How to Use Social Media in Incentive Programs

Using an incentive program might just be all you need to do to boost your partners’ productivity. But if you like the idea of that program exceeding all expectations, you might want to consider using social media to turn it into an even bigger success.

The importance of incentive programs

According to the Incentive Research Foundation, there are a few things that separate top-performing companies from the crowd. And one of them has to do with incentivizing. Namely, a staggering 81 percent of those that are most successful use some kind of incentive program to reward their channel partners.

Why is this so? It’s simply because the potential ROI is far from insignificant. Based on research done by the abovementioned foundation, we’re talking about figures such as 32 percent.

And with today’s technology, the costs of creating a successful incentive program are almost insignificant. There is even software you can use as an all-in-one tool for setting up, automating and managing every aspect of your channel incentives program. The result is a much higher level of motivation and productivity among your partners.

But to make your incentive program a major success, you should consider using social media to improve and promote it even further.

Best practices of using social media in incentive programs

Creating social media accounts for the program

If you’re running a business, chances are you already have social media accounts set up. But don’t just start posting about your incentive program using those same accounts.

Why is this not a good idea? Remember the first rule of succeeding in social media marketing - relevance, relevance, relevance. And you probably have a lot of followers who aren’t and will never become your channel partners. You definitely won’t gain anything by serving those people posts about some program that has nothing to do with them. In fact, you might even do some damage to your status.

But if you create separate social media accounts for participants in your incentive program, you’ll only do your business good.

Creating an exclusive community

As a business, you need to take digital marketing services to improve your status. And creating separate social media accounts for your incentive program gives you just such an opportunity.

How so? Isn’t it right that, as soon as you present something as exclusive, it immediately becomes more desirable? It’s a simple psychological truth that marketers have been taking advantage of since the dawn of time. So why not use it to raise the status of your incentive program?

And to make it even better, you won’t have to do much to advertise the community as exclusive. It can be as simple as setting the account up as a private group, so that when your followers get the invitation, they know they’re joining something not everyone has access to.

Giving participants constant updates

Once you have everything set up, it’s time to start posting content. One of the goals of your new accounts will be to keep all the channel partners in the loop.

Of course, you could be wondering why you should waste time and resources on repurposing content. After all, chances are you’re already sending your channel partners emails, if nothing else.

But as we all know, getting a long email and coming across a short social media post are two entirely different things. By using all your channels to your advantage, you might just keep more of your channel partners engaged for longer periods of time.

Awarding points for engagement

To make it really worthwhile to your channel partners, you should consider turning your social media accounts into another way for them to profit. And you can even do it without investing money.

For example, you could give your partners points whenever they engage with your posts. You could choose any action you think would be beneficial to your incentive program. It could be anything from liking the post to leaving a comment. The result will be a more eager audience that will eventually turn into a more productive group of sellers.

Using content to build greater loyalty

Chances are you’ll get great results even if you use your social media content just to give your partners the necessary updates on your incentive program. But why stop there?

Imagine creating posts that aren’t just relevant and informative. They’re also successful at building a certain image of your brand that your partners find worthy of respect. Now that’s the way to build true loyalty.

And just to give an example of such content, you could start by including partner success stories in which you also make it clear what your brand values are.

Making the posts shareable

If you really want to take things to the next level, you can use your social media content in the same way you use all your assets. You can create it with the purpose of advancing your overarching business strategy.

What does this mean? Instead of limiting yourself to informative and personal content, why not give your partners reasons to share it as well? This way, you increase your chances of onboarding new partners without lifting a finger to recruit them.

Of course, developing a strategy for such content requires you to know your current and target audiences. But there are some types of content that are by default much more likely to be shared. They include:

• Videos
• Infographics
• Slideshows and other visual content

Measuring the performance of your program

If you want your incentive program to be a major success, you need to track its overall performance. But when you use social media to help grow it, you get another channel you can use for gathering valuable data. Fortunately, all social media platforms have business sections. And you can use those to closely monitor what’s working, so you can gain a better understanding of how your program could be improved.

Conclusion

Social media is a powerful tool. And creating a social media community for your incentive program can only make it more successful. So follow the tips above and you’re bound to see an increase in your partners’ productivity, maybe even in the numbers of new partners signing up.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does successful incentive programs mean?

Creating a successful motivational program stimulates more successful outcomes. If you follow the advice from the article, then there will be an increase in the performance of your partners, perhaps even in the number of new subscribers.