Do you understand how the law could impact your activities?

Keep reading to learn more…

Why Legalities?

One of the best ways to grow your business is to give stuff away.

Whether your business is a small enterprise, a website or blog, or a large multinational company, hosting giveaways is sure to increase traffic, awareness and potential new readers or customers.

Sponsoring or hosting a giveaway comes with rules and regulations that many don’t know or understand.

Really, what could be so hard about telling people you’ll give away something if they sign up for your newsletter or leave a comment or like your page or follow you on social media?

Remember the days when you had to buy things to enter a giveaway—and the stuff never arrived, or if it did, it wasn’t worth a fraction of what you paid?

Research shows that more than half of all adults in the U.S. enter at least one sweepstakes every year. That’s a lot of things being given away! Used correctly, giveaways can increase quality of interaction and greatly increase your readership.

What are the three types of giveaways or promotions?

There are three types of promotions used to give things away: sweepstakes, contests and lotteries.

While they often go by many different names (giveaway, raffle, drawing), legally all promotions fit into one of these three categories.

• Sweepstakes are prize giveaways where the winners are chosen by the luck of the draw. Prizes can be almost anything you can think of, from handmade cards to an all-expense–paid trip.
• Contests choose a winner based on some merit. The winner is chosen based on some criteria such as best photo, most votes on a video, best recipe, etc.
• A lottery is a prize drawing where people must pay money to buy a chance to win. Lotteries are highly regulated and should not be run without consulting legal counsel.

Most promotions we encounter in the U.S. are sweepstakes. Periodically, we’ll find a lottery. Usually lotteries are limited to the states because they are heavily regulated and monitored and the costs associated with running a lottery are often prohibitive for most small- and medium-sized businesses.

In Canada and many European countries, however, most giveaways and promotions would be labeled as contests under U.S. law because they require a skills competition (usually a math question) to be valid. Does that always happen? No, but the laws require it.

And the winner is… (Image source: iStockPhoto)

How do I know which type of giveaway I’m doing?

There are three things the law looks at to determine if your promotion may be an illegal lottery.

Prize—who wants to enter a giveaway without a prize?

Chance—pure luck! You could get around this by having some skill or voting requirement but that is often difficult to manage or greatly limits the number of people who will enter. If you want to run a contest, you must omit this aspect.

Consideration—something of value given by entrants to the giveaway sponsor. Often it’s money, but it doesn’t have to be. Depending on what you require entrants to do, you could be pushing the envelope on this element. Each state may have its own particular definition, making it very difficult to manage.

When it comes to the online space, there are few things more valuable than followers/likers/friends (or whatever they’re called at the moment).

As such, requiring someone to “like” you or “follow” you could be construed as consideration. Even more important, asking an entrant to go to a third-party site, navigate to find a product or service and then report back to your site is even more likely to be deemed consideration, and thus places your giveaway into the classification of illegal lottery. Time is exceedingly valuable!

Don't make it all about you.

In the above giveaway, the blogger is all about “me, me, me” and there’s no way to enter without giving something of value to the blogger. While this may not get the attention of authorities, clearly there is no “free” way to enter.

Because technology is moving much faster than the laws that govern, we’re in uncharted territory with the definition of consideration.

Keep that in mind when figuring out what you’ll have people do for entry. Your best bet is to always have a means of “free” entry and then consider “optional entries.”

What laws apply to giveaways and promotions in the U.S.?

In the U.S., federal laws governing marketing promotions have been in place for decades.

Sweepstakes are the most common type of promotion and have primarily been conducted through the mail, which is where many of the laws originate (Chapter 30 of Title 39 of the U.S. Code).

This has given the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) some jurisdiction over monitoring sweepstakes promotions. However, under federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice would have ultimate authority regarding enforcement even if the FTC was not involved.

Many states also regulate sweepstakes, especially when they involve alcohol, guns or tobacco. For example, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia prohibit tobacco-related promotions while California, Tennessee and Utah highly regulate those involving alcohol.

In many sweepstakes or contests, you’ll likely see states excluded.

It may be due to prohibitions on items given away or the state requires posting of a bond and the sponsor does not want to pay or go through that process. Florida and New York both require a bond to be posted if the total value of all prizes given away exceeds $5,000. Rhode Island has separate rules if retail outlets are involved.

Why official rules are so important.

Every sweepstakes, contest or lottery must have “official rules” and they should be easy to find.

There are guidelines on what must be included in the official rules to avoid question should there be a challenge if an entrant doesn’t win.

While the majority of people will never read the official rules, without them the sponsor highly increases the risk of liability.

Place a link to the rules where it's easy to find.

Having a link to the rules in an easy to find and conspicuous place not only helps people find them, it also encourages people to read them.

Official rules must always include:

• “No purchase necessary.”
• The alternative method of free participation.
• Geographic area of the sweepstakes and/or who is eligible to participate in the sweepstakes.
• Opening date and scheduled termination date of the sweepstakes.
• Complete name and address of the sponsor and promoter of the contest.
• Number of prizes, the accurate description of each prize, the retail value of each prize and the odds of winning each type of prize.
• Whether all prizes offered will be awarded and how the prizes will be awarded.
• Manner of selection of winners and when a determination of winners will be made.
• Where and when a list of winners can be obtained.

Of course there are other disclosures that should be made such as signing of releases, restrictions and misdirected entries. But if you hit the minimum, there is some compliance and protection.

One other aspect of the official rules is that once they are posted and published, they must be followed exactly.

They cannot be changed except under unusual and extreme circumstances. For example, if you were giving away a trip to Japan in the weeks after the earthquake, you could have changed the prize to another destination. But, as you see, we’re talking very unique circumstances.

Giving Away Expensive Things

Most giveaways have pretty minimal value—an eBook, $25 for an online store, a free product. But if the value of your prize is $600 or more, keep in mind that you will need to take an extra step (possibly several!). You didn’t think the IRS would just let you do your own thing, did you?

If the prize winner is subject to U.S. taxes, a Form 1099 will be required in January of the following year.

This means you will need to collect not only the name and address of the winner but also his/her social security number. Even more reason to maintain a high level of professionalism because asking people for this type of information carries with it great responsibility.

