Social Media Contests: And the Winner Is...

Now I follow a few organisations on Facebook and Twitter. Why?

- I have an interest in them
-I have an interest in what they are selling
- I have an interest in the industry in which they operate
- I am looking for exclusive updates and offers

Now I have had the opportunity to win a prize via social media and that was great, but it's not my main motivation. I hardly have the time either. I joked with my cousin, who coincidentally won a prize from the community discussed in this post, that one had to almost live on the internet, stalking updates and tweets in order to get a chance to win, and then you're competing with hundreds of people who have the same idea at the same time. It's a bit much for me. But that's just me. Lots of people go looking for goodies and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think it can be a great way to engage your community and get them talking or participating.

But I have seen where communities are formed and built with no real brand focus.  There is a recent example of where a community (same one where my cousin won his prize) has exploded with daily trivia and the like, giving away product-related prizes. The product related prizes are great. Simple, not too flashy. Gets people wanting to come get them. The trivia I was not too enthused about though. It's some of the most random things, not even closely related to the brand, not to the company, not even to the industry. Just stuff you could probably go on any arbitrary "Party Games" site and pull down. I must say, this was a tad bit disappointing. Yes, it's a pretty strong brand we're talking about, so some may say they don't need to do much, but give away stuff. But where is the value in that? Whats the point then?

The prize I won was related to the brand, and got me to come in and see the place (though I have seen it many times), but HOW I got it was also creative and forced entrants to think, discuss and share about the brand itself.  They focused the contest around an event they were having, and the trivia was about the event, the origins of the event in its native format and cool facts one never knew about the event. So one had to go searching out the info and in effect, one learnt about the event with the end result being the opportunity to win something related to it. So I was more informed, more interested and ultimately better positioned to make a purchasing decision based on the whole contest experience.

This current contest experience does a lot to build the following, but not much to build value. The other content being shared as well is soooo random. No product updates, specials, company updates. There are a few photos from brand events which are great but when I saw the random YouTube videos, quite like the ones you may share with your friends on your profile page, I was a bit astonished.  I am hoping that maybe the first objective was to build the following and then engage them once they had them. But seeing that they are now in the tens of thousands with the following, can we start the value-add?

I know we love numbers and big numbers at that, and that's fine, but social media should not just be about numbers but a meaningful community. I love getting feedback from my community on things related to what we're peddling and on the general financial matters, which I think help them and help us as well. And while we may not have flashy stuff to give away, I think there is a greater value in hearing what customers like, don't like, want, don't want and empowering them to voice their opinions. Not saying we don't give stuff away. We do, though not as much as others. But what we do give everyday is something which focuses on the brand and the helping the customer. I think that's worth a whole lot, but again...that's just me.

What do you think? Great strategy or could be better? Who's the winner here?

5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest

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When your brand ambassadors don't know...

I have been sick with a bad cold for the past few days and yesterday was the worst, with my head feeling like a hot air balloon just about ready to over-inflate and burst. And after the suggestions of a few colleagues, recognising that my self medication tricks were not working, I went to a pharmacy to get the much recommended Theraflu. Now though I have never used the product, somewhere in the ether I knew they had hot drinks as part of the product line. Noone had told me exactly what to buy, but I knew I wanted one of those hot drinks. So I approach the counter - walking germbot that I was - and asked the girl (I dunno if she was a pharmacist or not) whether they had Theraflu. She said they did and picked up a box of Theraflu caplets. So I told her I wanted the hot drink instead. Ay caramba!

- Hot drink?
- You know, the hot teas with all the yummy healing stuff.
-No. They don't make that. (pushes the caplets towards me)
-You sure? (eyeing the caplets annoyingly)
-Yes. They only make the caplets. You want it?

I think my nasal congestion had by this time gotten the best of me, so I decided to not argue, since I was not 100% sure anyway, but to just take the caplets, go home, medicate and knock myself out.

But you know I could not just go home and take the caplets, but I immediately went online to the Theraflu site and there was a very useful and snazzy "Theraflu Treatment Selector" where the sick and dying like myself could go find the right product for their symptoms. Guess what I found?

I mean, I am sorry but I don't care if you're running a corner shop or a multinational organisation, you really should have a fair idea of what you're peddling. And this is just a small example. I have gone into large organisations, with huge marketing budgets, which promote products and services to customers, often successfully. Then you go in, meet someone on the frontline who cannot give you a clear understanding of what the product is, how it differs from what is on the market.

Now, in the case of the pharmacy girl, she is not selling HER product per se. She is a third party provider for Theraflu, so I will give her a small bligh. Maybe not. She is representing her pharmacy and representing its brand as my dependable, knowledgeable neighbourhood drug store. I simply cannot forgive a customer service representative who does not know enough about his/her company's product to make me, the customer, want to buy it or support the brand.

Investing, up front in employees, so they understand the company, its products and services, its history and culture and how all these and more tie in to the brand, is probably one of the most important parts of employee management. An uninformed employee can cost a company sales and reputation. How am I to believe what you are selling, if you clearly don't know and thus don't believe in it? The efforts of the marketing and comms team in getting persons to talk about what you're offering and seek you out for more information can all be for nothing if basic understanding and participation are absent not only on the frontline, but throughout the organisation. Every employee becomes a product advocate and brand ambassador from the time they sign that dotted line. Leaving that responsibility to chance is suicidal for any organisation.
So what can you do?

• Fresh meat preparation: New employee orientation sessions should include product and sales training
   
• Ever heard of the Lunch 'n' Learn? Oh gosh, how many of these have I been to? Some people come just for the lunch, but if your presentation is engaging, interactive and informative, they leave with much more, and you end up with much more - an informed and excited ambassador. Not recommended for training on a new product or new employees, but it can be a good "tune up" session and a refreshing change from sitting in stuffy conference room with a dull PowerPoint presentation
   
• Specific interval training - Be it for frontline staff, supervisors, managers, continuous training on your company and its product are essential, especially since any good product undergoes periodic reviews and revisions to meet the ever changing needs of the customer
   
• Regular communcations on company and product development - And though intranets and newsletters are fun, when it comes to customer service and product knowledge, managers should be the first contact for information, Q&A, etc. Face to face discussion can help clear up misconceptions which you do not wish to communicate to a customer, reinforce knowledge, gain an understanding of what customers are asking/customer FAQs.
• Role playing. Great for testing out what the employee knows and how he/she reacts to any given situation with any type of customer - from the very savvy, to the very green, from the calm and patient, to the irate. Can be a great team building session as well.

And when you're informed, your communications skills are stronger cause you can speak confidently and with conviction and meet customers' objections and questions head-on. Ummms and maybe's don't quite work in persuading cynical customers to support your product. And not only should employees know about what you're selling but also what your competitors are selling. You better believe when I go to buy anything, I know what the other guy is offering and I ask a lot of questions and if you cannot convince me that yours is better because you simply don't know about what else is out there - bye bye.

I am not sure my corner pharmacy has a training plan set out for its staff, cause I only saw 2 people in there, but a little product knowledge is recommended for the future, cause had I been 100% sure the hot teas existed in that brand, and was dead set on getting it, I would have left and nursed my cold elsewhere and lost confidence in that pharmacy as well. I mean, if you do not know about a simple hot tea for a cold, what else don't you know about more serious drugs??? I have a serious problem with this!

And special thanks to Theraflu - I feel human again!

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