5 Tips for Running Successful Facebook Promotional Campaigns
There is a plethora of methods an organization might use in order to increase their social media presence. What we've found to be by far the strongest is to run a Facebook sweepstake, giveaway, or promotion. How can you do the same and, most importantly, find success in doing so? Here we offer five major tips that will help you better establish your Facebook promotion.
Use the Best Tools
If you have ever run a Facebook campaign on your own before, you will know it to be tiresome, complicated, and draining. But there exists many third-party apps (found in the Facebook App Centre) that can make your life much easier. There are also several wonderful online services dedicated to creating promotions and lead generation. Our favourites are Unbounce and ShortStack. Plan ahead; do your research before beginning your campaign. You will find there exist a large number of services that will only do you good.
Set Your Terms
To avoid potential legal problems down the road, make sure to cover yourself. You can find many templates of campaign rules and regulations online for you to start off with, but you may wish to get the help of a certified lawyer to draft up a statement for you to use. Not only is this strongly recommended, it is actually a requirement according to the Facebook Terms & Conditions. According to Facebook, you must "include a complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant and include acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Facebook."
Promote Your Promotion
There is absolutely no sense in creating a promotion for your organization if you aren't going to put in entire effort require to make it successful. Yes, Facebook is a wonderful place to gather leads, but remember that it is not the only place. Be sure to promote in areas other than on Facebook. You can create a campaign-specific hashtag on Twitter. Make promotional videos and share them via YouTube. Promote in your community with printed materials such as signs, banners, posters, stickers, and pins. A newspaper ad (if you can afford it) is also a great idea. These are all ways to directly increase your Facebook campaign traffic. But what about indirect promotion? Word of mouth is perhaps the strongest in this area. Get people talking about your promotion! This begins by creating a noteworthy campaign that people will want to talk about and share. Good content and a good concept will inherently be your strongest factor.
Gather Leads
By running a promotion, it is pretty obvious you are looking to raise your brand awareness. But what else can you gather from it? When running a Facebook promotion you should only make the contest available to those who have liked your page within the allotted time period of your promotion. You will find that by being a little more exclusive (targeted), you will find better success. Consider attaching a submission form as well. Your form can be as simple (submit your email) or as complex (submit your first and last names, telephone number, email address, physical address, age, ZIP/postal code, etc.) as you desire. However, keep in mind the importance of balancing the length of time it takes to submit your form, and the information you require for your marketing purposes. With valuable submission, you can focus on post-promotion lead generation and converting.
Measure, Rinse, Repeat
At Custom Fit Online, we know all about measuring and analyzing… it's what we do. It's our motto, our mantra, our manifesto. It's our focus because measuring lets your discern your strengths and weaknesses, and allows you to analyze your yourself in a way that will benefit you for the next time you run a promotion. Perhaps your target audience has shifted? Are people reacting to the materials you post? What was your ROI for the campaign? You will be able to determine all of this - and more - by measuring your success. Use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Hootsuite, URL shorteners, and Adobe Analytics to help you gather your metrics.
Worth Your Consideration
Facebook campaigns are an incredibly profitable in the long run, on top of being fun, insightful, and valuable. We strongly suggest you consider doing one (Note: We will be doing one ourselves in the coming months. Not so much as part of our marketing strategy, but more of a way to say "thank you" to our social media followers. Stay tuned!). We have helped many of our partners find business success in doing so.
In fact, one of the Facebook campaigns we crafted with Tourism Pemberton earlier this year was so successful, it garnered us a nomination for Small Business BC's "Best Online Marketer" award. You can read about the nomination, and if you'd like to show your support, please vote on Small Business BC's SuccessfulYou.ca website. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding Facebook promotions or social media in general, feel free to leave a comment down below or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or via our contact page.
From the Custom Fit Online team