This document discusses how to boost social media presence through viral contests. It recommends leveraging viral marketing on social media through contests, and provides best practices for organizing successful viral contests, such as having clear goals, a simple message that can be understood in 30 seconds, enticing prizes worth sharing, and terms of use that answer key questions. It also notes the benefits of contests for promoting brands and driving traffic, and emphasizes the importance of promoting contests across multiple channels for best results.

1. Boost Your Social Media Presence with Viral Contests
• Leverage the best part of social media –Viral Marketing
• Social Media Promotion Types
• Best practices to organize a viral contest
Presented by: Rama Prasad,
Head – Reyami Social ; @ the Social Media Forum
http://ae.linkedin.com/in/ramaprasadcv
0097150 812 5264

2. Quick Poll
The results can be staggering across Social Media platforms
Source: Mashable

3. Some
Source: Mashable

4. Source: Mashable

5. Viral Marketing defined
Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a
marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the
message's exposure and influence.
Viral marketing—having others tell and spread your story for you
—is one of the most exciting and powerful ways to reach your audiences.
Example: The classic example of
viral marketing is Hotmail.com
The strategy is simple: Give away
free e-mail addresses and services,
Attach a simple tag
"Get your private, free email at
http://www.hotmail.com"
Courtesy: David Meerman Scott

6. Benefits of Viral Contests
• Contests help you promote your brand. Word travels fast when you offer
something that catches people's fancy.
• Contests appeal to the competitive nature of people.
• Contests drive traffic toward websites and Fan Pages.
• Contests help build community around the brand
Viral nature of Facebook
• Likes
• Comments
• Tags
• Shares
• Friend invites
Almost everything about Facebook is Viral!

7. Facebook Promotion Guidelines
In Layman terms:
1. Promotions must run within Apps
• No contests on your Wall page
• No contest in your Photos area
2. Do not use Facebook features for anything in your contest
• Registration must take place inside your app.
• No "upload a photo to our Wall to enter"
• Voting must take place inside your app.
• No "comment/Like this post/Photo to win"
• You cannot notify winners through Facebook messages/wall posts/comments
3. Don’t use Facebook’s name
Release from liability, they aren't sponsoring your contest and info you collect
does not go to them.
Read the complete terms at: http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

8. Promotion types
Sweepstakes
Prizes given away based on a random draw.
User Generated Contests
Winners decided by public voting, a selected jury or both.
Coupons
Distribute Coupons to drive traffic to your site, encourage purchases.
Group Deal
To engage your users in special discount sales, encourage purchases.
(Think Groupon for your Page)
Product Giveaways
Give away free products or product samples as a way to generate buzz.

9. Promotion types - Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes - Prizes given away based on a random draw.

10. Promotion types - Contests
Photo Contest - Prizes given away based on voting / jury

11. Promotion types - Coupons
Distribute Coupons to drive traffic to your site, encourage purchases.

12. Promotion types – Group Deals
Group Deals: Engage your users in special discount sales

13. Promotion types – Giveaways
Give away free products or product samples as a way to generate buzz.
Giveaways – so long as everyone can get one, it’s not a contest!

14. Best Practices for a Viral Contest
1. Goals: What do you hope to achieve ?
2. Plan: Think thru pre-launch to post launch every step.
3. Gather Data: What do you like to know more about your audience ?
4. Simple: Get it in 30 sec ? Clear message ?
5. Prize: Does it entice ? Worth sharing ? Incentive to share
6. Terms of use: Cover the basics; Answer key questions in Fan’s mind
7 Promote: All possible channels; FB Ads ; Integrated Campaigns work well.

15. Key Take Aways
1. Social Media Marketing is Viral, Measurable and Cost-effective
2. Viral Contests can boost your Social Media presence in a big way!
3. Stay on the right side of Facebook TOS.
4. Use professional Apps for well structured contests
5. Strategize, plan and promote
6. Leverage all channels for integrated campaigns for best results
7. Take Action: Organize a Viral Contest this month!
Presented by: Rama Prasad,
Head – Reyami Social ; @ the Social Media Forum
http://ae.linkedin.com/in/ramaprasadcv
0097150 812 5264