Running A Winning Contest

Giveaways might be one of the best ways to improve your online marketing, but first you need to take a few things into consideration. You have reasonable expectations on the end result and believe it is worth your giveaway prize and your time to create a contest.

Here are guidelines to help with your Contest for Marketing Strategy :

1. Make it easy. Your Contest for Marketing Strategy, unless you’re giving away a vacation package or a car, shouldn’t involve too much to enter. Figure out a way to make entering as easy as possible, while still keeping your own needs in mind. e.g. if the contest is to build your mailing list, simply signing up for the mailing list might be enough. Have as few hoops to jump through as possible.
2. Make it limited. Make it urgent. You don’t want a deadline that is so soon that it seems no one can win, but you do want a sense of urgency. If your contest is running for two months, no one feels the pressure to decide. Exclusivity and time pressure encourage people to enter quickly, or miss out.
3. Make the rules clear. Be very clear about the rules of entry, and whether it is a contest, giveaway or sweepstakes. Adhere to legal requirements. Don’t give anyone the chance to say that you were deceptive and don’t end up in legal trouble.
4. Spread the news. Let your fans and followers know every day, but don’t get so carried away that they’re annoyed. Once a day is enough. Consider promoting it as an event. Use Facebook, Google+ or Twitter (as long as you comply with their guidelines) for your event and come up with creative ways to use the events features.
5. Use helpful tools. Sometimes they post outside of their social networks to sites or similar sites that list blog contests. Find other bloggers who might be interested in mentioning your contest on their site, or sites that fit your niche.
6. Never stop experimenting.  We suggest you try everything at least once. You never know what will resonate strongly with your audience. Try a new color combination, test new headlines, play with contest timing. You never know what will work best until you test. Use our stats software to gauge the success of your campaigns and try to improve your results contest after contest. You’ll quickly learn the “how and what” of running a successful contest after a few successes and failures.