In Social Media, It’s All About Providing Value
Last week, I wrote about “The Three Keys to Building Community Through Social Media.” It has been my contention that the most overlooked ingredient to building communities is the one I refer to as “providing value.” In the past week, I’ve paid particular attention to how various Westchester businesses are doing exactly that — “providing value” to their audiences.
Providing value to your target audiences can be accomplished in countless ways, but it’s always helpful if the business or organization is able to think from the perspective of the customer or audience member. In other words, “What would you value, if you were in their shoes?”
I saw an interesting example of this last week, as Bronxville-based artist Graig Kreindler offered an original painting valued at $2,400 to whichever of his fans was able to bring the most new fans to his Facebook page. Kreindler asked that new fans simply leave a comment on his page, telling who had referred them, and at the end of the week the person with the most referrals was the winner. This very simple contest netted Kreindler — one of the country’s most respected baseball artists — more than 1,300 new fans, and the engagement level on his page is now higher than ever, just in time for the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.
“I thought it would be a great way to get my work in front of a lot of new people, and in a fast manner.” Kreindler said, of the contest. “With an incentive to get something for free for their efforts, I suppose the people who follow me got really excited. Before the week was over, I even had another commission to show for it.”
“Before I ran the contest, I had about 720 fans on my page. Less than 24 hours later, I had doubled my original number. When all was said and done, I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 2130 fans.”
The prospect of winning an original painting served as a strong motivator for members of Kreindler’s target audience — but businesses often achieve excellent results with much less expensive rewards. When it comes to contests, sometimes a small prize coupled with people’s competitive spirit is all that is needed.
Take, for example, the photo caption contest on the Rye Playland Facebook page. That page — with more than 14,000 fans — is able to create a very high level of engagement for each contest, all for the cost of a canvas tote bag. Using its outstanding collection of vintage photos as the foundation for this entertaining contest, the iconic amusement park generates interest in its page as it builds its audience.
Other ways to give value include solving people’s problems, doling out helpful information, or providing entertainment. When I created the Westchester Social Media Facebook page, one of my objectives was to build a community of people with an interest in social media in New York metropolitan area. What better way to provide value to this community than to curate and create useful content that they might find useful or interesting? There are numerous others in this community who are contributing immensely to these efforts (just check out the page for links to their websites and Facebook pages), and they are also deriving the benefits associated with building communities.
I was recently asked to help my church set up its Facebook page, and I realized that for an organization such as a church or synagogue, the value provided can be as simple as giving people an organized way to obtain and exchange information. In other words, build it and they will come.
Think of all the reasons that go into why you join particular organizations, click on the links you do, or participate in certain activities. Are these choices not governed by the value you perceive to be associated with each choice? Think as your customers think — then go forth and provide value!
Chris S. Cornell is the Director of Social Media at Thompson & Bender — a Westchester-based PR, advertising and marketing firm. He manages several online communities, and consults, speaks and writes about social media. He is also the owner of Cornell Gallery, a custom framing business in Pleasantville. You can follow Chris on Twitter.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.