Many business owners understand that running digital contests and giveaways can be effective for generating leads, increasing sales, and improving engagement. However, not all businesses succeed in achieving these goals. There can be more to the average successful online giveaway than meets the eye.
Fortunately, you may stand an excellent chance of holding a successful giveaway and achieving your objectives by following these seven steps:
1. Choose a Prize
The desirability of what’s being given away can play a massive part in whether a competition is successful. Think about products and services your target market would love, such as promo products with your branding, gift cards, gift baskets, and quirky products.
If you’re unsure whether the items you have in mind will be desirable enough for people to enter your competition, ask for feedback from employees, friends, and family members. Their insight can be invaluable.
2. Set Your Goal
Some business leaders hold online giveaways out of the kindness of their hearts, but that’s not always their primary objective. Consider what else you’d like to achieve, such as an increase in sales, a boost in social media engagement, or even better brand awareness. You might even want to promote and show off new products and services. Setting your goals early on may make creating a standout giveaway campaign easier.
3. Choose a Competition Format
The easier it is to enter a competition, the more entries you’ll likely receive. Don’t make your giveaway too complicated. Most businesses simply request that people like the post, follow the page, and share it with friends.
Make these instructions clear and easy to read to improve your chances of receiving more valid entries.
4. Set Competition Rules
Competitions should be fair for all who enter. With that in mind, create competition rules that entrants must follow when entering your giveaway. These can be published on social media, your website, or both.
They can include rules like:
- One entry per person
- The winner must follow the page
- Being of a specific minimum age to enter
- Being in a particular location to be eligible to win
- Entries being in by a set date
Remember, there can be laws surrounding social media competitions, so research this step thoroughly.
5. Choose How You’ll Select the Winner
Competition entrants want to be sure they stand a fair chance of being chosen as a giveaway winner. As a result, determining how you’ll select your winner can be crucial. You may also choose to publish this information with your giveaway.
Promising options worth exploring include:
- Automated using a special competition tool
- By public vote
- With a judge
6. Select Marketing Avenues
Once you’ve worked through all the final details of an online giveaway, it’s time to plan how you’ll market it. Otherwise, you may not get the reach you hoped for. How you choose to market your competition can depend on your business type. You might print it on product packaging, create ads on social media, or dedicate an entire page to it on your website. Some businesses even pay for TV, radio, and newspaper ads to get the word out.
7. Launch Your Competition
It’s now time to open your online giveaway to the public! Share it far and wide and monitor the entries as they come in. Don’t forget to close off entries by the preselected deadline and contact the winner quickly!
Running digital contests and giveaways can be beneficial for many businesses. You can follow these steps above to potentially enjoy more engagement, a larger following, and new leads and sales.