trends.
“Ignoring online marketing is like opening a business but not telling anyone.”
Why opt for Digital Marketing?
1. Target Audience
To make the most out of your business, reaching out and engaging with the right audience is very important. There are limitless amount of data online that can help you understand your audience. For example, with Google Analytics and other tools, you can understand how people find your store online and what they do next.
You can also detect the age, location, gender, relationship status, likes and preferences of your audience, and their opinion about your product or services. Strategizing online campaigns based on this information, will help convert leads into customers.
2. Cost
It is evident that an online marketing campaign or strategy involves very little cost when compared to traditional advertising mediums like television, radio or print ads.
3. Tracking
With digital marketing, the need to wait for days to know the results of your marketing campaign can be done away with. Important things such as the number of people visiting your site, increase in your subscribers, the peak trading moments, conversion rates and several other things can be seen with just the click of a button.
4. Interactive
Using social media networks, interaction with the audience in real-time is possible. You can easily encourage your audience, followers, customers and even clients to visit your website and social media channels, know details about your product/services, purchase them, rate them, review them and provide feedback that will help both you and other customers.
With advanced marketing methods and techniques, they can also be influenced to become clients.
5.Popularity
The rise of digital media platforms such as online portals, blogs, social media channels, search engines, etc are a witness to the fact that digital marketing is taking over traditional marketing. Having a digital presence will ensure that you are ahead of your competitors and get maximum exposure in a cost effective manner.
More than 3 billion people use the Internet on a regular basis worldwide. Reaching out to all these people can revolutionize the way businesses can be marketed. Going the digital way is the best way now to grab the attention of potential customers online. At present, this is what becomes the distinguishing factor between a flourishing and a fizzled business.
Source: MAMSYS
Here’s how digital marketing can help in the growth of a business –
i)You get to be a level player
The online marketing business provides a fair chance to small/medium enterprises to compete in the market and attract their target audience. This new era of marketing has made it possible for small companies to build up resources to perform all the necessary processes of sales and marketing that were previously a privilege for large corporations only.
ii)Cost effective
Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing is much more cost effective and provides better results. Research says that 40% of business organizations claimed that they were able to make considerable savings by implementing digital marketing methods for promoting their goods and services.
According to HubSpot, digital marketers also get better CPL (Cost Per Click) when compared to other channels of marketing.
iii) Better Conversion rate
The success rate of products and services that are marketed online can be analysed in real time by leads, subscriptions and sales. Hence the most important priorities for digital marketers are – content marketing, social media marketing, brand and conversion optimization.
Tools like SEO, SEM and Email marketing are useful in generating better and faster interaction with the target audience.
iv)Generates higher revenues
If conversion rates are higher, automatically it will deliver better profits, benefiting your business with higher revenues. According to Google, companies that use digital marketing as a marketing tool have 2.8 times better expectancy of revenue growth. Also, both small and medium enterprises will have a much better chance of expanding their business and workforce.
v) Interaction with audience
Knowing what your target audience wants is really important for your business. The option to interact with the audience with relevant engagement points can help you understand what your customers want and you can decide what you want to do about it.
Real-time digital marketing has advantages such as –
Targeting with precision, resulting in enhanced marketing effectiveness
Increase in both customer satisfaction as well as experience
Coming up with personalized offers that helps in increasing revenues
Value of time and efficiency
vi) Caters to mobile phone users
Mobile phones are no longer just a tool of communication; they have become a part of life. People spend a lot of time with their mobile phones, and in a way it also influences their purchase decisions. Digital marketing reaches out to mobile consumers and it is a great way to boost sales.
vii) Brand development
The digital platform is a great way to create a positive image of your brand and retain that image. With a well-maintained website and high quality content that targets the needs of your audience, you can achieve significant value for your brand and opportunities of lead generation. Social media channels and personalised emails also work in the same way for brand development.
viii) Being always updated
When you have an online business, you have no choice but to be updated with the latest technologies and trends if you want to stay in the competition. When you are updated, it’s obvious that you will fare better in the market.
ix) Greatest advertisement platform
Digital marketing is the most effective way to advertise your products or services to a large number of audiences. You only need to update all your activities on social media and fulfil your multiple marketing needs.
This technologically-savvy method of marketing has been tried and tested by leading brands with outstanding results. Let’s take a look 3 reputed brands that have excelled in digital marketing:
1. Amul
One of the most recognised and successful brands of India, Amul wanted to reach out at every corner of the country. Keeping at par with the advancement in digital media, the brand’s presence can be strongly felt across social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.
Source: Facebook
The trademark Amul girl, who had already established a name for herself in newspapers, has a lot of fan following even on social media. Based on the trending affairs at both national and international level, the content is fun, witty, engaging and relatable.
Use of digital media –
Facebook – Crisp and witty content surrounding the Amul girl, contests for user engagement
Twitter – Feedback from customers and responding to their queries
Source: Amul Ads
Results –
Without adapting any hardcore advertising strategies, Amul managed to create a bond of trust with its loyal customers – 1.2 million fans online
People in the country relate Amul as just another name for milk
The Amul girl – trademark of the brand – stands out from all other marketing campaigns
2. Zomato
When it comes to content marketing, Zomato clearly shows that they are here to rule. Their idea is based on an interesting image and a witty content – with a message that is highly relatable.
Source: Mad Over Marketing
With various events and occasions, they come up with different ideas each time, but there is always a connect with the brand. Zomato knows that it is a food and beverage company, and that its target audience are mainly foodies. Hence, the images and content are always related either to food or the behaviour pattern of foodies.
Apart from this, Zomato understands the psychology of its consumers very well and has mastered the art of winning hearts over and over again.
Use of digital media –
Facebook – customer engagement, offers and promotional updates
Twitter – responds to queries by customers
Blogs – sharing latest updates with the customers
Pinterest – Exceptional content for attracting customers while sharing food experiences
Source: Facebook
Results –
The launch of the website increased its popularity and the brand gained recognition while expanding rapidly
Initially offering its services only in India, Zomato has now branched out to Sri Lanka, UAE, Qatar, South Africa, New Zealand, UK and Philippine as well
The company now caters to 15 million customers around the world
3. Flipkart
Flipkart’s agenda was to create brand awareness and position itself in such a way that when people think of an ecommerce store, Flipkart is the first option that should come to their mind.
Using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Google Plus and Affiliate Programmes, the brand launched a lot of new products and services, ran promotions, sales and encouraged customers to provide valuable feedback. Flipkart has managed to create brand awareness like no other.
Source: Afaqs.com
The main digital marketing strategies of Flipkart were creating brand awareness, keeping customers engaged and helping customers with their queries and complaints.
The Flipkart Kids ad campaign based on the innovative idea of young children acting as grown-ups has managed to make the brand a national sensation.
Use of Digital Media –
Twitter – launching new products/services and providing all necessary information
Facebook – customer support, promotions and sales update
Blogs – It has its own official blog, providing information about industry events like workshops and seminars
Google Plus – brand promotion
Affiliate Marketing – banner ads for increasing traffic in website
Source: Social Samosa
Results –
Flipkart has recorded daily page views of 10.1 million
It managed to receive maximum feedback through blogs and Twitter
The brand reached out to a large number of audience, while adding new product lines and multiple varieties in those product lines
With every passing year, more and more businesses are making the shift from traditional methods to digital marketing. Competition is getting increasingly high, and a good reputation of a business is essential for its survival. Building a sense of trust and confidence in the mind of a consumer is very important.
Ittisa is a creative end-to-end digital marketing agency that helps to keep your brand at the top of the game. Leave us a message here and we’ll get back to you!