Hosting giveaways can help grow your business or your blog. If you thought this article was helpful, please share it.

What are your thoughts? Have you done giveaways in the past? How will this information help you? Please share your comments in the box below.

Disclosure: While Sara Hawkins is an attorney, this article is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered legal advice.

All photos from iStockPhoto.

This article will help with three case studies.

But first, about that ROI… It took some time after the advent of online advertising before marketers started asking, “What are these ‘eyeballs’ worth that I’m paying for?”

With social media, the tough questions around metrics started being asked much sooner. As marketing budgets stay tight, it’s no surprise that the need to show results is high.

So when it comes to contests on the social web, how do we go about evaluating ROI?

Investing in Your Social Media Contest

Before you can demonstrate a return, you must first make an investment!

As mentioned in my previous post on social media contests, it’s important to have a well thought out marketing plan for any promotional campaign. The first step is always to define objectives: are you trying to engage existing customers, acquire new users or gather data? Only then can you set realistic goals and build a campaign to deliver on them.

Once the objectives are set, you can determine the type of promotion and how you’ll communicate. You’ll likely need to invest in marketing beyond the cost of merely setting up your contest.

This investment will generally focus on driving traffic to the promotion site or application. If you’re running a contest that includes user-contributed content, be sure you take advantage of sharing this content in both your social and traditional marketing efforts.

If you’re running your contest in Facebook, Sponsored Stories are a great way to promote. While the platform you use to run your contest should include integrated sharing tools, those shared items may get buried in the news feed.

With Sponsored Stories, your promotion will remain visible as users see that their friends just interacted with your page or application.

Other forms of investment outside of Facebook advertising could include Sponsored Tweets on Twitter, targeted online advertising and email campaigns to your existing customer list or through partner email channels. Note that co-marketing can be a huge bonus if you find partners that can be brought into your campaign (potentially as sponsors).

Of course there are some campaigns that can succeed, again depending on your objectives, without major cash investment. However, even in these instances, it’s rare that a campaign simply “goes viral.” Generally there’s a good deal of forethought and effort that goes into building the momentum for something to truly take on a life of its own. So even if you aren’t investing hard costs in advertising, you must be prepared to allocate resources in the form of human and social capital.

What’s the Return on Social Contests?

Return on investment doesn’t have to mean solely financial return. Bottom-line results clearly matter, but they can’t be the sole objective for any social media campaign.

Objectives drive outcomes. By setting your objectives clearly up front you can establish what goals matter to you and track against them.

Return on investment doesn’t have to mean solely financial return. Bottom-line results clearly matter, but they can’t be the sole objective for any social media campaign.  In this post, Dag Holmboe provides a good perspective on social media ROI.

Depending on how you set up your promotion, these are some of the key metrics to consider:

• How many people visited your promotion? How much time did they spend engaging?
• Of those who visited, how many actively participated? How many entered? How many voted (if applicable)?
• How much sharing took place?
• What type of content generated the most interaction (i.e., comments, Likes, retweets)?
• How many new Likes on Facebook or followers on Twitter?
• What was the level of Twitter activity (especially if you have a contest-specific hashtag)?
• What was the redemption rate of any coupons or offers?
• How many users opted in to your email list?
• If you included any outbound links to drive traffic, what was the click-through rate?
• And ultimately what new business (revenue/profit) can be attributed to the promotion?

Here are several case examples to compare and contrast different forms of investment and return on that investment.

Crate and Barrel’s Ultimate Wedding

Giving one lucky couple $100,000 to create their ultimate event.

Objectives

With its Ultimate Wedding contest, multi-channel home furnishings retailer Crate and Barrel sought to drive gift registry creation and engage consumers online.

How it Was Done

Users were required to create a gift registry through Crate and Barrel before being eligible to enter the promotion. (Note: Requiring this type of “consideration” to enter a contest introduces greater legal complexities than a contest with no consideration to enter.) After a user’s registry was verified, he or she could submit an entry to the contest, which consisted of a photo and short answers. Public voting narrowed the field and a panel of judges ultimately picked the winner of a $100,000 dream wedding. The contest was promoted on the Crate and Barrel website and through other online advertising, as well as in-store.

Results

This contest has now run two consecutive years and generated more than 17,000 entries, each associated with a registry valued at more than $2,000. That’s $34 million in registry value, the majority of which represents new customers for the retailer.

While the amount of product purchased from these registries is confidential, even a conservative estimate yields a large number. In addition to the financial results, Crate and Barrel also experienced a lift on numerous key social metrics as well.

Comments

So after all I said about focusing on results beyond the bottom line I’m starting with one that shows some impressive financial metrics. Obviously not everyone has the ability to offer a $100,000 prize and to put such significant resources into marketing a contest. Read on to see how smaller investments can also yield powerful results.

But remember that there are lessons here that apply to any contest: First, prize matters—even if it’s not $100,000, it must be something appealing to the target audience and must be commensurate with the level of effort users are expected to put in. Second, it’s important to tap into all possible channels to promote your contest, whether that’s social media, online ads, email lists or offline promotion.

Cosmopolitan Orthodontics Photo Contest

Contests have proven to be an effective marketing tool in a field not traditionally perceived as fun or cool.

Objectives

Ingenuity, a marketing firm catering to orthodontists, wanted to develop a creative means to drive new patients into orthodontists’ offices.

How it Was Done

Utilizing the simple premise of a photo contest, existing patients (generally children and young adults) were asked to “show their smile” for a chance to win an iPad or similar prize. The entrants were then encouraged to share through Facebook. Their friends, and more importantly the parents of their friends (who were potentially in the market for orthodontics services), would then see the mention on Facebook.

Results

Based on a number of contests that Ingenuity has run with multiple orthodontists, the approach has proven quite effective. While there’s no guarantee of new patients with each contest, in a field such as orthodontics a single new referral is worth quite a lot. And social media contests can greatly amplify exposure to new potential clients. In the case of Cosmopolitan Orthodontics, you can see the amplification effect as follows: 50 entries generated 100 shares, which yielded more than 1,500 clicks and 800 voters!

Comments

This is a great example of how a small independent business can tap into the power of social media to drive meaningful results. I’m certain that there are other service industries (that have historically relied on word of mouth or traditional channels such as Yellow Pages) that can utilize contests as a great entry into social media.

