On Marketing the Multisport Business with Felipe Loureiro

I recently had a chat with Felipe Loureiro, Multisport Coach & Founder of Breakaway Training located in San Diego, CA.  Breakaway Training is a Premier Multisport Team where Felipe and his group work with all types of athletes ranging from the elite level triathlete, those trying to place in their age group or anyone who has a dream goal to finish a triathlon or a marathon.  Read on to learn more about how Felipe markets Breakaway Training to his target audience:

What do you enjoy about being a business owner?

In my business, I am able to offer training opportunities for my athletes to get together in a group workout setting.  I really enjoy the ability to provide that social interaction and camaraderie between the athletes while they are each working towards their own personal training goals.

Can you name one goal (personal or business) for 2013?

Continuing to expand the business, reaching out to beginner, intermediate, and seasoned athletes and helping them to achieve their endurance sport goals.

What type of activities do you take part in both online and offline to find new leads?

Breakaway Training has a very active website that is connected with many of the popular social media networks.  Races, events, and athletes are regularly featured online which keeps our athletes connected as well as staying very connected to the triathlon community as a whole.

We also sponsor many local races and events and are frequently seen and available at expos with our Breakaway Training booth.

If you have used social media, how has it worked for you?  Was there a specific network that worked better than another?  Please explain.

We are very active in the social media realm – it keeps our business and athletes strongly connected to each other and the triathlon community.

 Breakaway Training can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin and YouTube.

On our blog, we are able to share how proud we our of our athletes by providing a recap of the current races.  Our athletes get recognition for the races they have participated in.  We post our blog and pictures (tagging the athletes) on Facebook and Twitter allowing their family and friends to see their success!

Can you name a marketing activity that has worked and tell us why?

Social media is one the best marketing tools because that exposure allows people to get a glimpse of what Breakaway Training is all about. We receive many messages asking questions about our posts and pictures.  This interest has frequently lead to new clients.

Do you have a personal mantra?

“There are 24 Hours in a day. We typically sleep 8 and work 8 but it’s what we do with the other 8 that counts. Some pack those eight hours with as much training, motivation, passion, pain and joy as their bodies can contain. They will not settle for ordinary; their enthusiasm propels them into the extraordinary. They are endurance athletes.”

Is there someone that you look up to – someone who was always right behind you, supporting and cheering you on?

My family!  My wife, kids, parents, in-laws…. Breakaway Training is a part of our family’s lifestyle, we train together, race together, spectate together.  My family’s support in all aspects truly contributes to the business being a success!

Nytro Men’s Team presented by Breakaway Training

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Optimizing Vine: How Can Your Brand Stand Out in Six Seconds?

At the beginning of the year, Twitter introduced Vine, a mobile service that allows users to capture and share short looping videos. Like Twitter, Vine flourishes in its brevity. Videos are limited to six seconds, and there aren’t any fancy formatting features.

Download the Vine app!

So, you’re probably thinking, can a business make an impact in only six seconds? It’s not as difficult as you may think. Here are a few effective ways companies are using Vine to boost their brands:

1.     Showcase new products or deals

Example: CakeStyle(@cakestyleme) The online personal styling service for women utilizes Vine to showcase new styles. With the video, CakeStyle also asks its followers which look they like best, encouraging audience engagement.

2.     Leverage existing videos

Example: New York Rangers (@NYRangers) The NHL team uses vine to showcase the highlights of recent games, such as the winning goal, the celebration, and the setup. By showing interesting video clips, businesses can use Vine to lure audiences to view the full video on their website or YouTube page.

3.     Run a contest

Example: Confused.com (@Confused_com)  Confused.com ran a competition to promote fan engagement through Vine. The website asked its followers to share Vine videos of their pets in honor of “Love Your Pet Day.” By offering £250 for the most creative pet video, Confused.com reviewed videos that included the hashtag #PetVine.

4.     Make a big announcement

Example: Sonar (@sonar)  The social start-up made a very exciting announcement via Vine after receiving funding from a new set of investors. Sonar’s tweet set the scene with a brief description of the news, a link to a blog post, and a Vine video: “Welcome aboard to our new investors, team @bingfund! ow.ly/i89Nz World’s first announcement via @vineapp:vine.co/v/bXZa5BQj7e2”

And if you simply want to sit back and watch Vine for fun and get a good laugh, we suggest the hilarious and talented Rob Johnston and his friend Jason Coffee or for some creative animations, check out Ian Padgham, Twitter’s Illustrator and Video Animator.

