5 Actionable Tips to Better Integrate Social Media into Your Awards Program

Most event brands already have their communities integrated on social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, for their awards to evolve customer relationships based on new data sources such as social data and communication channels like social communities. So how is this done? Let’s find out.

Why social media is crucial for your awards program 

Why is social media so important for your awards program social media strategy? Social platforms help you connect with your customers better, increase awareness about your event brand, and boost your leads, turning them into sales. With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, this is no passing trend for awards.

How to integrate social media into your awards program

To easily integrate social media, you should upload the list of your subscribers to the social networks. After that, you can invite your social media followers to subscribe to your email list and vice versa. When you tap into an incentive-based referral marketing strategy (including a “retweet this” tag, unique hashtags, early bird specials, etc.) in your emails, you bond your social media community together with your service and thus your awards or contests.

Things to avoid

Often, businesses running awards programs get discouraged because their efforts don’t yield the desired results. As such, this part of their awards marketing strategy grows stagnant or gets abandoned altogether. You should avoid giving up too soon if there are no evident results yet. Any kind of work related to social media engagement is a long-term task.

Creating a social media strategy

Your social media program needs a well-thought-out media strategy. To come up with an effective awards strategy, you should do the following:

• Appraise your current social presence
• Review your target audience
• Document who your ideal customer is
• Create a social media mission statement
• Identify key success metrics
• Create and put together engaging content
• Invest in a perfect awards management tool
• Integrate social media into your awards
• Track, analyse, optimise, etc.

A checklist for creating a good social media strategy will help you to achieve the maximum synergy with your social media channels.

Synergy with social media

To achieve incredible synergy with your social media, you should use some of these tips in combination. Try the following:

Social Media + SEO

Social media can be beneficial to your SEO performance. Social media complements your organic search efforts.

Social Media + Email Marketing

To increase your social media reach, combine your email marketing and social media efforts. Learn how to build an email list using various social media.

Social Media + Virtual Events

Look at virtual events and how they integrate with social media. You can then create your own social media walls, social media virtual conferences, and other virtual activities.

Social Media + Live Events

To maximize your prospective efforts at live events, use social media walls and drive social media engagement and sponsorship revenues.

Social Media + Market Research

Social media research is a powerful tool for many companies. It is a critical, although imperfect, source of raw, honest market research; so make sure you use this too.

5 tips to grow your awards program through social media

Getting started with social media marketing can be intimidating, so there are five key tips you should follow to effectively integrate and promote your awards business on social networks.

Market your program through social media

Let people know about your program before your entries ever open. Choose the right platforms to market your program through social media. Go to where your followers usually go: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc., and share the news about your program. You can provide updates, timelines, inspiration, and so much more.

Share stories of recognition

Inspire your audience with greatness. Storytelling is the best way to engage your audience. When you tell your story, you can double the positive effects. What did it take to win?

Communicate often with your program participants

An ideal place to post regular program updates without inundating your participant’s email box is through your social media channels. This is where you can add any information you want to share during the awards program lifecycle.

Use Twitter as a fast and effective support tool

Seventy-seven percent of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand they’re familiar with, which makes it a perfect way to  support your users during your program.

Announce and recognise winners across social

The fastest way to share the good news about your social media program outcome is your chosen social media platform. It can also be a good reminder of why your program exists in the first place. Finally, it is a good place to announce the winners and thank everyone for their participation.

Call to action

The main differences in social media marketing are control and interaction. The control is more dispersed and determined by the client. The focus is not the transaction but the interaction. Your CTA should lead your customers in the right direction and correct their steps along the way. Determining the right actionable CTAs for your program can be an art form.

Conclusion

By creating a social media presence and buzz around your brand and program, you’ll be able to grow your entries and program reach, attract the industry leaders for B2B as top-level judges, and create a lasting impression on your industry and social media community. Just think of that!  

Feel free to ask for help. Do not forget to leave your comments below!