While any business with a high lifetime customer value can benefit from this type of promotion, you need to be prepared to potentially invest in running more than one before seeing that new business convert.

“Help Me Launch” Contest

This contest was geared to small business owners.

Objectives

Social Media Examiner’s own Mike Stelzner wanted to create awareness for the release of his book Launch.

How it Was Done

A contest was held on the book’s Facebook Page where people were asked to submit a photo with the words “Help Me Launch.” Entries were voted on by the public and then judged to select the winner. The grand prize was 3 hours of private consultation with the author.

The Facebook Page started with virtually no existing fan base (50 Likes), so building awareness for the contest required tapping into other channels. Social media was the primary means of promoting the contest, with regular Twitter messages to a base of approximately 70,000 followers across two accounts (80,000+ subscribers). The contest was also featured on the Social Media Examiner Facebook Page (40,000+ fans), in email newsletters and to an audience at a webinar event.

Results

Approximately 80 entries were received and these entries generated 4,475 voters. At the conclusion of the contest, the page had 1,300 Likes, an increase of 2600%! This provided a much larger fan base with which to share information and to begin an engaging dialogue about the principles outlined in the book.

Comments

I realize 80 entries may not sound like a large number to some of you, but bear in mind that this contest was targeted at a niche audience of small business owners and entrepreneurs rather than the mainstream consumer. Had Stelzner chosen to give away an iPad, he might have generated more entries, but might not have connected with the audience he wanted.

When setting up the contest, Stelzner was clear about his objectives (it wasn’t just about sheer numbers, but about reaching the right people). However, it’s worth noting that attention was paid to both driving entries and driving votes as it became clear that voters also represented a valuable group who were engaging with the page.

Hopefully these examples help frame a variety of ways that social media contests can generate ROI beyond what you may currently be considering.

What do you think? How do you measure ROI on your social media endeavors? What do you feel are the important metrics to track when it comes to contests and promotions? Leave your comments in the box below.

Who writes the books your readers like to read? Experts do. And when these professionals share their knowledge in a new book, there’s one thing they highly covet—book reviews.

In this article I’ll share the power of a book review and how you might be able to review a brand-new book.

Why book reviews are powerful

As a blogger, you’re likely seeking hot tips and new ideas to share with your readers. A good review of a new book accomplishes two objectives.

First, book reviews highlight new ideas your readers can act upon. It also helps your base to know whether they should invest their valuable time in the book. A good book review is good content.

Here’s an example review we did of Scott Stratten’s book UnMarketing.

But a second (often overlooked) advantage is the attention a comprehensive review gains from the author. Bloggers are the press to authors. And trust me, authors watch for and read reviews of their books.

At Social Media Examiner we’ve been able to get the attention of high-profile individuals by simply reviewing their books. And in some situations those efforts have borne fruit that helped our business grow.

For example, authors often share the review with their fans and sometimes these experts have agreed to participate in our events. Pretty powerful, eh?

What makes for a good review?

The best book reviews actually share some of the ideas from the book. They go further by adding the thoughts and opinions of the blogger. A good place to start a review is to share a story from the book. For example, here’s how I did one for David Meerman Scott’s latest book.

Adding a video component when you review the book is also a great way to get the attention of authors. Those reviews can also be uploaded on Amazon for further exposure for you (be aware of Amazon’s 100MB file size limitation).

Here’s me doing a review of David’s book.

Also consider adding the cover image of the book and the author to your review.

A word of caution—be authentic in your review. Authors and your readers can tell when you’re just sucking up to the author.

Want a chance to review a new book?

On June 6, I’ll be releasing my new book: Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition (Wiley). It will share the precise strategy and tactics we used to grow Social Media Examiner into a top blog.

I want to prove that a book can be popular without the traditional media or methods most authors use to promote their books.

I’m inviting up to 50 bloggers to review my new book on their blog and receive an extra copy they can give away to their readers.

Here’s how you could win two free copies of my book:

• Apply here (it’s quick and easy) by May 10.
• Agree to review the book between June 6 and June 30.
• Give away your second copy to your readers in a creative way.

I’ll review the entries and select the bloggers who’ll receive copies of the book.

WAIT, there’s more! (I always wanted to use that line). Social Media Examiner is looking for a new person to write book reviews for our site (in a volunteer role). We’ll be looking for someone among the 50 or so people we select above. It could be great exposure for your business.

Have you written book reviews as content for your blog? What advice can you share? Include your ideas in the comment section below.

Practically every other online retailer – and Logos is 100% online – blasted customers with their post-Thanksgiving email promotions.

But this software company solely relied on social media, from testing its ideas to launching the promotion to letting the resulting word of mouth do the work for them.

In response, Logos generated $300,000 in sales in those few days – three times what it brought in during the same period the year before. Not only did it add to the bottom line, but also Logos significantly expanded its fans, followers and customer connections to support future efforts.

“Without social marketing, it [the promotion] would have gone nowhere because we didn’t spread the word ourselves,” explained Dan Pritchett, VP marketing and business development at Logos. “We wanted to give a reward to people who are socially connected in our community.”

Testing the Waters

Since opening in 1992, Logos Research Systems, Inc. has grown from a couple of programmers in a basement into the largest developer of Bible software and a worldwide leader in multilingual electronic publishing.

With 220 employees, the Bellingham, WA company partners with approximately 130 publishers to make over 12,000 electronic Bible study resources available to customers in more than 160 countries in a dozen languages. Typical customers are pastors and anyone with an interest in Bible study.

In recent years, Logos has run Black Friday promotions, but as of four days before Thanksgiving 2010, the company had not planned anything. With some of his marketing team already off for the holiday, Pritchett tested the beginnings of an idea using Facebook.

His simple post asked what customers wanted to see on sale for the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Customers responded enthusiastically, with 116 weighing in about what they wanted.

What do customers want to buy on sale? Just ask.

“I don’t think I had figured out what we were doing at the time. That first post was to help me get some ideas,” Pritchett said.

With that, the idea came. Pritchett didn’t want to publish low prices on the web that might live online forever, leaving customers to wonder when they might dip that low again. Instead, the promotion he conceived was designed to give customers deals on what they really wanted, rather than on what Logos wanted them to buy.

