Twitter Tip to Create Viral Effect

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I’m not going to talk about how big Twitter is and how much potential it holds. We already know this.

I want to talk about a tactic to help you get more followers & attention, and make some people happy - which also has the potential to create an evangelist out of them.

Twitter Contests.

How It Works

You create a contest that can only be entered via Twitter by following you and retweeting a specific Tweet.

To enter the contest, a user must follow you and retweet your specified Tweet. That user’s followers will see the contest and join if they’re interested…which means they also follow you and retweet your Tweet. And then that user’s followers…and the cycle continues.

Maybe your Tweet says “I just entered to win XXX! Follow “your Twitter username” and reTweet to enter too. “insert link to blog post about contest”.” (format from @michellem ’s latest contest)

When the winner is chosen, you direct message them announcing their win and they must respond within a specified amount of time (generally 24-48 hours). You Tweet their win, they Tweet their win. You send them their prize and ask them to Tweet their receipt of it and maybe even ask, or give them an incentive, to also post a picture or video (via Twitter and anywhere else they want) showing their prize, talking about it, winning, etc.

The Effect

Obviously, we talked about the ripple effect of followers and reTweets. But you’re also going to:

stir up a little traffic and additional exposure
make someone very happy with their prize (people love free stuff and there’s nothing better for you than happy people)
possibly turn them into someone who talks about and recommends you
have more followers that will be reading your Tweets in the future

Tips

Make sure you Tweet the contest a couple of times. Don’t be spammy or too noisy but it’s a fact that the people that see it will vary according to how noisy their stream is, what time of day it is, etc. So spread out a couple of Tweets about it.

Post info about the contest on your blog and in other appropriate places which might be other social profiles you have, other websites you have, and email signatures.

Be sure you include the details like:

what the rules are
what the prize(s) is/are
a detailed description of the prize(s)
how many winners there will be
when the contest ends (date and time, include time zone)
how the winner will be notified and how long they have to respond

Contest Ideas

If you are a service provider, maybe offer some sort of service for free. Maybe you offer xxx amount of your time for free. Depending on what you do, maybe you offer a website makeover or something.

You can also consider products to give away like a computer, a book (whether it’s yours or not, something of high value though even if it doesn’t cost a ton), a digital camera, or other item. If you are offering a service, and you do a fantastic job, you’re sure to create an evangelist.

Consider giving multiple prizes: these can be the same prizes or a tier of different prizes, and maybe even more than 1 of certain ones (if possible).

Contests are something that people have long indulged in. People enjoy them, and they certainly enjoy free stuff. Heck, some people make a living out of entering and winning free stuff.

The opportunity is here to get creative. And the end result is good for you and others so it’s a win-win situation.

Have you ran a Twitter contest? How did it go? What did you offer?

Have other contest ideas? Hit that comment box!