As we’ve defined in the past, Participatory Marketing is all about getting people involved in promoting your brand.  One of the most common and effective marketing tactics used to engage prospects and customers are contests.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that marketers faced with declining budgets and sales are turning to this participatory marketing staple in the hopes of engaging users.  But what’s so different about contests today is that most have a social media twist in an effort to further extend one’s message and stretch one’s budget.  What’s not so different is that they continue to use traditional media (i.e. TV, print, email, online banners, PR, etc.) to promote them.  Take The Limited, who begun promoting a new e-commerce store with a viral marketing contest and campaign.  The program invites users to create “The Ultimate Outfit” using The Limited’s products and share those outfits by posting them on social networking sites (i.e. facebook and MySpace).  Users can also communicate directly on The Limited’s website by sharing their thoughts about the outfits they created and where users could wear them.  In addition, visitors are encouraged to vote on posted entries.  As of today, the contest, which began on November 5^th, has 7,900 entries and 520,000 page views.  According to DMNews, The Limited’s outfits have been posted to MySpace a total of 25,000 times. 

The Limited will choose a winning outfit at the conclusion of the campaign which will end in approximately 25 days.  The winner will receive an all expenses paid trip with a friend to Chicago, Dallas or Miami to meet a personal stylist along with a $2,000 shopping spree. 

Nicely done.  Also note one of the first pieces of information The Limited requests is email - which they will use as the primary tool to keep the conversation going.  

If you’ve seen a cool participatory marketing program in action, let us know by posting a comment or sending us an email at info@thepmn.org.