Countdown...13 days so far for Kindle Contest

This month's contest involves a participant answering a few questions about their last financing experience in order to win a Kindle.

The first few days started off strong with sending out an invitation for those that lost the GPS contest to apply to the Kindle one. I gave the bad news with a twist-- Good thing you lost the GPS, now you can get the Kindle. I sent out the email right away.

Honestly, I should have held off a little longer. A friend informed me that I should have listed the winner in the email to sound more legitimate. Sorry Elton Lavin, I should have given you the proper congratulations you deserved. Lesson learned.

So for the first few days, our contest rocked-- with 100 applicants within the first few days! I thought for sure the Kindle was a prize to be sought after, and the promotion would be easier this time around.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The applicants have slowed down- to about 3 a day. This means I need to get going with more promotional efforts.

Before I jump into the waters, I need to research popular blogs about Kindles, bloggers who blog about Kindles, and the overall opinion about the Kindle. So you with me?

Update on Last Contest

Hey, everyone.

So I have been severely lacking on the blog posts lately; a recent trip to NYC was distracting, but I'm back to let you know what happened with the GPS contest.

Our results showed more than 300 participants applied, which exceeded our predicted goal. Great news!

Some promotional ways I used on the last days were:

1) Linked-In. Generally, there is a "Promotions" page on Linked In for members of groups. I joined some groups that pertain to my job description, such as Social Media ones. From there, I posted our contest on each Promotions page. A tip would be to find a group that is affiliated with the product, and advertise on their Group Promotions page.

2) Blogs. I found some separate blogs on the Internet that were related to our prize- a GPS Navigator. This is, of course, shaky territory. I recommend promoting with sincerity and finding appropriate places to do so. For instance, I promoted the contest in a section called, "where to find the best deals on a GPS." People were actively looking to purchase a GPS, and wanted to know where to go. This means my post was not taken as spam, but rather as helpful advice. A bad area to promote a contest would be in a section entitled, "What are people's thoughts on Garmin Nuvi." People who are interested in this section will be less likely to tolerate promotions, and therefore could easily cause backlash to your brand.

3) Facebook. I actively searched for Fanpages that related to my prize- a GPS Navigator. From there, I posted on to the walls of these fanpages if I was permitted to do so. Just remember, to pace yourself with this option. Every time you write on a fanpage, it sends this information to your fans. If you do it too much, you will begin to bombard your fans with information they care little about and could potentially lose them. Another tip is to find a specific photo, update, etc on the fanpage that many people have written about. Once you write a comment to this photo and/or wall post, those individuals that have written before you will receive a notice. This is a great way to guarantee that others are looking.

Hope this information helps. I'm onto my new task- our Kindle Sweepstakes!

http://www.carfinance.com/contests

GPS Contest Going Strong

Within the first week, we had a huge jump from 11 entrants to 89!!! Now, we are steadily getting people to apply, mostly from the Microsite and Twitter (Twitter does work!). This definitely surpasses our last contest. But it is not over till September 30, which means promoting is necessary.

For promoting I have followed some similar steps from before as well as made a few new ones:

1) Placed the contest widget with a related article about GPS on one of our owned microsites. From there, I submitted the link to digg.com, delicious.com, and reddit.com. There is a lot of noise on these social media sites, but the key is to follow others and build up a community. Everyday, I have been connecting and adding people to my followers. Unlike Twitter, following a number of people on reddit.com, digg.com, and delicious.com does not hurt you. Think of it like karma; you give some back, you get some back. Just remember everything takes time.

2) Tweeting it on the most popular days that I am seeing some activity. From testing, I have learned that on the weekend, actually generates more people than on the weekday. Therefore, I try to mention our contest twice during the weekend. Also, around noon to mid-afternoon seems to generate the most activity.

3) Writing articles on popular content writing websites such as Squidoo.com and Hubpages.com. First, I write an intriguing article that includes pictures, videos, and Amazon/ebay products-- generally, related to my prize. Then within the article, I include a link to the contest page. For members on those websites, they are use to and like to read intriguing content; therefore, this is the best way to advertise the contest- a link within a body of content.

If you have any contest promoting tips, please leave me a comment!

Facebook Contest Begins!

