The Grand Social Networking Experiment - part II

We are two weeks into our campaign and have 5% of our Facebook fan base as active contest participants. We expect more as we open up some of the points earning areas, and announce more prizes. Those enrolled in the contest are playing it most of the days. But what has it done for the event? We are adding more than 100 fans per week to our site

And here is the surprise, sponsors. Event sponsorship is hard to come by in our ever penny-pinching "back to the basics" economy. Sponsors like the campaign, the constant attention, inter action with our Fan and e-blast subscriber base. And so we are adding -- adding to the campaign as it continues. It is a fluid promotion that allows for expansion. We're sending contestants to sponsors. We're sending them to their website. We're sending new prospects to their data base. Heck - we're sending them to the stores and place of business. You gotta love that!

The not-so-much-surprise … It takes constant vigilance and we have several folks doing that 24-7. So for those of you wishing to launch a similar campaign -- better either hire staff that know social media manners, an agency or both. Where you save marketing money on print and broadcast now -- you should invest on your web strategy.

(For the record, I hate it when someone tells me they have gone back to the basics.  The "Basics" are dead. What they have done is stopped spending on effective marketing; put people on phones; blamed advertising for their bad economy, and usually wasted money on a passive print campaign. Don't tell me you went back to the basics. You got cheap and tossed away creativity. And I just love it when you tell me you would rather buy an iphone app than a mobi site. Count you as one of the new complainers who tells me internet marketing doesn't work. Look around you … How many of your business associates are on i- phones? and … did you notice the network? I did … I'm on ATT went to a 2g phone because their 3g network drops calls.. So Verizon will eventually get an i-phone... they have what droids now?  Think about it. Are you going to invest your entire mobile strategy on a fraction of the market?)

If you're trying to figure this all out ... some of my reading material for the past 18 months. "New Rules for Marketing and PR," "Twitter Power," "Social Media Marketing,"  and "Putting the Public back in Public Relations."

Melody Brunsting is president of Melody's Ad Works, Inc. and marketing and public relations company that specializes in event promotion, non-profit events and specialty retail.