Are you running promotions such as contests and sweepstakes on your Facebook wall or through the photo album?

Then you might be at risk that Facebook will close your page down, as you are likely violating Facebook´s policy. Recently, a company we were talking with received a serious warning from Facebook because of these issues and is now looking for a solution.

Is there a risk free Solution for running Promotions?
The answer is yes – The strategy recommended from Facebook’s own guidelines is to run promotions through an application, as an application is a 3rd party platform.

Last week we at SkandNet had the pleasure to meet two Facebook employees from the European Headquarters in Dublin, with whom we are working with closely. Not surprisingly, one of the topics discussed was the delivery of promotions. Here is a short overview.

This Type of Promotion ISN´T allowed:

• You are not allowed to use the native Facebook tools to run your promotions, such as the Facebook photo app or the wall. Don´t post the promotion or explain the rules there.
• Do not ask members to contribute content by leaving a comment (such as “leave a comment today at 12am about what you like most about our product and win…)
• Do not ask people to post photos to your wall or photo album in order to win a prize.
• Do not ask members to use the ‘like’ thumb to vote for something.

Or more generally: Do not use any “native” Facebook tools to run your promotions! Admittedly, that was quite a few no no’s. But despite this there is a strategy approved by Facebook to run your promotions…

This Type of Promotion IS allowed:

• You can mention a promotion on your FB page and you can promote it using Facebook ads. You can post a link to a promotion on your website – but in this case you are losing the connection with Facebook and the benefit of all the viral features which will generate additional new followers.
• The promotion of an application by implementing all the powerful viral features available, such as automated notifications, friend’s invites or share.
• You can also integrate the application as a tab in your Facebook page and offer it exclusively to fans.
• You could also for instance run a photo contest, where people upload their photo directly through the application.

Companies which have conducted promotions on the wall will immediately see the benefits of using an application. It is not only within the Facebook guidelines (with Facebook providing you access to their user base and giving your brand the possibility to interact with these users), it also makes the whole promotion much more user friendly, more structured, easier to understand and follow.

Rules aside – what do Facebook Users think about Companies and Promotions on Facebook? Is it worth your Time and Resources?

A study done by ExactTarget brought to us by emarketer shows that 40% of Facebook users are ‘friending’ a company with the motivation of receiving discounts and promotions. Another study estimated this number as being as high as 64%.

So here are some easy tips how to get people talking about you on Facebook:

Offer a Christmas Gift Wishlist
Facebook users like to share – so give them a possibility to easily create and share their wishlist. Show your products, let them pick their favorites and let them tell their friends about it. If you create the wishlist as a facebook application, you can make use of a lot of viral features. Maybe your friends will soon be able to see updates like this in their newsfeed: “Peter has started with his x-mas wishlist. Also want one? Join…”

Run a Photo Contest
Why not initiate a photo contest and make Facebook users upload their funniest, nicest, happiest photo of their x-mas calender? Even let facebook users vote on which picture is the best! Just another good example of how a traditional marketing idea can be seaminglessly introduced into Facebook using a facebook application.

Show your Company´s favorite Christmas Products
Do you have a Facebook Page, with not much more than the Wall, some events and a few photos on it? Then it might be time to tune it up! Why not create a new tab and show your favorite products, maybe even a “buy-button” and a link to your website. There are different possibilites around how this might be implemented -  such as RSS feeds, screendumps with links or iframes.

Run a Special X-mas Coupon Promotion

Around 60% of facebook users are friending companies because they want special deals. So why not providing a coupon which can be redeemed in a webshop or in an offline store? Re alized as a facebook application, this is how a coupon could look.

Inspire with a Christmas Quiz
X-mas is a time where people are really open for product and gift inspirations. Quizzes, done in a fun and engaging way, make consumers think and get involved with your product and brand. But don´t forget to reward the Facebook members who are sharing and inviting friends to join your quiz, this is the best way to boost viral spread.

So you may ask: “What´s so new about all this – photo contest and quizzes, have been done hundreds of times…”

Put simply “what´s new” is the integration within the world´s largest community. Your promotions have the chance to reach an enormous audience of Facebook users. Then it is these Facebook users themselves that spread the word to their friends, becoming brand ambassadors for your company. This huge reach, combined with permission marketing and friend recommendations – make facebook a totally unique marketing channel. That´s what makes it new!

