1. Social Media:Contests & Sweepstakes Presented by Hollis Thomases President, WebAdvantage.net Author, Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day

2. Best Practices Follow the rules & guidelines of the social networks where you’re running your contest(e.g. http://help.twitter.com/entries/68877-guidelines-for-contests-on-twitter) Make contest rules and deadlines clear and easily accessible Use a branded microsite and/or dedicated landing pages Use strong, clear calls to action Incentivize fanning, following, etc. “For every new fan or follower, we’ll do X” Tailor contests to your target audience—make it all about them! Ensure transparency; reveal social stats like comments, tweets, and votes so people know others are engaged too Most importantly—make it fun!

3. 6 Twitter Contest Tips for Success Frequent smaller prize giveaways trump infrequent large prize giveaways Incorporate brand name into promo hashtags Use unique phrases for RTs which garner more Twitscoop/Trendistic/Twitter Trend visibility Twitter contest + boring Twitter account = wasted effort; an engaging Twitter account = higher chance of successful contest “Dumb it down” to make it easy to participate; use one-click participation methods Focus on building your follower base for greater success with contests

4. Social Media Big Brand Examples American Express Twitter contest for Conan O’Brien’s “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour”; used #amexConan Users follow @americanexpress on Twitter and then tweet “Hey @americanexpress, I want to be with Coco in <insert city>. Pick me!” Southwest Airlines Facebook viral video contest: “What would you do for $100?”; utilized custom Facebook widget Users upload videos showing what they’d do for $100 in order to win vacation packages Quicken Twitter contest to win free rent; utilized a fully-branded contest microsite (www.QuickenFreeRent.com) Users follow @quicken on Twitter and then tweeted#quickenfreerentto get entered into the sweepstakes

5. Social Media Big Brand Examples WeTV: Women’s Entertainment Television Runs weekly Twitter contests: “WE Giveaway Wednesdays” Users RT contest announcement and follow @WEtv for a chance to win weekly prizes Folgers Viral video contest to compose original 30-40 second jingle for Folgers Coffee brand for $25,000 grand prize and chance to be featured in a Folgers commercial Utilized fully branded contest microsite (www.BestPartofWakinUp.com) where video entries are showcased and voted on KOHL’s “Raise Your Receipt” contest to promote KOHL’s grand opening in California Users relate their KOHL’s saving stories through user-generated content (photos, videos, or stories) for chance to win $100 KOHL’s gift card Used Facebook to showcase entries and allow voting & commenting

6. Social Media Big Brand Examples Dunkin’ Donuts “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest promoted through Twitter and Facebook Built a “Make Your Own Donut” app (www.DunkinDonuts.com/donut) Simmons Mattresses “Tweet for Sleep” Twitter contest; used #simmonsbeautyrest Users follow @SimmonsBedding and tweet a message using the hashtag telling what they would do for a good night’s sleep Parenting.com “Win a Year with Ford Models” photo contest—over 70,000 photos submitted! Parents submit photos of their children for a chance to win a year of representation with Ford Models as well as monthly prizes Site allows users to share photos, vote on and view winners, and receive special coupons for Shutterfly photo service

7. Pet Industry Examples PETCO “Howl-O-Ween” pet costume photo contest; utilized dedicated area of website to submit & showcase photos; used Facebook and Twitter to promote contest Contest drew over 1,700 submissions, 30,000 ratings, and prompted almost 1,000 social recommendations for various PETCO.com products Runs regular trivia-based Twitter contests from @petco to give away $50, $100, and $500 PETCO gift cards Surfpet “Coolest Dog” photo contest, managed through Wildfire Users upload photos of their dog looking cool for a chance to win $100 gift certificate to Surfpet.com

8. Social Media Contest Tools Wildfire (www.wildfireapp.com)Enterprise-level promotion platform that manages campaigns/contests across multiple social platforms Brands using Wildfire: Pepsi AT&T Sony Victoria’s Secret Votigo (www.votigo.com)Creates viral end engaging photo and video contests, sweepstakes, and promotions with measurable results Brands using Votigo: KFC Sharpie Folgers Pizza Hut

9. Twitter-Specific Contest Tools Twtaway (www.twtaway.com)Contest manager tool that lets people join your contest via Twitter and randomly selects a winner on a specific date Tweetaways (www.tweetaways.com)Picks a random winner for your contest or giveaway date itweet2win (www.itweet2win.com)Involves Twitter users in your contest to help spread the word and encourage them to follow you. Permission-based system helps eliminate spammers. TweetsWin (www.tweetswin.com)Lets you post a contest, gather statistics, and automatically choose a winner & manage winner pool. Tracks new followers and provides daily analysis.

10. Thank You! My Book:Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders Also check out Why140.com How To Reach Me: e. hollis@webadvantage.net p. (410) 942-0488 @hollisthomases http://www.facebook.com/hollisthomases http://www.linkedin/com/in/hollisthomases