In 2014, the common American Fb person Preferred 70 totally different pages. Over 30 million small companies now have energetic pages on Facebook and 67% of the world’s greatest business are on Instagram.
Consequently, many companies are discovering it an increasing number of tough to face out and use social media to nice impact.
That is the place a social media contest comes into the image.
Let’s dig in and discover out the ten components to a profitable social media contest.
1. The Proper Social Platform
The very first thing you want to resolve is the place you need to run your contest. Do you need to use Facebook to attempt to broaden the attain of your business? Or is Instagram a greater match on your visually-inclined followers?
The competition world has stored up with the expansion of social media (and social media platforms) over the previous few years so the question of which platform to make use of is completely in your hands.
Fb has the very best doable attain of the platforms based mostly purely on variety of lively customers, and is a superb possibility for rising your fan base.
Our favourite benefit to a Fb contest is that it will possibly simply be promoted with Facebook Ads, and Fb Adverts are actually superior. They assist you to particularly goal who you wish to see your advert primarily based on demographics, customers’ pursuits, different pages they’ve preferred on Fb and locations they’ve been tagged. They’re one of the best ways to get your contest seen by new pairs of eyes.
An instance of a Fb Ad selling a contest by Jack and Mary will be seen:
Twitter is a simple platform for you and your entrants to share your contest with their neighborhood. Many Twitter contests have autofollow and autotweet choices, that means that when somebody enters your contest they routinely observe you (just like the outdated Like-gates of Facebook) and Tweet about your contest to their very own followers. This permits your model to realize extra followers on the platform and to achieve others’ networks.
An instance of a contest run on Twitter could be seen under from Mark’s Work Wearhouse:
Twitter additionally provides you the choice of utilizing promoted Tweets to unfold the phrase about your contest. A promoted Tweet seems similar to an unusual Tweet, however is bought by companies to promote their content material and attain a wider group of customers who haven’t but Followed them. Just like a Fb Ad, promoted Tweets develop the attention of your contest and business.
An Instagram contest engages your viewers visually, creating an emotional connection between shoppers and your business. With 300 million monthly lively customers, Instagram isn’t a platform to disregard.
Instagram is arguably the best social platform, but in addition essentially the most private and intimate. You’ll be able to show your services or products and provides followers a glance behind the scenes, making your corporation seem more welcoming.
If you happen to’re a enterprise that depends on visuals (similar to a clothes business, journey company, or restaurant) or function in an trade like pictures or journey, an Instagram contest is a superb possibility.
An instance of an Instagram contest will be seen beneath from Jorg Grey. It includes customers taking an image with a Jorg Grey watch, following the model on Instagram and hashtagging #jorgstyle to win a free watch.
2. Visuals
For a contest to achieve success it must be visually interesting. I do know it could sound petty, however look does matter. You’re going to want cover and profile pictures to your social platforms (as seen beneath), a contest touchdown page, advert and social publish photos in addition to emails with materials referring to the competition.
That’s a number of graphic design. Guarantee your designer has a listing of the whole lot you want from the start so that you simply aren’t springing further duties on them throughout the marketing campaign. Keep in mind that a few of the content material might be recycled or used for various functions with completely different dimensions or small alterations.
3. A Huge-Reaching Promotional Technique
In case you’re pondering that when you hit “launch contest” you can sit again, throw your toes up in your desk and watch the submissions roll in, I’m going to need to wake you as much as face actuality.
Individuals don’t simply magically discover out about your contest. That’s not the way it works. Sure, social sharing may give you a approach to attain your followers and inform them about your contest, however that’s not practically sufficient promotion.
Any technique that you can imagine for selling your contest to potential and present followers is one you have to be doing.
Listed below are just some strategies you ought to be implementing:
- Linking to the competition out of your web site homepage
- Facebook Advertisements
- Promoted Tweets
- E-mail newsletters to current leads
- Social posts and sharing
- Social banner photographs
- Web site popups displaying the competition
- Posting in regards to the contest in your blog
Under-promoting contests is without doubt one of the greatest errors we see shoppers make on a regular basis. Ensure that you dedicate your self to selling your contest because the outcomes will present in your entry quantity and high quality.
Read more:5 Creative Methods to Kickstart Your Business Instagram Account Successfully
4. An Entry Format
How do your members really enter your contest? That is largely depending on the kind of contest you’ve gotten chosen, however might vary from a full type of private info, to a easy e-mail subject to Liking a photograph on Instagram.
You want to think about the targets of your marketing campaign. If it’s to achieve extra data from present leads then ask away (as long as you’ve balanced your provide along with your ask). If it’s merely to construct your fan base, you’re going to wish to restrict these entry fields to get as many submissions as potential.
Do not forget that the more data you ask for and the more hoops entrants have to leap by way of, the less will really full their entry. The more you ask members to do, the more folks will fall by the wayside.
That mentioned, you might discover that asking for extra data will end in extra actual-world gross sales down the road, as you possibly can talk extra personally with a person you realize extra about.
5. A Sensible Timeline
With out particular dates mapped out for various launches and milestones all through your marketing campaign, you’re going to be in a flustered contest mess. Begin by deciding what your contest finish date is and work backwards from there. This offers you a good suggestion of when to launch the competition (primarily based on how lengthy you need it to be reside) and when it is best to begin promotion of the competition.
It’s necessary that you determine what day your advert campaigns will begin and finish, when emails might be despatched to your present record concerning the contest, and what day you’ll announce the winners in your totally different social networks.
Beneath is an instance of a timeline for a month-lengthy social contest:
6. A Third Occasion Contest App
If you happen to’re seeking to acquire any sort of knowledge out of your contest, a 3rd party contest app goes to be a most important ingredient.
Third occasion contest software program suppliers provide the capacity to simply create and design one of the best contest for your online business’ wants. They offer you constructed-in voting and sharing choices and the power to simply reasonable and observe contest submissions.
A very good third get together app additionally permits you to accumulate information about current followers and holds them in an exportable CRM, which means you may really use your contest to generate an actual-world return.
And, most significantly… Commitment
No, I’m not making an attempt to sugar coat the tip of this listing for you. I do know it sounds somewhat flowery, however commitment to a contest is definitely a very powerful ingredient if you wish to discover success.
As soon as your contest has launched you could spend time on daily basis guaranteeing it’s operating based on plan, monitoring new submissions and making alterations when mandatory.
A profitable contest requires fixed upkeep as issues can change at a second’s discover. Giving your contest a half-assed effort will lead to nothing in comparison with what you might attain by means of dedication and devotion.
Do not forget that you’ll be able to by no means under-commit to a contest. Give it your full heart and full consideration and also you’ll be rewarded with robust leads and an engaged fan base.
Read more: 5 Marketing Tips to Enhance Your Social Media Channels