Six simple steps to market your awards through social media

“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we do it” –

Erik Qualman

When was the last time you have not heard someone speak of Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? Definitely not in the recent past. Social media has taken prominence in our day-to-day lives, more so, for businesses, organizations, and marketers. This is their go-to place to create an impact about their brand – create an awareness virtually, the ripples of which are felt faster than old school advertising. The world is integrated into the social media like never before. This is where the audience is.

Coming to our pivotal point of discussion, awards marketing, how would social media aid in marketing an awards program in order to receive an increased number of submissions a  With the rise of automation software for streamlining the whole awards process, we can now actually concentrate on marketing the program online.  While you plan for the list of tasks to be completed, social media marketing must definitely occupy a major portion of your plan. Completing the list of tasks to be done is the first step towards the awards program. B Online awards submission is one such major part of the awards management process where the use of social media tools helps reach your target audience. Here we tell you how and why!

Online branding is an important aspect of any product/service marketing today,  this refers to the impact and visibility an organization has on the web.  Following these six simple steps will make increasing submissions through social media channels a cake walk for any business.

1. Attract Visually, Appease Globally

Images have more impact than just content and it has been proven especially in social media channels time and time again. Eye-grabbing and creative promo ads and banners on the awards program on your social media pages draw your followers’ attention as well as helps bring more followers on your social channels. This will, in turn, lead to a high traffic to your awards website and an increased number of submissions.

2. Advertising is a Business of Words

Ads can never fail, invest in good ads depending on the size and nature of the awards program. Ads reach out faster and help gain interest to read in detail and submit the entries online. Social media paid advertising campaigns helps place your ad right where your target audience are. Segment and reach out to them with the right content at the right time – this is a fool-proof way to increase your submissions online.

3. Be the Public Voice – Go Viral

Social sharing is a great way to let others know what you want them to know. Share content that is of common interest to your audience, not just promotional content. Allow for applicants to share their submission/showcase their participation in this awards program, this is what happens in social sharing, which in turn helps your reach to a wider audience.

4. Use the Right Tools and Techniques

Keep yourself constantly updated with the latest social media tools and tricks to reach out to a wider and precise audience. Be it Twitter hashtags or Google retargeting ads, to know when to use what on social media makes you plan work more effectively. Say on Twitter, you can create a hashtag trend and a buzz around it by encouraging your audience to use your hashtags and surprise them with coupons, which will create a buzz and interest in your program. Use hashtags to let people know when the awards results will be announced when online submissions close and so on.

5. Grow and Help Grow

You would create an awards program page where you invite your audience to view details and submit awards online from the comfort of their homes. While you promote your main cause, you can also create a common interest group that helps create a web of similar users which will act as an online platform to ask questions, post polls and receive votes.

6. Join Other Similar Communities and Groups

Participate, be active, visible. Spread the word about your awards, your purpose, the other issues in your community. Establish yourself as a thought leader among fellow group members. Build trust, build your brand.

Conclusion

Now that you have a comprehensive system to manage your complete online awards submission, all you need to do is make use of social media tools to gain visibility. The simplification of the submission process in itself will help increase submission entries automatically.