Here’s how the deals worked:

1. Logos asked customers to email in the three titles they most wished were on sale.
2. Sales reps then looked up the special prices for those items and replied personally to each customer.
3. Customers had just 48 hours to decide to buy any or all of the products.

“You tell me what you want to buy and I’ll give you great deal on it,” Pritchett said. “Let’s have some excitement on Black Friday, a virtual door buster.”

One Hour – From Concept to Launch

While the sale was unique in itself, the promotion was equally impressive. From concept to launch, Pritchett spent just one hour on the promotion.

He simply blogged about the sale, and followed with a post each on Facebook, Twitter and the company’s own forum. That was it. No emailing the customer base.

A single blog post, and one post each on Facebook, Twitter and the company's forum, launched the promotion.

From there, social media’s snowball effect took over.

“Originally we were considering emailing our entire customer list, but soon realized that the word of mouth had already spread far enough on our deal that we couldn’t handle any more business!” he said.

Fans began spreading the word to friends on Facebook and retweeting the link to the blog post. Some of those same customers posted and tweeted again after they purchased their sale items. Two bloggers created spinoff posts about the sale.

Logos further encouraged word of mouth by including hyperlinked Twitter and Facebook icons on the electronic receipt emailed to customers. Through Twitter and Facebook application programming interfaces (APIs), customers could click those icons to populate tweets and posts automatically with news that the customer had just purchased from Logos.

However, the biggest traffic took place on the software company’s own social site – its forum – home of 42,000 registered customers. The thread generated 241 comments and 13,182 views.

“Our users picked up the message and created their own thread on the forums. We didn’t even start it – they did,” Pritchett said.

Customers started their own thread about the sale, generating more than 13,000 views.

Staffing Up

The response well exceeded the company’s expectations.

“Immediately after posting the offer we began to receive email requests, and by the time our staff came into work around 6 am, we had hundreds of requests for pricing already in the inbox,” Pritchett said.

Logos beefed up the sales team to respond to emails as quickly as possible. Easing the launch of the sale, lower price points were already in the sales database, ready for reps to extend to customers when asked. Nearly all products had some discount associated with them, though at varying percentage reductions.

Yet, Logos didn’t see any direct costs for the promotion. Those scheduled to work later in the week simply changed shifts to that weekend. And of course, getting the word out required no investment.

“It was pretty magical,” Pritchett said. “There really were no other costs associated with it. No printing, no postage, no mailing.”

2,000 Products Sold

In total, the team handled about 2,000 emails, generating sales of 2,000 Logos Bible Software titles.

“Sales for the same period last year were $200,000 lower and we had a better economy last year – and our Christmas special was already available during a portion of last years’ period,” Pritchett said.

But the benefits go beyond the weekend’s sales. Through the promotion, Logos added hundreds of new fans and followers to its social media community. Plus, the company now has a record of what specific customers want but didn’t yet buy, and their most current contact information, which will empower future direct sales efforts. The company also plans to leverage the feedback from Facebook about what products customers wanted most.

“In one weekend the sales staff was able to generate a list of the top three favorite titles of 2,000 of our best customers!” Pritchett said. “For all the people who weren’t able to buy, we now have a great prospecting list, and we also have a better idea of the preferences of some of our most engaged consumers.”

What do you think? How have you used social media to learn what your customers want? Can you cut out traditional outbound channels like email marketing and rely solely on interactive means such as social media? Leave your comments in the box below.

These loyal fans now have an arguably easier way of showing their support—and connecting with each other—through Foursquare.

In a pilot for the 2010 football season, the NFL team rolled out Foursquare as a way to reward fans for attending home games or rallies during out-of-town games.

The results beat expectations. By December, Redskins fans had logged more than 20,000 check-ins at the home stadium FedExField and tens of thousands more at venues across the D.C. metro area.

“It’s pretty impressive given that Foursquare is so new and not as readily embraced as other social media tools,” said Shripal Shah, Sr. VP, Digital Strategy at Washington Redskins.

Redskins fans have logged more than 20,000 check-ins at FedExField this football season.

Rewarding Fans Who Show Up

In the past couple of years, the Redskins have built their fan bases on both Facebook and Twitter. But Shah saw Foursquare as a different kind of connection with fans – as a way to reward those who show up in person. In establishing a Foursquare presence, the Redskins became the first NFL team to have a badge on the location-based social networking site.

“We picked Foursquare for a couple of reasons,” Shah said. “A, it has the largest user base [among location-based services], and B, it allowed us to do a bunch of things, yet keep it really simple for our fan base. We didn’t want to make it too complicated. We wanted to make it fun and reward fans for coming to our games or watching the games.”

To unlock the Foursquare badge for FedExField, fans must check in within three hours before or three hours after each home game ends.

The team also established nearly 30 different “Redskins” bars and restaurants around the city where fans can get together and watch the games, and of course check in on Foursquare as they arrive. At once, the Redskins organization promotes those establishments that host its fans and gives fans a way to connect with each other.

A Simple Sweepstakes

The Redskins kicked off the Foursquare pilot by promoting it at preseason games on the Jumbotron and with preseason TV advertising. Additionally, it teased special Foursquare promotions through email and on its website.

In a major promotion this fall, fans were automatically entered into a sweepstakes and could win prizes by simply unlocking the Redskins badge at FedExField or at participating establishments. In a drawing of all entrants, the winner took away two loge tickets for a home game on Nov. 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the experience of tailgating with the GEICO caveman beforehand.

Shah feels Foursquare offers an easier way to manage promotions, as opposed to trying to do a similar offering with Twitter or Facebook.

“Through Twitter, this would take more steps,” Shah said. “It’s a simpler way to do it for the average football fan. We reward people for following or finding our stadium or venue and give them the opportunity to win tickets to Monday night’s game.”

Running a couple of months, the contest succeeded in building awareness of the Redskins’ Foursquare presence and growing followers and check-ins.

“The contest exceeded our expectations,” Shah added. “At our last game we had 3800 check-ins alone.”

Fans who checked in and unlocked the Redskins badge were automatically entered in a drawing to win coveted tickets and tailgating with the GEICO caveman.