Photo credit: http://mashable.com/2013/02/11/there-were-more-than-100000-vines-posted-to-twitter-this-weekend/

http://www.confused.com/pet-insurance/articles/pet-vine-twitter-competition

How to Keep Up with Social Media Trends in 2013

We are almost into the third quarter, (can you believe it??) and there are still many new social media trends on the rise for 2013. There has been a change in what customers expect from your business, and it is important that you know how to stay ahead of the curve.

How to keep up with social media trends in 2013:

Avoid information overload

It might seem logical to think that the more content you post to social media, the more your brand will be seen, resulting in a more effective social media strategy. However, in reality, “oversharing” has the opposite effect. If your audience grows tired of your posts, they can hide you from their feeds, or worse, remove themselves altogether. The best way to stand out in a flood of content is to share more creative posts that your audience won’t find elsewhere. Rather than focusing on quantity, your strategy should have quality as a top priority.

Go Mobile

Mobile platforms are rapidly continuing to gain momentum with social media users. According to a report from the NPD Group, “37 percent of consumers who used to access content on their PCs” have now switched to their tablets and smartphones.  And do you know what they site as the top two activities?  Browsing the web and using Facebook.  In “Snapshot: How People Use Social Media” by Inc.com’s Flash Steinbeiser, he mentioned an interview by USA Today with Deirdre Bannon, Nielsen’s social media practice lead.  She said:“People are connecting through more mobile devices … (and) they are also increasing their engagement with social media regardless of what device they are accessing,”

So to optimize content across all devices, make sure that all posts are viewed appropriately from both mobile and traditional platforms. Reformat your social profiles so they look good on mobile apps, and maybe consider giving mobile ads a test run.

Be Transparent

Transparency in social media is one of top ways your business can gain customer trust.  It is important that your business leverages social media to provide accurate information about your products and services. Your social media pages should be first-hand resources to customers, where your company makes announcements, addresses issues, and always stays up-to-date.

Need help optimizing or running your social media pages? We are here to help! Email us at info@gelasocial.com to learn more about our services.

Or check us out at www.GELAsocial.com

Don’t Think Your Business Could Benefit From Twitter? Think Again

http://www.Twitter.com

Although Twitter is the second most popular social networking site out there, a lot of small business owners are hesitant to use the platform as a marketing tool. A recent study shows that only 3% of business owners think that Twitter has the most potential to help their companies. That number is incredibly low, especially since Twitter is the second most popular social networking site today.

In the study, Twitter was cited as one of the social media platforms with the least potential to help small businesses, and we couldn’t agree less.

Twitter, in our opinion, is:

• The best way to communicate with customers in real-time by updating, listening and responding to the happenings in your surroundings instantaneously
• An outlet for more personal and informal communication with individual people
• An easy means of connecting with your target audience by searching for those in your area that share interests with your business – this is your chance to get to know people who have never stepped into your retail location, called you on the phone or shopped with your online store
• An easy way to monitor conversations for both positive and negative feedback – businesses always need to stay up to date with what is being said about their business, competition and industry as a whole

We think a main reason business owners are turned off by Twitter is because it seems overly complicated, even though it is actually simple in nature. As opposed to Facebook, it might seem strange to be limited to 140 characters or “RT” (retweet) and “mention.” This is because Twitter is an entirely different platform with the goal of updating followers with quick and simple messages on the fly.  Although it doesn’t work in the same way as Facebook, you’re business can easily see equal, if not better, interaction and overall effectiveness.  If you are really interested in generating more traffic to your website, creating more awareness about your business, finding new customers or business deals and closing more business, Twitter is a great start.

Sign up with your email on our Facebook page to receive exclusive tips for Twitter here: https://www.facebook.com/GELASocialPR/app_141428856257

Want to know more about how Twitter can benefit your business? Learn how to build a successful page from:

• More of our blog posts about Twitter
• The Twitter for Small Business page
• Connecting with us @GELASocialPR

Marketing Yoga and Life Coaching with Sophie Herbert

We are very excited to have interviewed Sophie Herbert recently.  Sophie is a life coach, an alignment focused yoga teacher, and radio personality. Her mission is to empower her clients, students, and listening audience to develop greater self-trust, overcome obstacles, and build meaningful lives.  At GELA we love meeting people like Sophie who make it a daily effort to bring wellness into their lives, and more so, to help others live healthier and happier.  Our team at GELA is very passionate about health and wellness and we look forward to working with more health-minded people and businesses this year as we brand our company as a Health & Wellness Social & Digital Marketing agency.

