Brands are always looking for strategies to help generate interactions, engagement, and sales using their social media pages.
Contest and giveaways are great options, as they help achieve the goals set. It’s all about an exchange relationship!
Companies offer services, products, discounts, or purchase coupons with pre-defined values. The proposal is to generate public interest in prizes.
Therefore, to have a chance to win, it is necessary to interact through the action proposed by the brand.
These contests and giveaways can run on social media such as Facebook and Instagram, the most common and those that connect best with raffle automation platforms. These tools ensure that the process is safe and transparent to the public.
If your brand can achieve good results and goals through contests and giveaways, don’t hesitate to use these strategies!
This post will bring a step-by-step on how to do contests and giveaways.
We’ll discuss the following steps:
- Set a goal for your contest
- Learn the main types of contests and giveaways
- Choose a prize
- Set the contest rules
- Choose a platform to run the contest
- Notify the winner
Read on and find out!
Set a goal for your contest
Contests and giveaways are always made for a specific reason, which can change from one brand to another. There is still a strategic goal behind offering something in exchange for interaction.
In social media, comments, likes, and shares are essential mechanisms to generate visibility for company pages. At the same time that they bring attention, they also generate engagement, something essential for any brand.
There are different ways to take advantage of these results, and it all depends on each company’s goals.
Check out some of the main ones below and see why they can be useful.
Sales
Some giveaways are related to the purchase of a product. For example, if the customer purchases a certain item, they get another one entirely free.
There are also contests that condition a chance to win a prize after a purchase that has been made.
In either case, the sale is the main condition to generate an opportunity to join the contest or giveaway.
This is a great chance to improve revenue!
Brand awareness
If more people share your brand’s social media posts, consequently, other users of social media become aware of it.
Many contests and giveaways are related to sharing, which can be key to generating brand awareness.
Engagement
Engagement is king when we talk about social media. Interactions are powerful to put company pages in the spotlight, increasing the reach of publications.
Increasing the number of comments related to contests and giveaways is a strategic way to increase interaction. As a result, engagement rises!
Promote a new product or service
About to launch a new product or service?
Contests and giveaways can help generate engagement and create a buzz about it.
Promoting the launch by offering a limited amount of the product in a giveaway is a great idea.
Those who don’t win may be more motivated to buy. It’s a strategy that creates a sense of uniqueness and belonging.
Learn the main types of contests and giveaways
There are several types of contests and giveaways that brands can use, but it is important to focus on the more functional ones.
There are two main types: photo contests and a simple Enter to Win system.
Photo contest
A photo contest is a great way to invest in User Generated Content (UGC).
Participants are challenged to take photos with a specific theme to enter and have a chance to run for the prize.
This system generates great engagement, especially when using specific hashtags for the contest.
In this type of contest, the brand must set clear rules on how photos should be taken and published.
The winner’s choice will be made by those who manage the contest, which demands a lot of transparency in the final decision.
Enter to Win
An Enter to Win giveaway is a simple system: just perform an action, such as liking a post and commenting on it.
This way, the brand will be able to raffle among all the people who made the action, automatizing the winners’ decision.
It is possible to offer any prize, regardless of the desired strategy. If generating social media interactions is the goal of the brand, this giveaway system is a great choice.
Choose a prize
The prize is the main concern in contests and giveaways. It’s the thing that will generate interest in the public, so it’s essential to think of something advantageous that can motivate the brand’s audience.
There are several interesting possibilities, like:
- discounts;
- products;
- services;
- gift cards;
- products and services of another company (partnership strategy to increase traffic, engagement, or brand awareness).
Be sure to state what this prize is clearly. Contests and giveaways need to be clear since the brand is asking your audience to take some action.
The company’s credibility is at stake!
Set the contest rules
Rules need to be transparent. People are expecting to win prizes, so brands need to make it clear exactly what their chances are.
There is no need to define extremely complex and detailed rules. The less, the better, as long as they are fair and clear.
Who can enter
It’s simple: who is eligible to participate in the contest?
This doubt must be clearly defined, for example: “only users who follow the page will be accepted” or “it is necessary to follow the page and use the hasthtag”.
It is necessary to mention all the rules properly. In the description of posts on social media, using bullet points helps to show what these rules are clearly and objectively.
What is the requested action
Brands may request several actions from the public to ensure they are participating in a contest or giveaway. Among the main ones we can highlight:
- like a post;
- following an Instagram or Facebook page;
- leave a comment in a post;
- post a photo using a specific hashtag;
- share a post.
It is important to note that these actions could be unique or collectively requested. Therefore, it is always important to make the terms of the campaign in question very clear.
Beginning and end dates
Another important requirement is determining the period in which the contest or giveaway will be running. This helps limit the number of participants and makes it easier to manage the campaign’s actions.
Simply tell the public when contests and giveaways begin and how long entries will remain valid to compete for the prize.
How the winner will be chosen
Finally, let the public know how the winner will be chosen.
This is one of the most important parts of the contest rules. There are different methods to define the winner. The main ones are:
- automated raffle;
- vote;
- specialized people will judge (in case of photo contest);
- the public will vote after prior selection (in case of photo contest).
Choose a platform to run the contest
The best way to run a contest is through the use of automated platforms. It helps to manage the entries and carry out the raffles automatically and transparently.
Users who participate in contests and giveaways expect clear and fair methods. It is essential to work with a tool that helps maintain the credibility of the campaign.
Some commonly used tools can work well. Among the main ones are:
Notify the winner
Finally, it is time to define how the winners will be notified. First, it is important to inform how the result of the raffle or contest will be done. This information must be in the same social media post as the rules.
The brand needs to be transparent about the results. That’s why it’s important to announce who won publicly. A specific post for this is ideal!
In addition to this general announcement, it is necessary to communicate with winners directly. This contact can be made by direct message, email, or phone contact. Any personal data of the winners must always be kept confidential.
Only the user name on social media can be publicly announced, as it is necessary to maintain the contest’s transparency.
Contests and giveaways are a great way to engage, generate interaction, attract traffic, and sell more. Social media users love to have the opportunity to earn something in exchange for their actions, and you need to take advantage of this.
Another great strategy to engage your audience and generate value is through interactive content, increasingly important to Digital Marketing. Check out a complete guide on this subject!