Giving Fans Home Bases During Away Games

When the Redskins play away games, the organization holds a series of rallies at partner establishments. There, fans can check in and unlock a badge after three visits to a venue. Further encouraging them to join in, the Redskins give away prizes onsite and bring in Redskins cheerleaders. To date, Redskins fans have checked in at participating Foursquare restaurants more than 30,000 times this season alone.

In tying in Foursquare, Shah feels the Redskins are simply adding an interactive dimension to activities that fans are already participating in. They engage with the Redskins organization in a whole new way.

Redskins Rally Parties at locations across the D.C. area encourage fans to check in on Foursquare at supporting bars and restaurants.

“We use Foursquare as a way to extend the reach of how we’re promoting rallies,” Shah said. “We’re adding a layer on top of it. We’re really trying to connect fans together.”

Toward that end, fans have connected with each other on Foursquare, with hundreds sharing tips such as where to find the best parking deals at FedExField, where to sit at establishments and whether to order the Philly cheesesteak or grilled cheese.

A Winning Trial

So far, the Redskins consider the Foursquare trial a success based on the high – and growing – level of engagement during the season. Already, Shah is considering how to take Foursquare and location-based services a step further.

“We’re trying to open ourselves up to all the elements that this platform can allow us to do,” he said.

For now, the organization remains very satisfied with the level of participation, especially given the lower-profile nature of Foursquare compared to other social media tools.

“@redskinsdotcom has over 12,800 followers on Foursquare. This is close to total followers on Twitter. So growth – based on the total Foursquare user base being smaller than Twitter – has been great,” Shah added.

What’s worked for you in increasing your Foursquare followers and check-ins? As an individual, what types of promotions would make you more likely to check in? Leave your comments in the box below.

The American ice cream retailer, known for pounding and slapping customized creations on a “cold stone,” has long been a favorite of ice cream lovers – enthusiasm that has helped churn out 1,459 locations in the U.S. and 16 countries.

Like many retailers, the company long relied on traditional advertising to spread the word. But a YouTube video contest in 2005 set the company on a social media course.

Today, Cold Stone continues to innovate outside the kitchen, recently releasing what may be the first eGift feature on Facebook, and running contests that get thousands engaged even more deeply with the brand.

The payoff goes well beyond greater customer engagement; Cold Stone’s promotions add to the bottom line by moving people from their computers to physical stores.

$10,000 from eGift Sales

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve likely either given or received a virtual “gift” or widget from a friend, an icon such as a birthday cake or heart. These virtual tokens of affection allow friends to express their care.

This July, Cold Stone made eGifting more tangible. Now you can send Facebook friends a code for an actual ice cream creation eGift, ranging from $5 to $7, right from the Cold Stone Facebook fan page for delivery via Facebook or email. Like a gift certificate, recipients can instantly redeem the gift at any of the retailer’s American locations by showing a printout or the code on their mobile phones.

Cold Stone’s eGift Social uniquely allows Facebook friends to send codes for tangible gifts.

For a viral effect, the eGift shows up in the recipient’s News Feed on Facebook, so all friends can see it.

One of the first brands to enable eGift Social, created by First Data Corporation, Cold Stone links its social media presence directly with sales.

“The strategy, and really our goal, for eGift was more for that everyday gift,” said Suzanne Schutz, vice president of marketing at Cold Stone Creamery. “So, Veronica is having a bad day. I see that she posted something on her Facebook status. Very easily from the office in 2 minutes, I can spend $5 and send her an ice cream, and it makes her day.”

So far, the results are impressive, delivering on Cold Stone’s goal of increasing revenue for its many franchisees.

“We’ve sold in just over a month and a half, about 2,000 eGifts and we’ve added roughly $10,000 in incremental sales to the franchisees,” Schutz said. “Franchisees love it because they don’t have to do anything. It’s no extra labor. It’s all done in the virtual world, if you will, and then they just watch the sales come in. So they love it. We love it. Our fans love it. It’s definitely a win-win.”

Coupon Boosts Sales More Than 1%

In direct response to Facebook fans’ requests, Cold Stone decided to run a 2-for-$5 coupon campaign. The retailer posted the offer on its Facebook page and notified contacts by email.

Just 3 weeks in, fans had printed more than 500,000 coupons, with more than 20,000 of those from Facebook. Clearly, the campaign went well beyond just pleasing customers.

“Since we launched the campaign, we’ve seen sales increase just about 1 to 1.2%,” Schutz said. “We’ve seen a redemption rate of over 14%. For me as an advertiser, that’s a great ROI. For traditional advertising we would have spent upwards of $500,000 and we would have seen less redemption. I think our average redemption was .02%. So far, it exceeds what traditional advertising and print do.”

Fans ‘Eat Up’ New Flavors Contest

A summer flavors contest additionally drove fans to the company’s Facebook page and stores. Nearly 4,000 people entered the contest requiring them to post creative comments of 50 words or fewer about one of three featured summer flavors available in stores.

While official judges chose the winners based on originality, all entrants could share their entries and encourage their friends to vote for theirs. Entrants shared the news more than 3,000 times and more than 1,800 people voted through the application created by Wildfire Interactive.

“We saw 66,000 new fans over about an 8-week period,” said Anne Christenson, director of social marketing. “Obviously, it helps us gain some fans.”

The winners earned a trip to the Scottsdale, Arizona headquarters to work with the Cold Stone taste master on creating their own flavors. From there, Cold Stone will pick its favorite flavor to roll out at stores across the country in 2011.

A new flavors contest brought in 66,000 new Facebook fans.

Lowering the Cost of Sales

Cold Stone has made social media a major part of its marketing strategy, setting a goal of increasing traffic to stores by 3% through social media and non-traditional advertising like email, while reducing advertising spend.

“My main priority is profitability in driving sales,” Schutz said. “It is a lot less expensive than traditional advertising, say, a national billboard campaign or newspaper insert.”

The retailer focuses on four or five key promotions throughout the year, getting the attention of customers through Facebook, email, Twitter and YouTube. On YouTube, the company posts footage from events like its annual “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social,” which benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1NHu5nldUc

So far, every campaign with social media has brought a spike in store traffic and sales. Combined with lower marketing costs, the team has truly added to profit margins.

