Mashable reported on this incident that happened a week ago, but its implications are still relevant.

Website builder Squarespace hosted a giveaway contest using hashtags on Twitter to generate free buzz (and even beat Michael Jackson on top trending topics!)

Three issues arose from this:

One-

Honesty, Honesty, Honesty

Squarespace claimed it would give away 30 iPhones in 30 days to people using #Squarespace in their tweets.BUT- turns out they actually awarded Apple gift cards… Surprise – many followers called them out and harped on them for being misleading.

The cost of being misleading? It allowed Squarespace’s competitor (Moonfruit) to take their idea and run further, faster, and louder with it. Which leads to:

Two-

Don’t rush to get it out before you make sure you get it right

Moonfruit, a top website-building competitor, came along and learned from Squarespace’s mistakes, and completely one-upped them with their version of a hashtag-based giveaway. Moonfruit gave away 10 MacBook Pros to celebrate its 10th anniversary, and made good on their promise- an actual MacBook Pro arrived on winner’s steps- not a giftcard.

In an email, Moonfruit acknowledged to Mashable contributor Adam Ostrow: “We did learn something from the Squarespace guys and we respect they did it successfully first, but we believe we’ve done it a little better.”

What’s the point of being credited as being “first to market” with an idea if the guy you’re trying to beat can easily leap-frog you?

Three-

Now the floodgates of friend spam have been opened.

People are lashing out because suddenly their Twitter feed is congested with asinine Tweets containing hashtags about random products that their friends/followers get gooey about.

And then Twitter Trending scores lose all relevancy as they become a list of Top Products Hawked.

So, please, please don’t jump on this hashtag-as-promotions bandwagon. Yes, Moonfruit & Square space have certainly scored plenty of free press (and yes, now I’m guilty of adding to the collective around this topic), but keep in mind if a someone suggests a hashtag-based-promotion:

It’s Already Been Done.

People will unfollow you.

(Which means they are tuning you out for the moments when you actually have something of value to share)

Does that really sound like a sound strategy? Land atop the Twitter Trending page to get people talking. Then become remembered as a sheisty-spammer.

Visit the Original on Mashable: http://mashable.com/2009/07/01/moonfruit-macbook/