Fighting Words!- Click here http://bit.ly/omv6oG for full article

Fighting Words!- Click here http://bit.ly/omv6oG for full article

Whatever or not your organization is affiliated with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), theres a good chance you can learn from some of their creative advertising ventures. If you are unaware, the UFC happens to be the biggest name in the entire mixed martial arts world, and has produced one of the largest and most profitable brands of the past decade.

Even if you don't particularly care for the sport, it would be wise for you to check how the president, Dana White, operates his business. UFC is a very net and social networking savvy business, and knows how to turn things like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube into hard revenue.

On January 22, 2011, the UFC did something unthinkable. A free giveaway was given to users of Facebook, and it's interesting what they gave away. No, it wasn't t-shirts or other merchandise, it was actual content. For the small free of clicking 'Like' on the UFC Facebook page, users could watch fights for free right on Facebook. What does this mean? Viewership increased by nearly 60,000 , and that solid promotion was worth the negligible loss in ticket sales.

Now, 60,000 might seem like a very modest number. But keep in mind that the UFC typically offers all preliminary fights for free, rewarding fans while at the same time advertising the more expensive (and exciting) pay per view show. Fights have also become avaliable on YouTube. Interestingly enough, their Facebook experience has proved to be incredibly successful. With nearly 6 million Facebook fans, analysts can even begin to speculate how this will affect their viewership. They do know one thing, however: it's a powerful plod into the right direction. The moral of this story? If you want to create rapport and dedication in your fan base, give them what they want -- content.

Another great tool UFC uses is marketability. I'm not talking about advertising, either. Accessibilty to the UFC fighters is unparalleled to any other sport, as they tend to always make time for photos and short chit-chats with fans. This same atmosphere has carried over to Twitter, as president Dana White has amassed nearly 1.5 million followers. Dana White spends plenty of time conversing with his fans, and is remarkably down to earth for heading such a lucrative company.

The final word on this is honesty. If you have personality, let that personality shine through with social media. Let the fans come to you with discussions, and be engaging. It's incredible how much a few moments of your time means to your fans.