Currently, Cold Stone averages a cost of about 39 cents per coupon redeemed, compared to $3.60 per redemption with print advertising. Now more than half of the company’s advertising budget is dedicated to non-traditional activities like social media.

All that contributes to the company’s goal of raising sales for its many franchisees.

“We let our fans know about our new product launches or programs like eGift and our new flavors. And, in turn, we hope that our fans get excited about it, and then that drives them into our store, and ultimately makes the sale,” Schutz said.

How is your organization successfully driving visitors from social media sites to your shopping carts or cash registers? Let us know your comments in the box below.

In the short run, an increase from 1,000 to 10,000 fans might look great to your boss or client, but when the fans start dropping off at a rate of 100 or 200 per week, and nobody answers the questions you put on your wall, you may not look like quite the hero anymore.

This article will reveal some effective tactics to gain quality Facebook fans and introduce the concept of engaging influencers.

While the actual worth of a single Facebook fan may be in debate, there’s no question that some fans are worth more than others. In addition, when quantity becomes a priority, there is a risk of driving low-quality fans by using general tactics that attract the masses.

However, there are ways to modify fan-getting marketing tactics to drive a more relevant consumer base and as a result increase the quality (and worth) of your fans over time.

One Key Strategy: Targeted Outreach

In my experience, new fans obtained will be at least 3 times as likely to stick around and participate over time if they’re secured through a targeted outreach.

For an example of how this strategy might work in practice, look at two fan-getting tactics: giveaways and limited availability offers.

Giveaways and limited availability offers are both great ways to quickly gain Facebook followers. I have seen Facebook Fan Pages jump tens of thousands of fans overnight from a simple giveaway campaign.

In January 2010, for instance, Einstein Bros. did a free bagel giveaway on Facebook that the company claims increased their Facebook fan base from under 5,000 fans to nearly 400,000 in less than one week.

From 5,000 to 400,000 in one week. Einstein Bros. Bagels takes off on Facebook.

However, there is a catch. General fan-getting giveaway tactics do not inherently attract the right people to your page. In fact, they may attract the complete opposite of whom you want to reach.

You Need a Filter Between Your Brand Message and Your Ideal Audience

The goal of a fan-getting Facebook promotion should be to use up as few resources as possible, while reaching the highest amount of relevant consumers along the way. The outcome, if executed properly, is more fans, longer stay times, and a higher level of quality participation and sharing over a longer period of time.

Without a filter, a promotion will inevitably reach the unfiltered masses of the web. Online giveaways that are not targeted properly nor protected with the correct barriers to entry will lead to a rush of people just out looking for something free. And, while some genuine consumers may be found in this group, the likelihood of your promotion capturing a high percentage of relevant consumers will be low.

Use Influencers

Influencers will vary based on your business. But, in short, influencers include relevant bloggers, popular individuals on Twitter, moderators of groups, and anyone else who has an extended and attentive online audience that fits within your target consumer group.

Influencers can also include those who are already in your direct fan network. I recommend looking at your existing fan base on Facebook and Twitter as an outlet for potential influencers. Active participants on your Facebook wall who have a large social network can be great influencers for your brand.

Tip: Look at the comments on your wall over the past month or two. Are there any individuals who continuously pop into the conversation and give positive feedback? If so, start with this group of fans. They are more likely to get excited by a direct offer and turn around and share your message with their social network.

Create an Exclusive Promotion For Influencers

In order to reach the largest percentage of relevant consumers through promotional efforts, create a mechanism by which an offer can be seeded to relevant influencers and not to the general public. Furthermore, implement a barrier that will prevent the general public from gaining access to the offer, at least for a certain amount of time.

One example of a mechanism is a digital gift card with an exclusive code.  Each influencer is presented a card with limited usage that they can seed out to their network and readership. The code is then redeemable on your Facebook page until it has expired.

CLEAN Perfume sent these cards out to beauty bloggers for their "Influencer Giveaway"

Tip: Create a digital gift card that an influencer can embed right on their blog, profile page or website. Encourage the influencer to link the card directly to your Facebook fan page so that readers can easily get to your giveaway page. The easier you make it for an influencer to participate, the better chance you will have of getting them onboard.

Make it easy for influencers to spread the message!

Not only do you get the public filter by using this method, but people are more likely to act on the offer when it has been presented by a trusted influencer source and not the brand directly. By the time the code does find its way out to the freebie hunters, it has already expired, or is close to expiring, and you’ve succeeded in reaching a larger percentage of relevant consumers.

Of course, this is just one example of integrating influencers and barriers to entry into your Facebook promotion. The proper method, in the end, will be determined by your brand, target audience and target influencers.

In the constant quest to increase return and decrease spend, don’t underestimate the power of influencers in your Facebook promotional efforts.

Have you used other mechanisms to reach influencers as a conduit for sharing a giveaway or limited availability offer? Please share it in the comments box below.

Chris shares the best way to approach Twitter and how to avoid the biggest mistakes people make. He also highlights the importance of attraction, retention and conversion for your business blog.  Be sure to read the other takeaways listed below.

Here are other things to pick up in this video:

On Twitter:

• Do not go into all guns blazing
• Listen, get to know people there
• Research to find out if people are interested in what you want to talk about
• Tweet as you’d like to be tweeted to
• Engage people and have conversations
• Don’t simply shout out broadcasts

On engagement:

• Reply to what people
• Being interested is more interesting
• Listen and show you are aware of what others say
• Ask questions so people can do the same back
• Use contests on your blog to engage people

On the biggest mistakes people make blogging:

• Lack of focus and covering too many different topics
• Plan what you want to say, identify your audience and what your audiences wants to know
• Look after the people you’ve already got
• The more “me” you say, the more people say “go away”
• Write for your audience and not yourself or what you are interested in

On attraction

• Great content is key
• Networking wherever you go
• Mention your blog when you can and include a call to action with a benefit to your audience

Content is King, but a king without an army is a man in a funny hat:

• Content is crucial but not everything
• You also need promotion
• Mobilize your fans to become your advocates

Chris just finished the book, Blogging for Business. You can find Chris blogging on the business of blogging and new media and as a regular contributing author here on Social Media Examiner.

