How to Measure the Return on Social Media Contests
Have you thought about running a social media contest? Wondering how to best measure your return on investment (ROI)?
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! 
How to Run a Successful Social Media Contest
Are you planning to run a social media contest (like this one)?
Today it’s possible for anyone to achieve success engaging consumers online, thanks to the growing popularity and relative ease of execution of social media promotions.
The fact that anyone can run a promotion doesn’t mean that everyone should, and it certainly doesn’t mean that a promotion guarantees social media success. However, if executed as part of a comprehensive social media strategy, social media contests can produce tremendous results no matter how large or small your business.
So if you’re thinking of running a contest or sweepstakes, here are some key considerations.
Social Storytelling Boosts Donations for Ronald McDonald House Charities
If you’ve ever been to a McDonald’s, chances are you’ve seen the donation boxes that support Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) on the counter or at the drive-through window.
How can a little spare change possibly help fund the organization’s global network of hundreds of houses, family rooms and care mobiles (mobile care centers)?
A little change adds up – to nearly $25 million in donations last year with the help of social media. Donation boxes are the single largest ongoing fundraiser for RMHC, helping the charity serve 4.5 million children and families every year.
How Social Media Helped Cisco Shave $100,000+ Off a Product Launch
As early as 2008, networking giant Cisco was well along in its social media evolution. Back then you could find the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Yet something was missing – the hard business case for social media. Like most companies, Cisco knew it was benefiting from social media, but it couldn’t prove it.
The launch of a new router using only social media would provide the proof Cisco’s marketers were seeking.
Social Media Smackdown: WWE Headlocks Social Media
Think you know what World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is all about? You might be surprised to read about WWE’s emerging social media story.
But first, it’s easy to pigeonhole WWE as fringe cable channel with a small group of die-hard fans, but you likely don’t know all the facts…
WWE.com outperformed ABC.com, CBS.com, NBC.com, NASCAR.com, PerezHilton.com, NHL.com and UFC.com. More people attended Wrestlemania XXVI than the Super Bowl, held in the same stadium.
“WWE” ranked #3 for most searches on Yahoo! in 2009, behind only Michael Jackson and Twilight. (As I write this, WWE is the top-trending search term on Yahoo!) And WWE.com has more than 14 million average monthly unique visitors worldwide.
More significantly, WWE’s own social networking site has 610,000 registered users who participate in forums, comment on blogs, and consume the millions of photos and videos that WWE updates continuously.