Back to Sophie:  Trained as a life coach at New York City’s Open Center through the ICF accredited program Leadership That Works: Coaching For Transformation, Sophie is also a graduate of New York’s Cooper Union School of Art.  She nurtured her passion for documentary photography and pursued her disciplined study of yoga in New York, Paris, Kazakhstan, and throughout India. She holds 2 yoga teaching certificates from the Yoga Vidya Dham Institute in Maharashtra, India.

The extensive time Sophie lived in India nurtured her passion for giving back. She is a firm believer in the cumulative power of small positive gestures and seeks to incorporate social activism into her work as a coach, teacher, host, and blogger whenever possible. She feels grateful to still visit and work regularly with the Deenabandhu Children’s Home in Chamarajanagar, Karnataka, South India. In November of 2010, Sophie became an ambassador for Yoga Gives Back, a grass root nonprofit that helps destitute women and girls in India build more sustainable lives.

A photo of Sophie with her Aunt Martha after a beautiful wedding ceremony.

Sophie was the host of “Life Coaching with Sophie”, a one-hour daily radio show on Martha Stewart Living Radio, SiriusXM 110. Sadly, the channel was not renewed in 2013 and the show ceased production. The good news is that new programming is underway.  Sophie was also a regular contributor to the Martha Stewart Show for over 4 years, producing and appearing in segments on yoga, health, and volunteering.

Here is my interview with Sophie:

Colleen Francioli, President of GELA   – What do you enjoy about being a business owner?

Sophie Herbert  – I enjoy the fact it always keeps you on your toes, requires thinking outside of the box, tests your personal resourcefulness, and allows a certain degree of flexibility when it comes to work hours.

Can you name one goal (personal or business) for 2013?

SH – Sure thing! My producer from my former SiriusXM radio show Life Coaching with Sophie, Fannie Cohen, and I recently launched a new podcast about modern faith and spirituality called Doing It.  A major goal for 2013 is to grow the audience base and send it out into the world in new ways.  We also hope to make it profitable over the next few months. It’s a joyous amount of sweat-vestment right now.

Additionally, I just moved to Connecticut with my husband and our cat this past April. I’m excited to see what new work opportunities are available there.

What do you feel are your biggest frustrations when it comes to marketing your business?

A personal one – I can end up spending way too much time on the Internet.

What type of activities do you take part in both online and offline to find new leads?

Offline: I promote my work in my yoga classes and through podcasts. In addition to this, I hand out lots of business cards.

Online: I recently joined LinkedIn, which is pretty useful.  I also maintain a blog via WordPress (lifecoacheatscheap.com) and maintain two websites (coachwithsophie.com and sophieherbert.com).  I use Facebook to promote new work and stay relevant in people’s news feeds. This can be an excellent tool.

Sophie with some of the children at the Deenabandhu Chamarajnagar Trust in Karnataka, South India, 2011

If you have used social media, how has it worked for you?  Was there a specific network that worked better than another?  Please explain.

I love Facebook and definitely take advantage of public pages that people can like and follow.  I enjoy the format and the ability to post with images (I’m a pretty visual person). I would like tweet more than I do. I’ve never gotten into the Twitter groove!

Can you name a marketing activity that has worked and tell us why?

Referrals are very important.  I am connected with a nice circle of fellow life coaches and yoga teachers. I love that we send clients to one another.

Sophie Herbert on the Martha Stewart Show

If there is something you would like to know more about when it comes to online/digital marketing, what would it be?

Yes! I’ve been really negligent about learning how to be highly searchable on Google. Also, I’d love to take advantage of YouTube and podcasts a bit more.  It really varies depending on how full my schedule is.  No matter what, a few hours per week.

Have you ever worked with a pr, digital marketing, advertising, social media company to help you with your marketing?  Were you satisfied/unsatisfied?  Why?

Yes. A few years ago, I worked with a small PR firm in California.  They were good people, but nothing seemed to stick.  In hindsight, I might have been a little premature with what I was trying to put out there.  Despite the financial loss, I learned so much about the PR process, redesigned my website, and learned the essentials for putting together a strong press release.  I apply these skills all the time now.

What was the best advice you’ve received?

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and pursue your ambition. There’s nothing worse than not finding out what’s possible.  It’s through action that we learn what can be and what can change.

