PROVIDING ONLINE PROMOTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- integrating an online promotion campaign into an application integrated with a social media platform via an application programming interface (API) configured to enable accessing and harvesting of profile information of users of the social media platform, wherein the social media platform further includes viral features that can be leveraged to disseminate the online promotion campaign, and wherein the online promotion campaign includes distributing coupons or vouchers to participants, wherein the coupons or vouchers are integrated with the API to provide personalized information about participants of the online promotion campaign on the coupons or vouchers;
receiving interest in the online promotion campaign from a participant through an entry point;
harvesting identification information from a social media profile of the participant;
generating a personalized coupon or voucher for the participant containing at least some of the participant'"'"'s identification information; and
distributing the personalized coupon or voucher to the participant, wherein the identification information on the coupon or voucher provides a higher level of security and authenticity than vouchers or coupons that do not contain such identification information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for providing online promotions integrated with social network-based platforms are disclosed. Promotion details such as rules, offered prizes, incentives and descriptions, survey questions, display banners, terms and conditions, privacy policy, and social networks to integrate the promotion with, are provided by the sponsoring organization to a server. The server generates a custom promotion application or widget for integrating with the organization'"'"'s social network webpage external to social networks. A participant enters the promotion through these webpages or other links and lists friends in the social network to receive an invitation to enter the promotion. Viral features such as friend invite features, newsfeeds, minifeeds, other features that display online activities of users and people in the users'"'"' social network, notifications, requests, and other social media-based platform features to deliver messages to members of the one or more social networks further spread the word about the organization'"'"'s promotion.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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integrating an online promotion campaign into an application integrated with a social media platform via an application programming interface (API) configured to enable accessing and harvesting of profile information of users of the social media platform, wherein the social media platform further includes viral features that can be leveraged to disseminate the online promotion campaign, and wherein the online promotion campaign includes distributing coupons or vouchers to participants, wherein the coupons or vouchers are integrated with the API to provide personalized information about participants of the online promotion campaign on the coupons or vouchers; receiving interest in the online promotion campaign from a participant through an entry point; harvesting identification information from a social media profile of the participant; generating a personalized coupon or voucher for the participant containing at least some of the participant'"'"'s identification information; and distributing the personalized coupon or voucher to the participant, wherein the identification information on the coupon or voucher provides a higher level of security and authenticity than vouchers or coupons that do not contain such identification information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor on the computer, cause the computer to perform a method of disseminating online promotion campaigns, the instructions comprising; instructions for integrating an online promotion campaign into an application integrated with a social media platform via an application programming interface (API) configured to enable accessing and harvesting of profile information of users of the social media platform, wherein the social media platform further includes viral features that can be leveraged to disseminate the online promotion campaign, and wherein the online promotion campaign includes distributing coupons or vouchers to participants, wherein the coupons or vouchers are integrated with the API to provide personalized information about participants of the online promotion campaign on the coupons or vouchers; instructions for receiving interest in the online promotion campaign from a participant through an entry point; instructions for harvesting identification information from a social media profile of the participant; instructions for generating a personalized coupon or voucher for the participant containing at least some of the participant'"'"'s identification information; and instructions for distributing the personalized coupon or voucher to the participant, wherein the identification information on the coupon or voucher provides a higher level of security and authenticity than vouchers or coupons that do not contain such identification information. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A web application server comprising:
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a promotion generation module coupled with a network interface through a communications module, the promotion generation module configured to; (1) integrate an online promotion campaign into an application integrated with a social media platform via an application programming interface (API) configured to enable accessing and harvesting of profile information of users of the social media platform, wherein the social media platform further includes viral features that can be leveraged to disseminate the online promotion campaign, and wherein the online promotion campaign includes distributing coupons or vouchers to participants, wherein the coupons or vouchers are integrated with the API to provide personalized information about participants of the online promotion campaign on the coupons or vouchers; (2) receive interest in the online promotion campaign from a participant through an entry point; (3) harvest identification information from a social media profile of the participant; (4) generate a personalized coupon or voucher for the participant containing at least some of the participant'"'"'s identification information; and (5) distribute the personalized coupon or voucher to the participant, wherein the identification information on the coupon or voucher provides a higher level of security and authenticity than vouchers or coupons that do not contain such identification information; and a communications module configured to automatically send invitations to enter the online promotion campaign to a list of contacts provided by the participant. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification