If you want to take advantage of social media tools, and see some measurable returns on your investment of money and time, then you just need to plan.

A campaign that features some incentives (prize draw, coupon offer) is the fastest way to generate social media activity, and it really isn’t hard to make a social media contest a profit center.

@WildfireApp‘s Maya Grinberg recently wrote a post over at HuffPo about this very thing, giving five examples of customers that have used the Wildfire platform as a money-maker. I like the Duck Tape example, in #5: Use a sweepstakes to drive people to your coupon (it works in reverse, too).

Or, consider example #3, in which Zappos offered a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to anyone who filled out a “wish list” of what they would buy if they won. I don’t need to tell you- this stuff works. Some of those gift registries convert to real sales.

Still the best example of this that I have seen is Crate & Barrel who, working with their agency Phenomenon and using a customized contest site built on the Strutta platform, host the Ultimate Wedding Contest. To date, the multi-year promotion (photo, story and required gift registry of $2K of more) has yielded $10s of millions in Gift registrations. Even at conservative conversion estimates, their returns are in the millions. And all because they had a plan. (Kudos, Phenomenon)

Insert your insanely compelling offer here.

Ideas like these can work at any scale, and your options for execution are many. Just tap into what your community really wants, and what they’ll respond to. Earlier this year, the gang from Pinpoint Social ran a campaign with Putting Edge, an indoor mini golf company with 20 locations. They quickly doubled the size of their Facebook community, got a 50% redemption rate on their coupon offer and drove in an extra $15,000 in business in February; traditionally one of their slowest months.

Stop thinking about marketing as an expense, and start taking a look at what you can do to turn it into a revenue generator. If you struggle, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to give you a hand.

It is a question we hear a lot. We usually say that this question is akin to asking: “What is the ROI of customer service?” Because effectively, they are one and the same, and every business will have a different answer.

“Social media” is our current term for the tools that we use to communicate on the internet. That’s it and that’s all. Yes, there are certain etiquette to follow, and each tool comes with its own learning curve, some even with their own syntax. But if you are looking for a strategy as to how to use those tools, the safest way is to simply create the digital equivalent of your company’s existing customer service policies. It sounds simple, because it is. Social media is, after all, real life. ‘Xcept on the internet. When you talk about yourself too much, people get bored of you. Put your own interests ahead of your customers? A competitor is gonna eat your lunch. Got caught in a lie? Time to make good, right now. The rules are the same, only the tools have changed.

With that aside, we have the great pleasure of being able to tell you that if you want it to, social media can help have a direct effect on your bottom line. Not unlike the way great customer service strategies can help boost profits, a good social media plan can lead to more sales, leads, referrals, testimonials or whatever goal you set for your business. But you have to do it right.

Offer Value First, Get Loyalty in Return

So how do we use social media to make more money? To put in the simplest of terms: we take advantage of the scalability of these to tools to offer a lot of value to a lot of people. We offer so much value, that when we ask for something in return, we get it. And what’s more, we stay connected to our entire community, especially those that want to hear from us on the regular. That builds loyalty, and loyalty leads to evangelism, referrals, and repeat business. And let us not forget that these tools can be used for sales prospecting and follow-up, coupons, monitoring competitors, online contests, and promotions of all kinds. Let us also bear in mind that these days, customers expect to be able to connect with you online. If you are silent, your are conspicuous.

Taking that first step to a more active online presence can be a bit scary, and if mishandled, truly risky as well. But if you have a plan that includes offering value first, you can win at this game we call social media.

Have questions about how we can help? Hit us up in the comments, or contact us.