We´d be happy to discuss some ideas with you. Please contact us under +46-8-12032520 or at nicole.glaeser@skandnet.com.

Yours,
Nicole Gläser Eriksson ]]> http://www.skandnetnews.se/2010/10/07/5-tips-for-your-x-mas-promotion-on-facebook/feed/ 0 http://www.skandnetnews.se/2010/06/14/nordic-consumers-are-confident-and-ready-to-spend/ http://www.skandnetnews.se/2010/06/14/nordic-consumers-are-confident-and-ready-to-spend/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:14 +0000 admin http://www.skandnetnews.se/?p=166 Consumer confidence continues to improve in Norway, Sweden and Finland, but Denmark has dropped eight index points in Q1 2010 compared to six months ago. While concern about the economy and job security still remains, Nordic consumers are more optimistic than the rest of Europe regarding the state of their personal finances and their willingness to spend.

The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey was conducted between 8 March – March 26, 2010 among more than 27,000 consumers in 55 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and the Middle East.

Major Concerns

While the economy is still the major concern in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, Norwegians are more concerned about other issues such as work/life balance and childrens education and/or welfare.

On a European average, the major concerns are the economy (23%) followed by job security (21%) and health (20%).

Spending Intentions

When it comes to utilizing spare cash, financial security is still a priority. Norwegians and Swedes are the top two countries in Europe, preferring to put their spare cash into savings.

When it comes to spending, holidays/vacations is still the top category together with home improvements.

Changing Spending Habits

To save on household expenses, the following said that they have changed their spending habits: Finland: 40% (- 3% compared to October 2009 Survey) Sweden: 41% (+3%), Norway: 36% (- 1%), Denmark: 36% (flat).

Consumers in the Nordics have not changed their spending habits to the same extent as the rest of Europe. On a European average, 63% said that they have changed their spending habits compared to one year ago.

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“There is no doubt anymore that societal networks, reaching a lot more than 50% of the total US Web audience, are an important aspect of the Internet experience,” mentioned Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new record “Societal System Demographics and Consumption.”

By 2014, nearly two-thirds of all World wide web customers, or 164.9 million folks, will be normal customers of societal systems.

US Societal Network Users, 2008-2014 (millions and per-cent of World wide web users)

Previous calendar year, the societal circle audience widened sharply beyond the base of teens and young adults who popularized the activity.
This 12 months, 59.2 percent of adult World wide web customers will pay a visit to societal systems monthly, up from 52.4 percent in 2009.

“Teens and youthful adults are older news,” explained Ms. Williamson. “This 12 months, 60per cent of Net consumers ages 35 to 44 and a single-half of those in the 45-to-54 age group will use social systems at lowest when a 30 days. Ladies, particularly moms, are nevertheless driving very much of the growth.”

By 2014, these modifications will grow to be a lot more pronounced.
Much more than one particular-50 % (56.8%) of 55-to-64-yr-aged Net consumers will check out societal systems on a regular basis that yr, up from 34.3per cent in 2009. Even seniors 65 and up, only 14.1 percent of whom utilized sociable networks in ‘09, will get in on the act, reaching 37.9 percent penetration in 2014.

US Interpersonal Circle Consumers, by Age, 2008-2014 (percent of Net users in every group)

“The connections and interactions that social networking creates achievable didn’t even exist a couple of short years ago,” mentioned Ms. Williamson. “Status updating, commenting and sharing openly are all routines that will not go away.”

The total report, “Interpersonal Multilevel Demographics and Utilization,” also answers these essential questions:

* How a lot of men and women use sociable systems?
* Will Facebook, the World wide web juggernaut, grow even bigger?
* What are the major actions folks do on interpersonal systems?
* How are shoppers employing mobile devices and place-aware providers to improve their social networking experience?

via Social Media No. 1 Emerging Channel for Lead Gen – eMarketer.

