Harness social media, says web marketer – it works!
DURHAM REGION, ON JAN. 10, 2009: When web marketing expert Sue Sutcliffe prepared for her annual Christmas shutdown, she decided to try an experiment with Facebook. She simply updated her status line on the social networking site: “Sue is working our “The 12 Days of Christmas Special”. Anyone interested in donating a prize?”
The speed and magnitude of the results astounded her. From that 16-word appeal, her Facebook friends pledged five prize offers within an hour, and nine within one business day. In the same time span, traditional methods – talking to people – brought in only two donations, but required substantially greater time and effort.
Sutcliffe runs aWEBthatWORKS.com, a Bowmanville-based “one-stop web shoppe.” She conceived of the contest as a way to sustain interest in daily entries to her web marketing blog, to keep her company name top of mind, and to stimulate business, but she also wanted to demonstrate the power of social media. She created a blog post for the each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and a Facebook group that displayed the prizes, the sponsors and links to their websites. She generated community among them and leveraged their contact databases as well as her own to communicate her message. In a matter of days, the group grew to 69 members.
“What’s remarkable about this contest is that, other than two contacts, it was produced strictly through social marketing. Social marketing promoted my blog, and my associates who donated prizes. And what did it cost me?” asks the canny entrepreneur. “Nothing.”
“And it was a wicked prize pack.” She grins, rhyming it all off: “Dinner for two at the Cedar Beach Grill, a bottle of wine from Life in Clarington, a $50 gift card from Sector 57 Paintball, non-alcoholic beverages from Tracy Donnelly. David Cohen pitched in an hour of business coaching. Cleaning supplies & service from Turner Clean, a winter warm-up gift set from Inspired Imprints, a teleclass called “The Branded Business Funnel” from Essential Message. A free consultation from RMA Spencer Group, 10% off labour from Gary’s Home Improvements, 25% off video production from Modern Media Perspectives. And a free website starter kit from aWEBthatWORKS.”
Doug Wentzel, owner of Rise ‘n’ Shine Blinds (www.risenshine.ca), was the lucky contest winner. The 62-year-old businessman admits he hasn’t been on Facebook for long. He was delighted to learn that the prize was his. “What a great way to start 2009 off — I think it’s a sign of good things to come.”
“Social media is the new craze – it’s the new Internet,” says Sutcliffe. “Facebook has a hundred and twenty million users – isn’t that amazing?” she muses.
Sites like Facebook are no longer limited to the very young. At a time when businesses are practising restraint and the “R” word prompts worried frowns, social media is escalating into a promising — and economical — business tool to reach a burgeoning client base.
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Public speaker and entrepreneur Sue Sutcliffe is a recognized Internet pioneer and web-marketing guru. Her company, A Web That Works (www.AWEBthatWORKS.com), has been helping organizations market their products and services on the web since 1993. Her business offers a full line of website marketing services including website design, hosting and promotion. Sue is a leader in her industry, the business world and her community.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Sue Sutcliffe
aWEBthatWORKS
(905) 263-2666, (800) 579-9253