Do you have a personal mantra?

Work is love made visible.

What do you do to de-stress?

Yoga, meditation, walking, running, rollerblading, cycling, reading, and cooking.

Is there someone that you look up to – someone who was always right behind you, supporting and cheering you on?

Yes. My husband.

Learn even more about Sophie’s life coaching practice at http://www.CoachWithSophie.com

 

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How much time do you allocate towards marketing or pr?  

Our Social Media Productivity Toolbox

Photo credit: Connected World Media

Investing even just a little bit of time per day in social media marketing can make a BIG difference. But if you’re not careful, it can be all to easy to spend more time than you may have originally intended! To avoid this problem, we’ve put together a few of our favorite tools for a productive social media marketing experience.

1. HootBar – If you use HootSuite as your preferred social media dashboard, you’ll have to install the HootBart to your Firefox browser. The HootBar makes it easy to collect articles and websites as you come across them in your regular internet browsing. You have the option to post immediately or schedule for a later time. If you find a lot of great content on a single site, use the HootBar to spread out the posts over the next couple weeks.

2. Google Alerts – Ever wish you could wonder what everyone is saying about your business? While that may not be possible, Google Alerts makes it easy to track what is being posted about your business on the internet. Set alerts for your name, the name of your business and variations of the name of your business, and you will receive an email alert whenever it is mentioned. Similarly, on Twitter you can search for your business and then save that search so it is easy to check on a regular business.

3. “Pin It” button – Since you’re already installing the HootBar, you might as well install the “Pin It” button too! The “Pin It” button lets you instantly share any content you find online with your Pinterest followers. Whenever you something pin-worthy, all you will have to do is click on the button on your browser to add it to your boards.

4. PicMark – Want an easy way to brand the content you share on your social media networks? With PicMark, you can add a border to any picture with your company’s name and/or website. When content is shared on Pinterest and Twitter, the original source can get lost over time. When you post content with PicMark, everything you share will always have your company information on it.

These are just a few of our favorite social media marketing tools that help us every day. What are some tools that you use to make your daily posting easier? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Business Minds: Allison Beardsley ~ Marketing by Sharing Her Passion

Pilates  is a series of over 500 mat or equipment based exercises inspired by calisthenics, yoga and ballet to improve flexibility, strength, balance and body awareness. While Pilates training focuses on core strength, it trains the body as an integrated whole.

Pilates studios are among the fastest-growing industries in the US and have been highly resilient to the recession. In fact, instead of facing negative growth in 2008 and 2009, the industry only slightly slowed. The strength of the studio business is attributed to the heightened concern for the environment among Americans, which has renewed interest in becoming and staying healthy. This trend explains the growth of other wellness businesses.

There are many types of Pilates classes, beginning with the at-home DVDs. Group classes are common and can use mats ($15-20 per session) or equipment ($25-40 per hour.) Private sessions, while more expensive (as much as $100 per hour,) provide one-on-one training specific to individual needs.

This week’s Business Minds is with Allison Beardsley, founder and CEO of Club Pilates. Club Pilates is a fitness studio with five locations throughout San Diego. a number that Allison hopes to increase in 2013.

What do you feel are your biggest frustrations when it comes to marketing your business?

I honestly have no frustrations. I am not a sales person and have zero formal business training. I have been told I am a great marketer. I never really considered it marketing, but rather sharing my passion and helping others. Clients come organically because I am following my heart and passion.

If you have used social media, how has it worked for you? Was there a specific network that worked better than another?

Social media works very well. We have never done print or paid advertising, and I have no intention to do so. I enjoy using Facebook, Constant Contact and Groupon. I may look into social campaigns on Facebook and Google Adwords in the future.

Can you name a marketing activity that has worked exceedingly well and tell us why?

Groupon is amazing for us. We retain 80% of our Groupon clients because after the introductory deal, our regular price point is just a few bucks more. I don’t believe in auto bill pay and contracts, which are very popular in the fitness industry but do not serve the client. Facilities with monthly memberships bank on the fact that members do not go to the gym that often. At Club Pilates, we only want people to pay when they attend. We want our students to come and truly reap the benefits and feel great.

Is there someone that you look up to – someone who was always right behind you, supporting and cheering you on?

I look up to one of my clients that I train regularly. He is a self made success and owns an amazing building company in San Diego. I’ve been training him for a very long time and he truly inspires me. He is a busy business mentor and the only person I would wake up at the crack of dawn, battling traffic regularly to train!

