The Top Features and Benefits When You Run a Social Media Sweepstakes Contest

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:

  1. Pick your prize
  2. Decide on what information you want to capture
  3. Set the terms and conditions
  4. Decide where you want to promote it.
  5. Pick a start and end date
  6. Run contest.
  7. Pick a winner
  8. Follow up, through email marketing , and continue to engage with all  contest participants.

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