A social media driven contest is a great way to build brand awareness, increase your customer base or reward your current customers. There are many contest types, but today I’ll be talking about sweepstakes. A sweepstakes-style contest can be promoted online or even offline .
Here are some benefits and features you get when you implement a contest into your social media strategy.
Lead Generation and Customer Loyalty
A sweepstakes contest is great for lead generation and building customer loyalty. You will want to have a low barrier of entry. At the very least, make sure to capture an email address. Not only is this a great way to contact the winner but, you can now also add them to your mailing list if you have one. It is the most valuable type of data you can get. A contest can be promoted online through various social media channels, your website, or newsletter. It can be shared anywhere with a short, easy to remember URL If you have brick and mortar business that has a lot of foot traffic, consider putting a sign with the URL in the window. Contests that are mobile optimized work even better. This is very important because as of 2016, 80% of social media time is spent on mobile devices.
Engage
A social media contest should not just be about lead generation; it is a great opportunity to interact with and engage with your current fans and customers. Remaining top of mind with your customers is never a bad thing. When you reward them for their loyalty it’s even better and you increase the likelihood of them coming back.
Contest Length and Urgency
When a sweepstakes contest has a countdown timer it creates a great sense of urgency. The shorter the time span of the contest the better. If the duration of your contest is too long you run the risk of getting less participation. Especially if you are promoting your contest solely online. You do not want people clicking through only to think that they can enter later. I recommend running an online sweepstakes contest for two weeks. If you are a brick and mortar business you may want to advertise your contest in the store or display it in your window. and have monthly drawings.
Virality
You can increase virality and word of mouth with a contest that has social media sharing options.
Terms and Conditions
When running a sweepstakes contest, if posted to Facebook, you must abide by the terms and conditions that Facebook lays out. You will also want to add your own terms and conditions .
The Prize
You want to have a nice clear picture of your prize. Including a strong call to action on the image is another layer for driving engagement. The prize you pick for your sweepstakes contest is very important. Everybody would love a Starbucks gift card, but it is most likely not relevant to your brand. Choose a prize that aligns with your brand, product or service and that can potentially drive future purchases .
To recap:
- Pick your prize
- Decide on what information you want to capture
- Set the terms and conditions
- Decide where you want to promote it.
- Pick a start and end date
- Run contest.
- Pick a winner
- Follow up, through email marketing , and continue to engage with all contest participants.