Do you have a personal mantra?

Help as many people as possible and have as much fun as possible!

Business Minds is a series of The San Diego Marketing Blog in which we interview people in San Diego and in other areas of the United States and overseas about their responsibility to ensure the business they each represent is reaching the right people and ultimately driving sales. To make better business and marketing decisions for your business, read their stories and learn which marketing tactics worked and which did not.

Too busy for social media, or don’t know where to start? GELA can provide affordable, results-driven support. Email info{at}gelasocial{dot}com.

Consumer Product Marketing

According to a study “10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior on Twitter” conducted by Constant Contact and research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey, “60% of brand followers are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after following the brand on Twitter, and 50% of brand followers are more likely to buy from that brand.” If you sell products, you absolutely need to have a strong presence online. Great products, excellent customer service, and reviews are what keep the consumer products industry top of mind. It can be a cold world out there if your product malfunctions, or a customer did not receive the level of service he or she expected. You will face up and downhill battles because no product is ever perfect. However, if you show your commitment in continually looking out for the best interests of your consumers and making it well known that your company is willing to step in and do whatever possible to make them happy, you will have loyal fans by default.

Social media brings a whole new dynamic for selling goods with eCommerce. Using social media allows brands to reach audiences directly without needing a physical storefront. eCommerce shops using social media channels enhance the shopping experience, and by providing a platform for users to share their thoughts about products, make recommendations to friends and create “user profiles”, it generates a personalized shopping event each time a consumer logs in to the shop’s website. Zappos has some of the best online shopping experiences around. Just select a handbag for example or a pair of shoes and take a look at the video for the product. One of Zappos’ employees will wear the product, talk about its features and what they like about it. Zappos does other fun things like announcing giveaways through their YouTube channel and letting people in to their funky company culture.   The customer experience is definitely of the utmost importance to CEO Tony Hsieh and so is sharing insights of the company, and keeping employees happy.

If your product and customer service tactics have been deemed worthy and many people have spread the love virtually across the Internet, people will pay attention to that and become new customers. Remember, social media takes time, and building your reputation online is a journey, not a race.

Recommended networks and platforms for you are: Pinterest (include price tags on your products and links back to those same products on your website), consistent posts to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (again refer to Zappos videos), Customer Forums (for monitoring – do not post on behalf of your company – many times that is against the rules and its not the place for advertising your company).

Examples of companies with great social media campaigns: Zappos, Human Touch, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, The Disney Consumer Products (DCP) division, Barneys New York and Coleman.

Wellness Marketing

When thinking about wellness, what comes to mind? It’s a personal thing and people are searching for answers to wellness questions every second of the day. Oftentimes, a person has more than one need for a solution to his or her own personal wellness. And where do people go to get information on wellness topics? As reported by the Opinion Research Corporation, How America Searches, Health and Wellness, the “Internet is the most widely used resource for health information:59% of adults use online resources to obtain health and wellness information, versus 55% who go to their doctors and 29% who talk to relatives, friends or co-workers. 84% of health searchers (turn) to online social spaces to educate themselves about a disease or a condition”

The report goes on to talk about social media and how “34% of health searchers use social media resources to delve into health-related topics, with Wikipedia, and online forums and message boards as the most important individual tools” and that the “Usage of social media tools and resources tends to align with research into topics that will factor heavily in a healthcare choice, such as care services, costs associated with procedures and medical equipment, and the reputation of a doctor or care facility.”

GELA has a few clients that sell Wellness-based products and/or services. We have found Opinion Research Corporation’s findings that “Online activity revolves around symptoms, treatment and diseases” to be very true.We have gained much insight into online consumer behavior and have found many people use online social media tools to: find others with the same condition; ask others for opinions on what to do for pain, or how to improve life; find industry leaders sharing free information, advice or inspiration on wellness/health topics; find companies that are leaders in wellness/health to read stories, gain wellness tips or join events; find contests or giveaways where they can win health-related products; use search engines to find doctors and read reviews by others on Google Reviews, RateMds.com, My.angieslist.com, HealthGrades.com and others.

Twitter and Facebook are great examples of online communities joining together to support one another in wellness. For example, if doing a search on Twitter for the word “Fibromyalgia” you will see hundreds of people who have fibromyalgia, talking about their day, about the pain they are experiencing, as well as industry leaders sharing blog posts, advice, health event information and links to online webinars.

