We live in an age when people do everything online. Buy and pay everything online, search for answers to their questions online because the internet has all the answers they need. This is the reason why most companies invest in acquiring a small space online through websites and make use of free social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Multiply to name a few in promoting their products.

Social media has been modernized to reach a wider market in the internet and big and small companies alike have utilized this to promote their products and build a reputation. Social media is now the new “in” thing for effective business marketing and sales.

I, for one, have used these sites in promoting my baked goods, my plush toys and my couture dresses. I could say that reaching out to thousands of people comes cheap and effective with Social Media.

Going back, a lot of pharmaceutical companies have joined the band wagon. Medicine brands campaign using social media and they promote their products in so many ways such as:

1. Blog writing contests
2. The “invite your friends to become a fan of <product>” marketing strategy commonly used in Facebook.
3. Voting contests

and a lot more…

Personally, I don’t join voting contests (i.e. the “Like” my photo/entry on Facebook) because it does not convey anything positive about the product. It’s just like luring the people to “like” the page and entry because they want the reward at the end of the contest. I prefer contests where consumers are made to testify the efficacy of the product because it is more sincere and sensible. One example is the Garnier 8888 promo:

I joined the contest because I am a firm believer of Garnier’s efficacy. All the things I say about Garnier are true so in a way I was telling my readers that the product’s claims are indeed true.

There’s also a contest in Nuffnang back then, the “Glutamax See the Results” promo. I was tempted to join but because I don’t use the product, I decided not to. Glutamax is something I don’t personally use so why should I make people believe that I really use the product?

But I guess, this is just me talking. Most people join contests because of the “reward” and not because they believe on the product. Companies invest on these people. Because the wider market they can reach, the bigger returns they would get.