Here are our top five articles (in order of popularity) from this year…

#1: Five Must Read Social Media Marketing Studies

Here’s a quick overview of the this article:

Study 1: By 2010, 26 Million (1 in 7) U.S. Adults Will Use Twitter Monthly

The study by eMarketer found the following: “In 2009, there will be 18 million U.S. adults who access Twitter on any platform at least monthly. That represents a 200% increase over 2008 levels. Usage will reach 26 million U.S. adults in 2010, a further 44.4% climb.“

Study 2: Americans Spend 17% of Online Time on Social Media Sites

As popular social media platforms continue to grow their numbers of users, it is logical to conclude that Americans are spending more time on social networking sites.  According to a study by The Nielsen Company, among those paying the most attention to this recent trend are advertisers. Online ad spending increased by 119% to $108 million in August 2009.

Study 3: In 2010, Over 50% of Marketers Will Be Using Social Media

The “2010 Media Planning Intelligence Study” by the Center for Media Research, examined the likelihood of marketers including social media in their 2010 marketing plan.

Study 4: Blogs Most Useful Social Media Tool, Say 51% of Businesses

McKinsey Quarterly’s “Global Survey” examined companies’ overall assessment of the value of different social media technologies.

Study 5: 75% of Marketers Plan to Increase Social Media Use in 2010

The study by the virtual events provider Unisfair showed that marketers are most focused on attracting and keeping customers in 2010 and they plan to use social media to make this happen.

Click here to see the full article.

#2: Five Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Pages

Have you ever wondered, “How do I promote my Facebook fan page?” or “Why do I even need a Facebook fan page?” This article reveals five ways to use the power of Facebook to grow your fan base.

Here’s a snapshot of the five fan page strategies:

Strategy 1: Invite People From Your Facebook Friend Lists

Segment personal friends and professional colleagues into lists and invite these lists as groups to your Facebook fan page instead of sending individual invites. This is the easiest and fastest way to jump-start your fan base.

Strategy 2: Find People With Facebook Search

The updated Facebook Search feature (see the Search bar at the top of Facebook) gives you a view into conversations of your friends and status updates that may even show you who may be looking for the services you provide.

Strategy 3: Attract People With Facebook Social Ads

Social Ads provide advertisements alongside your Facebook sidebar, which show related actions your friends have taken on the site. It is possible to tailor ads to your friends and their interests, which makes it more appealing for them to take action because you are interested as well.

Strategy 4: Facebook Fan Page Twitter App

The Facebook Fan Page Twitter application is a great tool that brings your Twitter following back to your fan page. When you post a status update, a link or a photo (you can choose) on your Facebook fan page, there will be an update to Twitter with a shortened bit.ly link back to your fan page.

Strategy 5: Facebook Fan Box Widget

The Facebook Fan Box Widget is a great feature to add to your blog or website. This widget allows you to show your fan base and allows others to become fans instantly.

Click here to see the full article.

#3: How to Add a Retweet Button In Your PDF Documents

One growing trend on Twitter is the retweet button showing up on websites everywhere.

The retweet button allows any reader to easily post a tweet into his or her Twitter account.  And it’s not just any tweet, but one that’s prefabricated by you and links back to the original landing page where your document resides.

A retweet button in your PDF file empowers readers to easily share your PDF with their fans as well as allows readers to show their appreciation of your work by simply clicking a button. It also provides steady streams of traffic to your PDF file (because as people discover the file, they will retweet it if they like the content), plus allows you to know precisely who is sharing your document (for marketing engagement)

Check out the entire article to learn the 6 steps to add retweet buttons to your PDF files.

#4: Three New Social Media Studies Worth Reading

Here’s a quick overview of the this article:

Study 1: Social Media Engagement Big Challenge for Many Businesses (Deloitte)

Survey results from a Deloitte study (2009 Tribalization of Business Study) pointed to some key challenges that organizations are facing as they move toward integrating online communities into their social media strategy.

Study 2: Social Media Used as a Discovery Tool by 18% of Online Population (Nielson Company

This study by Nielson Company examined the relationship between social media and user search options.  The report compared social sites to search engines and portals like Yahoo! Of those surveyed, 18% reported social media sites as core to finding new information.

Study 3: Businesses Slow to Incorporate Social Media Into Practice (BIA/Kelsey)

Although numerous recent reports show how businesses plan to incorporate social media into their 2010 marketing mix, a recent study by BIA/Kelsey reported that many small- to medium-sized businesses are slow to incorporate the strategies into their plans today.

Click here to see the full article.

#5: How to Create Headlines That Go Viral With Social Media

If you are struggling to get more clicks and bookmarks on your articles, there is one area in which your content might be letting you down: your headlines.

Without a compelling headline, you will not attract attention, and your article will not spread as easily. If you do write a killer headline then you will get more clicks, more bookmarks, and your readers will be compelled to share it with their friends and contacts.

Compelling headlines grab attention, identify a targeted group, are specific, generates curiosity, and promises powerful benefits.

To grab your audience where it counts, you want your headlines to show empathy and make your readers feel. Here are three popular headline emotional hot buttons:

Boost and Slam—What is the best/worst/most/least? Compare and contrast.
Laugh, Cheer, Snigger or Cry—Human interest that tugs the heartstrings work.
Outrage, Anger, and Righteous Indignation—Listen to talk radio or the talking heads and their jabbing fingers on any cable news network.

Check out the entire article for more emotional hot buttons and a free PDF of 102 Proven Headline Formulas.

As we move into the new year, we are looking forward to sharing with you the latest trends and insights in the social media world.  On behalf of all of us at Social Media Examiner, we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year in 2010!

So, now it’s your turn.  What do you think of our top 5 social media articles for 2009? Which article resonated most for you?  What social media topics do you think will hit the “Top 5” list for 2010?  Let us know your thoughts!

Imagine marveling at Peru’s Machu Picchu ruins, and a guy nearby asks if you’ll take his picture. But it’s not just him; he’s proudly holding a paper cutout of a smiling tomato.

What, exactly, inspired this traveler to carry a cartoon tomato to one of the wonders of the world?

In a word, fun.

He’s just one of nearly 140 people who vacationed with the tomato, named “Sweetie.” These fans of the restaurant Souplantation, or Sweet Tomatoes in some markets, were enthusiastically participating in the chain’s latest social media promotion, “Where’s Sweetie?”

