Our office found out about Chick-fil-A’s “Cow Appreciation Day” via twitter last Friday morning. Cow Appreciation Day is an annual event, where customers receive a free Chick-fil-A meal for dressing up as a cow.  The Cyphers Agency’s Word of Mouth department does work for the National Chicken Council, so we’re already big on anything that has to do with chicken. And free chicken, who can turn that down?

The catch: to get free chicken, you  had to dress up like a cow. As the intern, I took one for the team so that we could show everyone else how to do it.

This is just one of the fun ways to create media for your Facebook page, YouTube account, or website. We used this content as material for our Chicken fan page (for the National Chicken Council), that has grown to 3,234 (and climbing) fans in six weeks. How did we get so many fans? We give them fun content (like the above video) and other information that they find valuable, like chicken recipes around dinnertime. Giving your audience the information they want, in the places they already interact, is a tried-and-true method of increasing your fans or followers. Speaking of followers, you can also find @chickenftw on Twitter. So get out there and give your audience something they WANT to pass along (not some cheesy marketing message).

The Web provides users with the ability to research brands, companies and people. Social media enables users to interact with these brands, companies and people. For companies, it makes sense to use social media, because it’s an easy way to observe and interact with your audience. It’s effective too. Many companies have discovered the value of social media, and there are plenty of success stories out there.

For companies, the real “win” here is that social media is a relatively inexpensive way to make this connection with an audience. I won’t be the first to remind you about the state of the economy in 2009. To stay afloat in these tough economic times, many companies cut back their advertising budgets, keeping them out of traditional mainstream media. And compared to traditional media, the price of social media is really attractive.

Now, more than ever is the time to get started on social media. Not just because the competition is doing it, but because it is an effective and economical marketing tool.