For the next contest we have decided to give away a GPS Navigation System-- the Garmin Nuvi 1350T with Lifetime Traffic included. This is definitely a larger prize than the Twitter one. First, I set up an account with Wildfire Interactive, Inc. Second, I posted all the necessary photos, content, etc. on their easy set-up page. For 100 dollars, our campaign would be promoted on their page (good for the first half of the contest, since it does slowly move down as new campaigns approach), 30 days of contest hosting, and multiple number of faucets provided -- a widget to put on our website (an orange bar promoting the contest), a Facebook page (to drive Facebook users to our fanpage), separate Twitter page (promotes people to write on their own Twitter feed that they have entered the contest), and a microsite (that we can use on our many owned urls). Looking back now, the deal was a great offer.

Also, we can easily see who came from where-- a multitude from our Twitter site and from our microsite. The contest has only been going on for 8 days now, and already 90 entrants. What a great success!

This contest was set-up differently from the last with entrants asked to answer three multiple choice answers about online financing. This offers great research to generate future content. I cannot wait to see what people say as the number one reason why they would use online financing, and the number one reason they would not use online financing (if applicable).

If someone asked me if I would recommend the Wildfire Interactive service, I would have to confidently say yes. The process was easy, and the results are there. Now all I have to do is keep it going by tweeting, posting more articles, etc.

I'll keep you updated.

According to the Expert...

My colleague has given me some pearls of wisdom when handling contests in the social media realm that I wish to share with my followers. Some I have already known/done, but let's go over them here.

Lesson #1: Use hash tags when you tweet about your contest on Twitter

• Popular ones are: #win, #contest, #sweepstake, #cheaptweet, #coupon, #free, #promotion, or #giveaway
• What are hash tags? The search on Twitter is frustrating. For instance, it is nearly impossible to find a person unless you know their exact Twitter name, hash tags enable tweeters to find you based on a one-word search. And luckily, there are many people out there searching for contests.

Lesson #2: With a fee, you can use the Promotions page on Facebook

• For our second contest, we are using this application; therefore I did not invest in it for our Twitter one. This could be worth the price tag if you need to spread the word. Also, I noticed when I go to the Promotions page on Facebook, individuals post on the wall their contests. This is completely free. It is debatable on how much traffic you will get, but every little bit helps.

Lesson #3: Use Twitter Promotions: http://www.coupontweet.com/

• Here you tweet about your contest on their feed. The only issue is that everyone and their mom is tweeting on this platform about their contest. An enticing prize would come in handy here. Also, be aware that this tool works more for those that have a large number of fans-- it tweets it on their page (that is always changing), and on your Twitter page.

Lesson #4: Everything with Twitter is fleeting.

• In order to promote your contest, you have to do it everyday, and every couple of hours. Will it annoy your fan base? It may, but it may drive others to apply if you are consistent in your approach.

Lesson #5: Use other social media sites

• The best way to promote your contest on other sites is to write a Press Release that has all the necessary links. Then submit this article to digg.com, reddit.com, etc.
• Don't be surprised if nothing happens with it, especially if you do not have a fan base. For me, three bloggers linked their blogs to my contest, which definitely helped with SEO. Hopefully, this happens with your contest.

So basically, what I learned from this first contest is that you cannot always depend on contests to gain followers, but rather spend the time interacting with tweeters. Let's see if that works for Facebook as well. First Facebook contest starts in less than 24 hours. Ek!

Today's News

Reaching out for help. Promoting is not easy when it comes to social media sites, and it does in fact take time. Today I have reached out to a fellow colleague to help spread the word about the contest. Social media cannot defeat me. This road has definitely provided some noticeable bumps along the way.

And it has barely been over a week! I cannot wait to hear what suggestions she has. And I will keep you guys tuned in as well.

We all want to learn the secrets of social media, especially me. And preferably, before I kill my Twitter and Facebook account.

Must.stay.optmistic.

What's Going On

So it is now week 2 of our Twitter contest, and I'm feeling hopeful. I conversed with one man on Hubpages about how there is too much clutter on Twitter to advertise in that realm. Ironic that here I am trying to advertise in a field where I'm getting bombarded with advertising. I have implemented many tactics to get the contest page out, and have had many successes in getting others to advertise for me as well.

Unfortunately, the Internet is noisy. I continue to trek through, but one thing I have definitely noticed about social media, persistence is a must. I am taking the time to interact with individuals on a personal level, which I know will pan out to benefit me in the end. As of now, I continue to talk, something I was luckily gifted with since birth.