In an effort to help business owners jump-start their social media and advertising efforts, co-founders Mike Vosters and Gabe Stein launched Swagtag — a website where visitors could participate in daily Twitter contests.
Swagtag posts sponsored hashtags on its site every day and rewards users that tweet it with swag from the day’s sponsors. The point is to get people talking around a specific hashtag. To be eligible to win, the hashtag must be included in the tweet.
The site, which has only been live for two weeks, uses a point system to determine winners. The tweet with the highest score — based on retweets and on-site voting — takes home the prize. Ultimately the outcome is in the hands of other users and their own personal network.
Initial sponsors have been a mix of personal business contacts and recommendations from others. Moving forward, Vosters believes that businesses with an established social media following — versus those just getting started — will find more value in the service since existing customers and fans are more likely to participate and convert friends into customers.
“Right now, we’re focusing on helping smaller brands generate buzz around their product; however, the format is open to anything,” explains Vosters. “Within the month, we’re looking to work with celebrities, e-commerce sites, and every day people who are looking to spark conversations.”
It’s still too early to tell how successful Swagtag will be and who will find more value in the service: tweeters or businesses. Business owners could benefit from the additional mentions, but the real test will come when the contest is over and people are left to talk about your brand without a hashtag prompt.
If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, visit , or send an email to [email protected]. To keep up with Swagtag’s daily hashtags, follow it on Twitter @SwagTagIt.
Featured image credit: Andreas Eldh
