In today’s social media landscape, it’s all about reaching more customers and engaging on a deeper level. While there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, we think contest marketing is one of the best ways to increase reach, response, and engagement.
So how do I do that?
Contest marketing involves creating a targeted strategy using contests to expand your social reach.
Here are four ways that your brand or business can use contest marketing to better achieve your Internet marketing goals:
Build Your Fan Base –
Using contests as part of your marketing helps you create a wider base of fans and followers.
A basic sweepstakes where participants must enter to win can require them to become a fan or follower of your brand via social media.
Using these types of gateways ensure that you are connecting with the contest participants while giving them the chance to win something of value in return.
Create Audience Engagement –
Contest marketing not only lets your brand or biz connect with lots of new potential customers, it also gives you a way to engage with them on a deeper level.
One example of a type of contest that works well for engagement is a user-generated content promotion. This is where contest entrants have to provide a photo or video as part of their entry.
User-generated content contests create engagement in two ways:
1. They tap into our competitive nature so that motivates us to push ourselves to share the content so we can win
2. Allowing participants to share their personal content, photos and stories causes them to be naturally invested in your brand.
Bring on the Data
When there’s a prize at stake, people are more willing to share their information with you as part of the contest entry process. Without making it too difficult for them, use this opportunity as a way to get some data.
Some possible things to find out are how they heard about the contest, what’s their favorite of your products, etc.
Just don’t ask them to sign away their first born, i.e. don’t ask them to share more information than would be worth their effort if they didn’t win the contest.
Let Consumers Be Your Marketing Team
One of the best ways you can expand your social reach is with online engagement. A way to do this is by creating brand advocates out of your customer-base.
Think of it this way: each of your customers has his or her own networks of people. If they are singing your brand’s praises to their networks, it only helps to expand the reach of your influence.
Contests give those loyal brand advocates something to get excited about and they will more than likely share them with their friends and connections.
These are just a few of the ways that contest marketing can work in your favor. But it’s not enough to just hold a contest. You have to make sure that a contest is part of your comprehensive social media strategy. This will help you take advantage of the benefits that contests can have for your organization.
Now more than ever, there are many regulations regarding contests, according to your state as well as the social media platform you want to use to promote it. Here at Loud Media, we understand what it takes to run your contest marketing in a way that brings you results.
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If you would like any help with your next contest marketing idea or have questions about any other Internet marketing needs you might have, contact us anytime.
Oliver and Sam
Co-Founders and Contest Marketing Whiz Kids
Loud Media Solutions
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