Take a tour of National Multiple Sclerosis Society on Facebook and you will see people chatting with others looking for support, sharing experiences from meeting with doctors and asking questions about medications. Social media is an extremely powerful tool to use if you are in the Wellness or Healthcare industry. You can help improve people’s lives by providing them with helpful information and show that you care. Also, by allowing your page become driven by your fans, you can make it easy for fans to connect on emotional levels and find real people who know exactly what they are going through.

Health-specific search engines include: WebMD, Healia, Medstory, Fealth, Kosmix and Healthline. Recommended networks and platforms for you are: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and a blog. Use Pinterest to share your ideals, core values and insights on what good health or wellness means to you. Whole Foods does a great job at using Pinterest as a platform to sound off how they care about the environment, their community and living a healthy lifestyle.

Tips for Online Social Contests

When using social media contests as a way to garner more “likes” or followers for a client, a strategy needs to be put into place. Social media contests are excellent, cost-effective ways to spread the word about a brand. When developing a contest for a client, public relations and marketing professionals should use tools to both aid in the success and track the success of the contest.

First, let’s focus on the short-term and long-term benefits of contests. We’ll use a fake ice cream company as an example:

CONTEST – people enter to win by posting a picture on Facebook when eating a Wow Holy Cow Ice Cream. In order to be considered, there has to be a cow in the background of the photo (real or not). The top three winners receive prizes in cash.

Short-term 

• Wow Holy Cow Ice Creams sales go up

• More people became fans to Facebook and Twitter pages

• People associated the brand with being fun, creative

• There was an increased level of interest and communication

• The public was allowed to vote on the winner

Long-term

• Wow Holy Cow Ice Creams enjoyed a new surge in brand loyalty with fans coming back for more ice cream in the months and years ahead

• New fans came back (to the website or social media pages) to check for when other contest would take place, learning more about the company each time and being exposed to new products/services and messaging

• When looking back at marketing costs for the quarter, the contest was a very cost-effective tool to attract more fans, and improve SEO rankings

It’s evident how a social media contest can help a brand immensely. But did you think about the following? These are a few examples of where the staff behind this contest could have exhausted their efforts without planning carefully first:

• The contest was implemented without the staff meeting first to discuss Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines

• Feedback wasn’t encouraged from participants during the contest – a simple survey question would have worked

• The marketing staff and/or PR firm handling the contest for Wow Holy Cow Ice Creams came up with a great idea, but were not prepared to handle the volume of entrants

• Negative criticism on the web -If partnering with a blogger to be a brand ambassador to do a contest, sometimes other bloggers will see this contest and feel they are entitled to do a contest as well. Be prepared with a set of guidelines to interview interested bloggers and be ready with a response for them that you will either “yes, consider” them for the future or “thank you very much for reaching out, we appreciate you wanting to be a part of our contests! We have reviewed your blog and stats and feel your blog is not a fit for us at the moment. Please know we will keep your information on hand and will contact you in the future if we do find a fit.” Also – as some bloggers might feel entitled, take caution to not upset them. They can go ahead and spread a few bad words about your agency. Also if you are working on behalf of your client you want to keep in mind their reputation too.

• The CEO of Wow Holy Cow Ice Creams expected the world, does not know much about social media, but was expecting the contest to go “viral.” It didn’t happen and the staff did not outline expectations clearly within the plan before moving forward.

• No processes were put into place to identify results generated from the contest. The answer – to track a contest, use unique hashtags, bit.ly links to direct people to a landing page on the client’s website, or a fun phrase or theme. Then report back with these results using a social media monitoring program.

• There was a backlash from contestants during the contest. This can happen when the creators of a contest are not extremely clear about how winners were going to be selected.

• The contest attracted many people who were just in it for the contest to win, and after it was over, many de-friended Wow Holy Cow Ice Creams and never looked further into the company or its products/services. Some of this can’t be helped, but it’s also up to the staff to be as engaging as possible and also promote the company during the contest, to give everyone eye-candy on the Facebook wall (photos, videos, links to helpful articles, news etc.).

• The contest ran for over 6 weeks – The answer – contests that I have run for clients, including Human Touch have run anywhere from two to four weeks at a time. Anything longer than four weeks and you will lose interest and momentum from all of your time and hard work promoting the contest.

Need a perfectly great group of creative thinkers and strategists to help with your next online contest?  Email us: info{at}gelasocial{dot}com  www.GELASocial.com