Each month, a new, creative Facebook and Twitter campaign inspires customers to do something equally interactive, from constructing faces out of salad to photographing their best lemon pucker faces.

“There is definitely an element of fun that’s really required,” explained Crosby Noricks, social media strategist at Red Door Interactive , the firm that coordinates the company’s social media activity. “A campaign itself doesn’t need to be supremely complex, and oftentimes it’s better to do something that requires just a guess at a number or a quick photo snap.”

The creative approach has paid off. In just eight short months, the company’s social media recipe has netted nearly 30,000 Facebook fans and 8,500+ Twitter followers – along with social media-driven revenue.

In one month, the restaurant’s tomato mascot, Sweetie, saw more of the world than most people see in a lifetime!

Open Your Wall

Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes, owned by San Diego’s Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., runs 112 company-owned restaurants in 15 states. It’s known for its fresh, made-from-scratch foods: produce and salads, soups, pastas, freshly baked breads and muffins, frozen yogurt, and more.

Fueled by increasing awareness about healthy eating, the restaurant chain adds about half a dozen new locations each year. Regulars include everyone from babies to their great-grandparents.

Launched this past spring, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes’ social media presence includes a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account. It serves two goals: To get fans more involved with the brand and to learn more about what customers want.

“Our primary goals all along have been to increase engagement and get loyal customers excited and participating with us, not only in promotions but helping make decisions for the company with feedback about new locations,” said Brandon Zelasko, who serves as business manager for the Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. account at Red Door Interactive.

Initially, the fan and follower bases expanded by customer word-of-mouth, or rather word-of-status updates. One fan would post a funny picture related to a promotion, which would inspire their friends to join the Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes fan club.

More recently, the company started offline promotion of its Facebook and Twitter presence using in-restaurant signs and table cards.

Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes doesn’t merely broadcast information to the audience, but truly interacts. On Twitter, they follow more people than follow them, and frequently retweet followers’ comments.

The same goes on Facebook where the company does what most do not. “We let people write on our wall, unlike other brands that hide that,” Noricks said.

Yet, comments are largely positive. Take a quick look at Facebook or Twitter and you’ll find lots of unsolicited love letters to the restaurant:

• “I’m so thankful for Sweet Tomatoes!!!”
• “My daughter introduced me to Sweet Tomatoes….love at first visit….”
• “When I eat at Sweet Tomatoes here in Tucson it feels like I’m at home with family”
• “The soup is outta this world”

For the occasional not-so-positive comment, fans such as those above defend the restaurant, “carrying on the conversation for us,” Noricks said.

Fans Show Their Pucker Faces

But what really keeps fans and followers connected are creative monthly promotions like “Where’s Sweetie?” Each promotion ties into what’s happening at the restaurant, where the menu changes each month:

A young customer displays his best pucker face for April’s lemon promotion.

• Show your Pucker Face – In April, when lemons were the focus, the promotion brought in a 400% increase in Facebook fans and pics of lemon-inspired facial contortions.
• Guess How Many Strawberries – For strawberry month in May, customers were asked to guess the number of strawberries in a jar or basket twice on Twitter and twice on Facebook, with the latter generating more than 700 fan comments each time.
• Celebrate Salad – July’s campaign got customers’ creative juices going with dozens of salad works of art.
• Where’s Sweetie? – In September, Sweetie saw the Mona Lisa, Machu Picchu, Venice, and the Galapagos Islands, as well as hiked Mexico City’s Pyramid of the Sun, water skiied, rode a roller coaster, snorkeled and swam with giant turtles – all documented on the restaurant’s Facebook pages.
• What Are You Thankful For? – In November, customers submitted their thankful thoughts, pictures and videos on the Facebook page.

Customers rolled up their sleeves and got creative for “Celebrate Salad” and then posted their art on Facebook.

For promotions, all participants are entered into a drawing for items such as Visa gift cards and free meal passes, or fans vote on winners. The restaurant and its agency quickly learned that customers prefer to pick winners themselves.

Throughout the month, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes keeps fans/followers thinking with smaller quizzes and questions about their favorite restaurant items, what’s their “salad personality,” or even their best childhood memories.

Regular followers also know that they’ll be rewarded with coupons offered exclusively to Facebook and Twitter customers – a major draw.

3-5 Hours/Week on Social Media Management

Depending on the promotion, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes staff and the account team at Red Door Interactive spend about 3-5 hours every week watching and engaging with customers on social media.

On an average day, they post about 5 times on Facebook and see about 65 customer comments. On Twitter, they might tweet once a day and then respond to followers “@” comments about a dozen times.

Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes and its agency have made it a priority to be aware of comments and Twitter replies, and respond as quickly as possible – a task that both the restaurant marketing staff and agency share.

With Red Door as the company’s creative agency for more than 5 years, the social media strategy and management were a logical next step, and one that’s worked well. “We know almost as much about the brand as they do in-house,” Zelasko said.

Exclusive Coupons Drive Sales

Through in-store signage and viral momentum on social media sites, the chain adds about 1,800 new Facebook fans and up to 1,000 Twitter followers each month. Individual campaigns boost numbers quickly.

All this isn’t just fun and games; it does monetize the business. Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes knows that a growing online fan base pays off in sales. Used strategically, a coupon announced before lunch encourages customers to visit that day.

“We see really good return rates for our Facebook- and Twitter-only coupons. They definitely drive higher sales,” said Tracy Marks, public relations coordinator for Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. “It’s a short-term coupon to inspire action.”

And fans have been genuinely thankful for those coupons – as evidenced by numerous thank-you wall posts and Tweets.

Not as quantifiable, but equally valuable, are menu or new location suggestions, which the restaurant seriously considers.

Marks points out that social media has not replaced any of the company’s traditional marketing or reduced its marketing budget – some customers still look for newspaper coupons. However, it has boosted revenue.

For now, those results and increasing fans/followers provide the justification for continued momentum. The next step for the company includes starting a blog.

“We’re providing consistent, fun value and responding to people,” Noricks said. “That shows that we’re accessible and available and here for the long haul.”

How have you used fun and creativity to engage your social media audience? What are your thoughts about the ideas presented here?