Rewarding Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers: Good Business Strategy or Folly?
Austin, Texas: What is the value of a Facebook “Like” or a Twitter “Follower”?
Many numbers have been bandied about over the past several months, but I’d have to think it depends on the type of business you have and the relationship with your “fans”.
Can you buy “friends” with incentives? Sure. We have run dozens of programs where the first 2,5000 people to “like” a Facebook page or the first 1,000 Twitter “followers” win a digital downloadable prize, like music downloads, free magazine subscriptions, movie tickets, etc.
Are they effective? Yes, the programs that incentivize participation can have powerful short-term effectiveness, as it encourages immediate action. If your goal is to see a quick gain of Facebook fans and Twitter followers, incentivizing visitors is definitely a tool to consider.
But the key to your social media success still lies in your social media strategy.
How well are you communicating benefits to your fans?
How meaningful is the dialog? (It is a dialog–not a one-sided rant–right?)
How often are you communicating?
How are you encouraging feedback, replies or other forms of participation?
How engaged are your followers and fans?
If you are not planning on viewing your social media strategy as a two-way communication platform, you are missing the boat. There is no point in trying to maximize the number of fans and followers if you are just shouting out special sales and inane content.
Put value into your dialog.
Improve your conversations.
Then watch your social media gain real traction.
