#tweetsmart

Chapter 1. The Radio Contest

Tweet this Project

This is the first project in the book for two reasons: it is simple for beginners; and it is special to me. This project explains how to run the same contest on Twitter that provided me with my “A-HA!” moment. Like many people, I was originally skeptical that business and social media could mix. Like I said in the Introduction, I still shudder when I hear or use the phrase “social media marketing.” This contest proved to me that the two worlds could collide—and that the result can be spectacular.

This contest is a adaptation of the old “Be the 10th caller”-style contest radio stations have been running for decades. However, instead of asking people to call in, we’re asking people to send tweets. So, in effect, this is a “Be the 10th tweeter”-style contest.

For the price of some sort of prize—a coupon, a product, a free hour of service, etc.—you can use this contest to directly engage your audience with your products and services—and in doing so, recommend you to their followers.

The idea is simple: at the same time every week, invite your followers into your online store or website and ask them to tweet out a link to the product of yours they’d like to win. The 10th (or 12th or 50th, etc.) person to send such a tweet after the defined time, wins the product he or she has chosen.

Before you can run the actual contest, you will need to do some preparation work in order for it to be most effective.

Choose a time you will run the contest every ...