Posted by Erin Templer
If you want someone to do something, it doesn't hurt to provide them with a little extra incentive, right? Many credit unions offer all kinds of incentives to persuade people to become members, open a new account with them or take advantage of their services.
So why not apply this philosophy to your brand's social media following? Companies do it--several with great success--all the time.
It's impossible to ignore that a large percentage of people who follow all kinds of brands on Twitter and Facebook do so for the exclusive deals offered through these sites. Now, I'm not suggesting that the focus of a brand's Facebook and Twitter page should shift away from a content-driving communication tool at all, but I would argue that you can give your consumer both engaging content and special discounts at the same time.
After all, according to FEED, Razorfish's 2009 Digital Brand Experience Report, one-third of those who follow a brand on Facebook do so mainly to access exclusive deals. The number is even higher--almost 44 percent--for those who follow a brand on Twitter.
The 2008 version of this study found that consumers are open to letting brands be a part of their social media experience, and 76 percent of those who participated indicated they actually welcome brand adversting on social networks.
Now, this research excited me ... mostly because I'm a marketer. And, because it has encouraged me to explore this medium as CUES works on getting the word out for the 2010 CUES Golden Mirror Awards. In case you're not familiar, GMA recognizes marketing excellence in the credit union industry. (Sorry for the shameless plug!)
This year, CUES is using our Facebook and Twitter pages to generate some buzz about the GMA competition. We're offering a special giveaway to CUES' Facebook fans. Here's how it works: If a CUES Facebook fan enters the GMAs by May 4, 2010 (one month before the final deadline on June 4), they will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPad or a Flip Video camcorder. To be eligible for the drawing, they need to get a promo code from the CUES Facebook fan page and include it in their entry form when when they send it in.
We just rolled this out in early February, and have already seen a spike in the number of CUES Facebook fans. Once our GMA entries start coming in, we should have a better idea of the effort's success. I'll keep you posted.
Has your credit union used Facebook or Twitter to offer exclusive deals? What kind of response have you gotten? Any reason why you wouldn't use social media to promote special offers?
