Run social media giveaways using WordPress and increase your revenue
Raffles, contests, and giveaways are not new marketing strategies. They are traditional methods of business promotion that have been around for decades. However, they remain to be a big part of digital marketing, particularly in social media. There are few differences regarding each promotion’s mechanics. Regardless of the approach, a digital contest is a solid, sensible way to promote your brand.
A social media contest boosts the reach and engagement of your posts. In fact, these types of giveaways rank high when it comes to social marketing strategies. Brand new social media campaigns get an average of 34% [infographic] audience increase.
Benefits of Running a Social Media Contest
Businesses don’t host social media games just to give things away. You can gain a lot if you have a well-planned social media giveaway. Yes, the contest participants are the ones winning the prize. But your business will benefit greatly from it too.
Every industry, from international brands to startups, can take advantage of social media contests. A well-executed raffle can increase your brand’s revenue. More than the financial gain, there are benefits of social media contests which are listed below.
1. Social media contests help build your brand’s social media base
Contests are beneficial for start-ups in particular. They also work well for businesses that are just starting their online presence.
Raffles can provide a huge boost to your online base. Social media contests can exponentially grow your followers. For example, you have 100 current Facebook fans. Imagine if they all joined your contest or shared your post. The number of people that will see your post grows as well.
2. Social media contests increase engagement
The most important role of social media marketing is to increase audience engagement. Most social media platforms, particularly Facebook, focus on audience interaction. Engagement is the metric that assesses the number of users that talk about your brand.
By nature, a contest requires lots of interaction. Online, it involves shares, comments, retweets, reposts and follows. These are elements of an increased engagement. When you run a contest, you can expect a boost in engagement.
3. Social media contests are cost-effective
Compared to other digital marketing campaigns, social media contests are less expensive. Most of the time, the bulk of the cost is the prize itself. Even sponsored ads for the raffle don’t cost a lot. Paid apps usually only need a one-time payment. And you can use them every time you run a contest.
4. Social media contests become an excellent source of consumer data
For market research, social media contests help you gather data from leads and buyers. You can use raffles to collect customer information for your email marketing campaigns. It’s a good way to define or refine your target demographic. Also, you can add questions in your contest about consumer habits and interests. These details can help you plan better marketing strategies in the future.
5. Social media contests make interested buyers help you with your marketing efforts
One of the goals of running a social media contest is to make people aware of your product or service. Even if the contest doesn’t increase your revenue on the get-go, your brand can still benefit from it. The fact that it gets your name out into the open is already a huge win. Also, your followers and buyers can also help you spread the word via social shares.
Run a Social Media Contest that Can Increase Your Revenue
Acquiring organic reach these days gets challenging. Social media contests can help make people notice your brand. The key is knowing how to use contests strategically, instead of running a raffle out of whim. Below are some tips on how to run a social media contest with flying colors.
1. Set contest goals
Before planning the contest or the prize, decide on your campaign objectives. Established goals will help you succeed in this particular marketing campaign. Your goals can vary from increasing engagement to celebrating a brand milestone. Setting up goals can also help you decide on the type of contest to run.
2. Choose the right type of contest to run
When your contest goals are set, you can choose the best type of contest to match your objectives. The right kind fits the metrics you’ve set. The most popular types that work well on social media are:
- Photo Contests – These are popular on photo-centric platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. They work well in getting more followers. They also help increase engagement. There are different ways to run a photo contest. In most cases, participants submit a themed photo. They post their entries on your chosen social network. The winners can either be selected by you or through fan votes.
- Video Contests – As with photos, video contests are great if you want to generate the most engagement. The edge of video contests is the fact the participants are indeed engaged in the campaign. Unlike photos, it takes more time to setup and records an entry. The drawback is that you may get fewer entries. But the participants are likely loyal to your brand and will continue to follow you even when the contest ends.
- Essay/Q&A Contests – Although not as popular as photo and video contests, Q&A is still compelling. They are great if you want to gather consumer data. Essay contests are also entertaining, especially if you get creative with it. Ask an open-ended question instead of self-serving sales questions. Make the question focus more on your audience. Keep it simple.
- Sweepstakes – This is the most basic social media contest to run. It requires the least amount of effort for both you and the participants. It’s the right type if your aim is to get consumers’ basic information, like their email address.
3. Target prospective customers, and not just contest entrants
To have a successful campaign, make sure to target the right audience. Incorporate labels to your copy to address your target market. Also, ensure that you tie your contest to an event or milestone relevant to both your brand and market.
For instance, if your brand is sports-related, you can coincide your contest with the Super Bowl. Or if your service is into pop culture, you can tie it up with the season finale of Game of Thrones. This way, you’re not focusing on a small pool of audience. You’re able to reach to a wider one, which can result to targeting prospective leads.
The same concept goes for choosing the prizes. If you have an e-commerce business, pick a product as a prize. If you’re in retail, you can give away gift cards as prizes.
4. Choose the right social media platform
There are a lot of popular social media platforms out there. It’s important you choose the one that fits your contest goals. There are two primary ways you can look at it:
- Choose the platform where you have the largest and most engaged followers.
- Choose the platform where you have the smallest audience.
The first one with an established audience will most likely reach more people. The contest will help you keep your current audience and probably reach even more. The second one requires more work as you need to target a bigger audience. However, it’s a good way to help you grow your profile.
Also, even if the contest is on a particular platform, it doesn’t mean you can’t promote it on other networks. Cross-promoting your contest on different platforms is one of the best ways to reach your targets.
5. Verify contest rules and policies
Keep in mind that every social network has specific rules for social media contests. Some platforms need a full contest copy. Others demand that you follow a strict set of guidelines on what can and can’t be a part of the contest. It’s important you follow the rules to a tee to avoid having your giveaway removed.
For a more detailed guideline on social network contest rules, check out these links: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube.
WordPress Plugin to Run a Successful Digital Contest
Running a social media contest requires time and effort. You can’t just say “come join the contest” and expect people to join. To make the most out of your giveaway, you must set up clear rules and a proper time limit. You also need to promote the event and choose the winner in an unbiased manner.
That’s quite a lot of work, right? You can cut the legwork short by using a WordPress plugin like the WP Raffle – Social Media Giveaway Plugin.
Through this plugin, you can:
- Create digital contests using a single shortcode.
- Present more options for multiple entries.
- Track the number of contest participants.
- Gather leads information and integrates them with your email service.
- Choose the winner in a single click.
The Social Media Giveaway plugin eliminates unnecessary steps that may confuse your audience. It’s fast, user-friendly and efficient. Best of all, it’s something you can use over and over again.
Conclusion
The main criticism about a social media contest is it only guarantees short-term success. Also, even if the contest is a hit, most participants are only interested in winning the prize. But this is not always the case. A well-planned, well-executed social media contest can solidify your brand’s social media presence. It can grow your audience size, boost engagement and strengthen brand reputation. All these results into one thing: more profit for you!