If you’re searching for ways to entice your customers to interact with your business online, using social media to run contests is a marketing campaign that can generate results for your company or organization. Contests can be decisive incentives that promote your business and attract customers. If you’re considering running a social media contest, the following tips can help.
First, research the rules for the social media site you’ll be using to run your contest. If you are running your contest on Twitter, here are their guidelines for running contests. When using Facebook to run your contest, use Facebook’s contest and sweepstakes guidelines. For Instagram, these guidelines will help you set up your contest.
To start designing your contest, decide upon entry rules, contest rules and a prize (or multiple prizes). Figure out your target audience, then decide what social media platform they’d be more likely to participate on and what prize would entice them to play.
Make it easy!
Entry by tweeting with a certain hashtag or liking your page is a simple yet effective way to attract contestants. If you aren’t sure how to design your contest, research how other businesses have used sites like Facebook and Twitter to run their contests. To drive traffic to your website, you might want to include a call-to-action as part of your contest that involves visiting your business site.
Choose one platform to host your contest, then use other social media platforms to promote it. If you have a shop or storefront, you’ll want to promote your contest or sweepstakes there too. Remind customers at the checkout counter about your contest. It’s even BETTER to direct them to your social media page in person!
Increase excitement about your business. Whether you’re offering a free hotel stay or a gift card for your store or services, all of your contest marketing and social media posts should be aimed at increasing your brand recognition and marketing your business to both new and existing customers for best results.