Social Media Marketing: Rafflecopter, reposted from @toithomas
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Social Media Marketing….AAHHH!
I don’t hate social media marketing, but sometimes it really does suck the fun out of social media.
There may be more, but here’s what I think are some of the main social media marketing outlets and topics to consider.
Facebook |Twitter |Google+ |Youtube |Email |Blogs | Interviews | Reviews |Contests and Giveaways | Rafflecopter |Video and audio | Other: Pinterest, LinkedIn, GoodReads, etc…
Today I’d like to talk about the tool Rafflecopter. Many of us are familiar with this tool and some aren’t, but I’ve come to realize one thing about it…non-blog users are afraid of it!
Since most of the people who visit our sites and blogs daily are regular blog readers and users, this isn’t a big deal, but sometimes we have to consider those less net savvy than ourselves.
-Sometimes we need those people who don’t actually understand that a blog posts new material on a regular basis and just because they visited it a year ago doesn’t mean there isn’t something special for them to see now.
-Sometimes we need those people who only get online to watch Youtube videos and update their Facebook status.
- Sometimes we need those people who only visit sites ending in .com because they are leery of everything else.
People who don’t use social media every day, sometimes just don’t get it, but they are still part of our potential audience. When someone like this stumbles upon a great article offering a cool prize and a contest entry with this, Rafflecopter, thing that has 20+, 30+ and sometime 50+ options to choose from, they become discouraged and terrified.
Don’t jump to conclusions; I’m not downing that type of Rafflecopter usage. I’ll talk about that next week, but for now I’ll mention three alternative ways I’ve started to use and will try to use Rafflecopter to cut down on the intimidation factor.
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Rafflecopter is simply great for data collection and verification. Why try to run a contest or promotion and try to keep up with the entries yourself and then figure out a way to randomize your winner selection when Rafflecopter will do it for you.
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1-I’m currently running a promotion that was set up to inform people of my freedownloads that will be available on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but I’m also offering a gift card giveaway. I am using my Rafflecopter (with only 5 simple criteria to choose) to simply track my data. While Rafflecopter is great for building up followers, that’s not my current objective, so I’ve left out a lot of possible entry criteria to make the process and use, easy and fun for possible participants.
2-Rafflecopter can be used to collect data in the use of a scavenger hunt. Again, I’d try to keep the choices to a minimum. A scavenger hunt with 10 to 20 options wouldn’t be too much and would give participants plenty to do.
3-Rafflecopter can also be used to collect data in the form of a questionnaire. Polls are great, but sometimes you’re looking for more information and aren’t sure how to go about asking for it, tracking it, and verifying who’s posting it…Well, that’s where Rafflecopter could come in.
I like to try to think outside the box whenever I can; sometimes I do a great job with it and sometimes I don’t. I think these alternative ways to use Rafflecopter are pretty good.
I’m no expert and am just here sharing my opinions; I ‘d love to know what you think.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
