Ready, Set, Go: How Contests can be Beneficial for Your Business
How contests can encourage customer engagement with your company
Contests make customers engage more with your business. They bolster your company’s web presence and promote your brand, at the same time. It is also an opportunity to get more people interested in buying your merchandise. Excited in trying out an online game for your business? Before you launch a contest, make sure you understand all the rules and guidelines to observe on your page’s social network. If the contest breaks the rules and it gets flagged, you could be banned from posting content. So, before you get excited about your contest and its potential rewards, here are some tips to think about:
1. Frame your goals.
What is your purpose for the contest? Is it for your brand promotion, attract new customers or encourage participation in a special company event? Create a contest customized according to your needs and budget. You can ask participants to post links on their own profiles. Once their friends click the link, they will be directed to your contest’s home page.
2. Plan the contest thoroughly.
While planning, think which type of contest will best suit your purposes. Think about how long your contest will run, who should participate, when it will start, and other details. Once you’ve ironed out the finer details, post the content on your blog or social network page. Encourage all contacts to participate.
3. Set up rules on how the game should turn out.
Write down a short list of rules everyone can easily understand upon first reading. If the regulations are long with many technical terms, participants can choose not to get involved anymore. Consult the social network regulations before you make your own contest rules. This will help you make sure that you are not violating any terms and conditions.
4. Monitor entries and track results.
Use a tracking cookie or software in tracing down all related posts from your contestants. Running a contest will be meaningless if you cannot find every answer or post made by your participants. You can be accused of being unfair in judging the entries, which can damage your reputation among the participants. To make sure you’ve logged every entry, make use of an effective analytics program or marketing software to measure the traffic generated by the contest.
5. Use your website to announce the winner/s.
Many social networks agree that you shouldn’t use your account to announce winners for your contest. This is because other people can make a new account that can look trustworthy and eligible. These pages can swindle money in your name, which will really harm your company. Your website has considerable security to safeguard itself from malware attacks.
6. Prepare a pretty prize.
A well-chosen item can grab attention and intrigue people to join a contest, even if they didn’t want to, in the first place. Think of something unique and sought-after, such as tickets for two in a concert of a famous band, summer getaway packages, or gift certificates from well-known merchants. Enticements like these can make people join your contest and know what your brand is about. A win-win situation for everybody, isn’t it?
Here are rules from well-known social networks:
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