“Advertising material can be changed on a regular basis, so that the advertiser always has top up-to-date special deals on Ryanair. Through special discounts and printable coupons for Ryanair travelers, advertisers can track down advertising success even for offline sales”, explains Nicole Gläser, Sales Director at SkandNet Media. “The advertising possibilities are a great addition to SkandNets display advertising portfolio in the Nordics.”

There are three online ad spaces available on each destination page.

Ryanair’s free destination guides provide online information about must see activities including tours, nightlife, local attractions, up-to-date events, food and drink, airport information, weather, maps and much more.
Ryanair’s destination guides will be regularly updated to give small local businesses the opportunity to provide great travel offers to Ryanair’s 73million passengers – allowing local tourism to grow in line with Ryanair’s unrivalled passenger growth.

SkandNet Media AB is delighted to announce a premium site representation deal with Ryanair.com for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Through Ryanair your clients will have the unique opportunity to market themselves on Europe´s largest low fares airline:

• Unparalleled reach in European travel segment
• Rich in high spending 25-44 year old demographic
• Proven to respond to offers and to transact online

Advertisers receive prime position placement on the Ryanair.

Check out our PDF here

The “2010 Consumer Study,” which polled predominantly female (71%) US online buyers, found that 55% of respondents claim to be more fiscally responsible as a result of the recession, while a further 29% don’t believe hard economic times are not over yet. The vast majority are planning to stick to the basics and purchase only what they need or can get a deal on. In addition, 54% say this will lead them to spend more time online either researching before an offline purchase or searching for coupons, sales and sweepstakes.

Overall, this will lead to more online shopping for 64% of those surveyed, though most plan to make the same number of online purchases they did in 2009. More than one-half of online buyers found online ads helpful when researching and shopping online.

While one-third of the online buyers who were aided by ads said they helped them save money, the majority appreciated online ads   for informing them about a new product or service.

Those behaviours were reversed when respondents were asked what types of ads they found were most helpful, with the majority favouring printable coupons and offers.

Printable tips were most likely to earn the notice of US Internet users, cited by 60% as the most attention-grabbing kind of online advertisement. Video ads came in a distant second, at 19%.

In just two years the event has become one of the Nordics strongest events, attended by thousands of industry proffessionals who come together to discuss business, network and listen to expert speakers.

Chrome’s share of the browser market rose from 1.62 percent in March of last year to 5.22 percent last month, according to Net Application trend data.

During the same period, Internet Explorer’s piece of the Web browser market dropped from 68.46 percent to 62.12 percent, Net Application reported.

The percentage of people using Safari browser software tailored for Apple’s Macintosh computers went from 3.63 percent in March of last year to 4.53 percent in January.

“I think what Microsoft is seeing is that when people upgrade from IE 6 they don’t necessarily go to IE 8,” said Net Application spokesman Vince Vizzaccaro.

“They have been very vocal with trying to get people to upgrade, and people may be looking around to see what other browsers are available.”

About two weeks ago, Microsoft released a patch for an IE 6 software hole through which China-based cyber spies attacked Google and other firms.

Attackers used email or some other lure to get employees of a targeted company to click on a link and visit a specially crafted website using IE.

Malicious software would then be downloaded that has the capability to essentially install ‘back doors’ in machines and give hackers access.

The US software giant advised people to upgrade from IE6, which is nearly a decade old.

No matter which Web browser people use, upgrading to the most current version promises to increase protection against hackers.

Net Application data from January showed that while a fifth of the world’s machines still used IE 6 to explore the Internet, IE 8 took the top spot with 25.56 percent of the overall market.

“We launched just less than a year ago, so it?s both humbling and thrilling to see so many people choose our product so quickly — making it the most popular browser of choice worldwide,” Brandon LeBlanc of the Windows Team wrote Tuesday in a blog post.

IE 7 and 8 browsers have together tallied more than 350 million blocks of malicious software and links to 125 million “phishing” websites devised to trick people into disclosing valuable information such as passwords.

“You may have recently heard about organizations including Google recommending that people update their browsers and move off older versions, such as the nearly decade-old IE 6,” LeBlanc wrote.

“Think about what technology and the Internet were like in the year 2000 and consider how they?ve evolved since then. It was a different time and people?s browsing needs were different. Today?s Internet calls for more.”

Original article can be found here