Everyone loves a winner, which is why running Facebook competitions are such a great idea! Not only do they allow you to generate some buzz and excitement, but they also allow you to give something back to your audience. If done correctly, they can also be a great tool to boost your engagement, grow your audience and generate new leads.
Running a Facebook competition or giveaway can seem straightforward at a glance, but there is plenty more to it than that. To help you get the most out of your marketing activity, here is our step by step guide on how to run a Facebook competition or giveaway:
Set your Goals
Believe it or not, your contestants shouldn’t be the only winners of your competition. As we mentioned earlier, if you run your competition right, you can come away with some great winnings too!
In order to maximise your success, you need to set some goals. These will inform the decisions you make in regard to running your competition. There are a number of different targets you can aim for, such as:
- Increasing your brand awareness.
- Growing your likes/follows.
- Draw more eyes to a sale/promotion/event.
- Building your marketing or leads database.
Choosing one or more of these goals will determine how you run your competition, especially, the rules and conditions of entry (more on this later).
Pick your Prize
This is will be the hook that will get your audience excited and encourage as many people to participate as possible. So, choose your prize carefully. Choosing something too small/unexciting won’t stir the response that you’re looking for. Many businesses can be hesitant to offer giveaways or discounts however this is more than just a freebie. Look at this as an investment. A small giveaway could lead to big returns for your business in the long term.
The other decision you need to make is the number of prizes you’ll draw. Will there be just one? Will there be runners up? Make sure to make this clear to your audience, whichever way you choose.
Write your Rules
Once you’ve selected your exciting prize, it’s time to determine your conditions of entry. This will be how contestants are able to enter and be eligible to win the prize. It needs to be clear who can and can’t enter (over 18’s for example), when the prize will be drawn, and how the winner will be contacted/notified.
There are a number of different competitions that you can run, here are a few examples based on the examples we mentioned above:
- Increasing your brand awareness/Growing your likes/follows: This is the most straightforward method as it can be done in a number of ways. Such as ‘Tag a friend for one entry’, ‘share to your story for one entry’, ‘share your photo and tag us’, ‘Use this #’.
- Draw more eyes to a sale/promotion/event: If you have an upcoming event, you could run a photo competition, or ‘if you could take one celebrity to this event, who would it be and why?’.
- Building your marketing or leads database: To grow your leads, you need a method of contact The most efficient of which is an email address. Make adding an email address a condition of entry in this instance. It’s crucial that the contestant gives consent to be contacted, and you make it clear they can opt-out at any time.
Create your Content
Now that you’ve set your goals, picked your prize, and written the rules, it’s to make your content! You’ll need a few pieces of content, depending on how much you want to promote the competition. Start with an image that can be used for posts, your stories, and the banner image on your profile. Write the copy for your posts, which contains clear rules and a link to any additional info and terms and conditions.
Make sure your assets clearly show the prize, as this is one of the biggest draws!
Promote Your Posts
This is a crucial step in the success of your competition. The more noise you can make about your contest, the better your results will be. Organic traffic isn’t always easy to generate, so use as many tools as you can to your advantage. Start by changing your banner image on your Facebook page and pinning the announcement on your account.
Promote your giveaway on multiple platforms (not just Facebook), your website, your blog, via email, and any other channels you may have.
If needed, you can also run paid ads if it’s within your budget.
Announce the Winner
Once you’ve gathered your entrants, checked they’re eligible, it’s time to draw your winner. If you’re selecting your winner at random, you can do this by drawing your name or using an online tool.
If your contest was based on participation or some other form of ‘skill’, make sure you make it clear why you’ve picked your chosen winner. If there were runners up, or honourable mentions, be sure to announce these too.
Announcing this publicly adds credibility to the contest. Thank everyone who entered, and don’t forget to send out the prize!
Count your Winnings
Now the fun is over, it’s time to reflect on your own performance. Go back to the initial goal that you started with – did you hit? If so, why do you think that is? If not, what can you improve on for next time?
Take these wins, whether big or small and don’t let them go to waste. If you have new leads, contact them, if your followers/likes have grown, do what you can to keep this number high.
There you have it! Your complete guide on how to run a Facebook competition. If you find that even after this amazing guide you still need help, why contact us here at 99social? We are friendly and affordable social media experts who can help you reach your goals with ease! To see what we can do for your business, get in touch today!