The emphasis on social media contest marketing and giveaways has increased, directly translating to increased interaction and reach for businesses. These tasks can quickly go viral and build a fanbase while raising brand awareness. But how does a marketing company come up with a competition that attracts the audience’s eyes?
Are there better approaches to making the contest successful? In this article, we will discuss the do’s and don’ts of making social media contests and giveaways successful.
Why Do Social Media Contests Matter?
Social media contests are a good technique to recruit new subscribers and hold old ones. They also make users active towards your product by liking, sharing, commenting, or tagging.
A brand’s first exercise of inviting people to “tag a friend to win” could cause a considerable buzz, spreading your name beyond existing clients. Also, when compared to ordinary posting, giveaways usually gain more reactions. This is because humans are always interested in winning something.
Contests foster substantial goodwill. Followers who are made to feel noticed and appreciated are bound to champion your brand. There is also the opportunity to capture user-generated content (UGC), which will come in handy for subsequent marketing efforts.
Steps to Create a Successful Social Media Contest
1. Understand Your Audience
Your target audience is a key determinant of the success of the contest you put up. Analyzing parameters such as their geographical location and behavior pattern, along with others, enables the creation of a contest that suits the contenders.
If, for instance, you are targeting an audience comprised of young people, then you can run a photo competition on Instagram. Conversely, a contest on LinkedIn may better suit a more professional audience.
2. Define Clear Goals
Establish the objectives you want to achieve by conducting a contest. Would you like to promote your brand further, increase visits to your website, or expand the email list?
Using objectives eliminates the wastage of promotional efforts and aids in measuring them. To illustrate, your objective is to boost traffic to your website. Then, you can create a contest that requires people to log onto your site to participate.
3. Choose the Right Platform
When deciding on a platform for your contest, it’s essential to consider your target audience and the type of content you wish to have. This is particularly true for Facebook and Instagram, as they have large amounts of information and enable user engagement.
TikTok still stands out for its innovative video style for a younger demographic. If, for example, someone has a TikTok where they go viral and promote a dance challenge, it can be perfect for brand promotion.
4. Craft Engaging Rules and Guidelines
The first requirement for any contest is rules and guidelines. They help contestants understand what goals they must meet to win and ensure fair competition. Specify the requirements to enter the contest, the duration of the contest, and who will be eligible for it.
For instance, what themes and formats will you accept if you want to do a photo contest? Always ensure that the rules are adhered to so that there are no breaches of the platforms’ policies.
5. Offer Attractive Prizes
It must be understood that when thinking about a contest, the primary determinant must be the prizes you will offer. Remember to keep the rewards appealing to your audience and consistent with your brand.
An example would be offering the latest gadget, particularly for technology companies, or in the case of a beauty brand, a set of premium products. The reward you offer must meet the requirements likely to promote participation in the contest but still make sense with the audience you want to reach out to.
6. Promote Your Contest
Participation can be maximized through advertising. There are many ways to promote a contest. You can use email newsletters, social media ads, or appeal through influencers.
For example, sharing contest content with people who have similar interests as the target audience can increase the contest’s reach. Besides, make some great visuals and captions that will help promote it.
7. Use a Clear Call to Action
Participants are usually supposed to like a post, tag people, or share posts. For instance, phrases like “To win, tag three friends” or “Please, follow us and share this post” are quite simple and straightforward to comply with. Always make it easier to enter the contest, as this guarantees that more people will join in.
8. Monitor and Analyze Results
Always properly review and analyze your marketing contest outcomes, as metrics will assist you in determining the efficiency of your contest. Engagement rates, followers, and traffic for the website are metrics that can be tracked using analytics tools.
For example, on Instagram Insights, you will find valuable statistics such as how many new users you got during that particular contest period. All these metrics help you analyze different aspects of the campaign – what worked and what did not, thus improving future campaigns.
Case Studies: Successful Social Media Contests
Case Study 1: Starbucks Red Cup Contest
Every year, Starbucks conducts an Instagram contest called the Red Cup Contest, in which fans post their red cups designed for the holidays. The results of this campaign end up earning millions of impressions and engagement. By promoting user-generated content, Starbucks enhances its brand, and its clients feel more connected to each other.
Case Study 2: Airbnb’s #NightAt Contest
Airbnb hosted the Wow Factor contest for its winners, offering unique accommodations such as a castle and an underwater room. The winners had to create a story explaining why they deserved to win. The contest was marketed to a vast audience and highlighted what was available at Airbnb that would help strengthen their brand.
Advanced Tips for Social Media Contests and Giveaways
1. Leverage User-Generated Content
Motivate participants to post content advertising your brand through user-created content. For example, a fashion label can ask persons to post pictures of themselves dressed in its items along with a distinctive hashtag. This helps advertise your business and gives you accurate material for future marketing endeavors.
2. Collaborate with Influencers
Influencers’ collaboration can extend the geographical scope of the contest. They have customers who follow them and tend to believe what they say. Thus, for example, a clothing seller can engage with a clothing influencer to host a giveaway with gym equipment and reach the desired audience.
3. Use Contest Tools and Apps
Numerous tools and applications are available to facilitate contest management. Tools like Rafflecopter, Woobox, or Gleam enable one to keep track of participants, choose the winners, and evaluate statistics. These tools also enable fair play, providing integrity in the competition.
4. Incorporate Storytelling
Seek people as contestants and ask them to create a story for the contest they are entering. For instance, ask participants to describe a scenario showing how your product brought a positive change in their lives. This fosters a feeling in the target audience, which channelizes the contest.
5. Optimize Timing and Frequency
The time of day and the day of the week in which the contest is launched can greatly influence whether the contest has low engagement or elevated engagement. It is best to time contests on holidays or on weekends when activity levels peak. At the same time, it is best to avoid running contests in close proximity to each other, as this may wear out the MTLDA customer’s interest in and engagement with contests over time.
6. Create Exclusive Experiences
Make it a point to give consumers something unique or not offered by other brands. A great incentive would, for instance, be going on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the brand, getting to meet a brand ambassador, or even having a chance to avail of limited-production products. Such elements will intrigue participants and increase the number of participants. Moreover, these unique offerings increase the MTLDA unscrambled brands’ value perception.
7. Encourage Multi-Platform Participation
Contests can reach much further if entries are acceptable on different platforms. For example, make your contestants upload content on other platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. That way, not only do you reach a larger target audience, but you’re also boosting activity across all your social networks.
8. Provide Real-Time Updates
Keeping contestants interested in the contest can be achieved by keeping them informed throughout the contest of any developments. Reminders, highlights, and exceptional submissions can all be posted. The excitement comes with various types of contests due to the anticipation, especially if the contest is lengthy, so give participants that info rather than letting them guess how many posts there will be or how many participants there will be.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that social media contests and giveaways can significantly help increase the brand’s interaction rate and audience. Parents or Guardians can follow Susan’s example by getting to know their audience, defining terms, conditions, and goals, and providing valuable rewards for the contests they create.
Successful contests require effective advertisement, well-structured rules, and supervision. Social media contests can benefit small companies and grandees by enabling the company to engage with the customers and develop their loyalty while meeting marketing targets. So, schedule your next contest and help your company grow.
