Who doesn’t like a contest? Maybe a better question to ask is, who DOES like contests? Well, here’s the answer:
Your fans, followers, friends, and connections are all fans of entering into contests on social media sites such as Facebook.
Contests have made the obvious move into the world of social media, and for good reason. Building a strong following on Facebook is a top priority for most companies and having contests, most of which require a ‘like,’ is an easy way to do that.
But before you start start giving away iPads and Amazon gift cards, lets go over some critical factors to ensure your contest is received well by your current and prospective community members.
Should You Use a Contest Application?
It isn’t really a question, use a third party application. Partly because Facebook has pretty strict (not to mention dense) guidelines for running contests. And partly because the first rule of contests on Facebook is, and I quote, “Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or an app on a Page Tab.”
Facebook has a few options and a quick search yields plenty but Wildfire is a top contender in this game. They offer the full package from the contest itself to full engagement of your brand. You can get their packages for pretty decent prices; their basic package costs $5 per campaign and $0.99 a day. Their website is also very eye-catching so you know they’re legit. That’s kind of how I gauge trust-worthiness in the web. How vain.
Prizes
So the real reason anyone is interested in contests is the offered prizes. These prizes can be broken down into two categories.
The first is the prize that goes after the dreamers. When I entered to win the HGTV Dream House hundreds of times consecutively over the course of a few months, I wasn’t thinking about anything but getting cozy in my new McMansion and all the perks that would come with it. Tap into the fantasy of owning a nice car or traveling to a far off land and people will come in droves. This all depends on if you have the big bucks to back it up and actually provide this stellar prize.
For those of us (most of us) that cannot do this we have prize type two, the creative. These prizes are often less luxurious but much more fun. Think outside of the box, there are plenty of routes to go. Depending on the company you could do something hyperlocal. Or, if you can swing it, give away a meet and greet with some kind of celebrity (Tap into someone else’s fanbase). Anything goes and sometimes the most creative contests yield the best response.
This type of prize can also help in streamlining the type of people you want engaged in your brand. If you’re trying to attract working women in their 30’s you probably shouldn’t give away tickets to a football game. Think about the audience you want.
Simple & creative
To some level this is a contradiction but you need to keep it simple and, like the prize you give away, be creative.
It should never be difficult to enter a contest. Entering these are not something consumers do for their health. The moment it becomes hard or a pain they will stop. Granted the bigger your prize the more you can ask of people.
This is where the creative side comes in. If you are truly trying to engage people, a simple fill-in-this-form style contest is not going to work. Be different and ask the consumer to be creative. Have contestants make a video on their favorite use of your product. You could even have the people vote and pick the winner.
This not only raises the bar, but we all have experienced friends trying to get us to vote for them in so they could win some contest. Word of mouth is still a very powerful means of communication in this day and age, don’t underestimate it.
Stay on top of it
Finally, making a contest and letting it loose is not enough. Stay with it and keep people updated. By drumming up the drama you can make the contest more of an event. Get people invested in the outcome of the contest and you will attract more people to your brand. You want to get people talking about the contest and, transitively, your company.
So how did your last contest go? What about your next contest, what’s the plan? Share with us your success (and horror) stories in the comments section below or on Twitter: @BadRhinoINC!
