This post explores a marketing tactic tweeted by the winner of Inman News’ latest #madREskillz contest. Tweet an innovative marketing tactic on Thursday and tag it with #madREskillz for a chance to become our next winner.
It’s a question that agents and brokerages across the country ask themselves every day: “How do I get people to like my Facebook page?”
Promotions offering cash prizes are one approach. Dream Town Realty, for example, handed out $7,000 to winners of a photo contest it held. Agents who sign up for N-Play’s Dream Sweeps automatically host monthly $1,000 raffles.
Referred Realty Group — winner of Inman News’ latest #madREskillz contest — took a quirkier approach. Instead of offering greenbacks, it dangled a tub of tacos.
The brokerage, a five-person shop based in The Woodlands, Texas, launched the promotion in January, when its fledgling Facebook page seemed stuck at about 30 likes, said Vanessa Meyer, a marketing consultant for Referred Realty Group.
She and Referred Realty’s owner, Courtney Foster, wanted to run some sort of promotion that could push their following up to 100 fans. So to tie the promotion to that goal, they decided that they would hand out 100 of something to one winner.
During a brainstorming session, Foster blurted out, “Tacos!” Meyer said. And that was that.
“You’ll have a 1 in 100 chance of entertaining with 100 delicious tacos, or you can choose to tell no one and just enjoy them ALL yourself,” Referred Realty Group said in a blog post introducing the promotion.
Three months later they achieved their goal. Last week, they held a draw at a happy hour they host twice a month. The raffle generated record turnout for the gathering, Foster said, and the winner, a local businesswoman, “went nuts on Facebook.”
Referred Realty Group agents and clients at a happy hour where the brokerage held a draw for its “Tacos for Likes” promotion.
Referred Realty milked the event for additional promotional value by posting video and photos of the draw on Facebook and Twitter, Foster said.
Compared to some other promotions, the campaign’s results aren’t exactly mind-blowing. The promotion helped either retain or generate 100 followers over a three-month period. Given that each taco cost a little over $1, Referred Realty Group could be seen as having paid $1 to either acquire or retain each of the 100 followers it had when the promotion ended.
But Meyer said that “Tacos for Likes” isn’t done bearing fruit yet. Referred Realty stands to gain additional exposure when the winner actually claims the feast she’s entitled to.
“We will publicize the entire journey,” Meyer said.
