5 Benefits of Running Social Media Contests

Anyone who spends an amount of time on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any other social media outlet will see that there are always lots of contests running, giving away anything from iPhone cases to Boosted Boards (I’m talking about a YouTuber – Casey Neistat).

Aside from the winner receiving a great product or reward, social media contests also reward the company or the person who has put them together. But why?

I have put together the top five benefits of running social media contests and how they can help your business or personal brand.

1. Free advertising

You can tell if a contest has worked, because it will soon have a very strong following behind it. This is especially good news if the nature of your contest is to encourage people to share your post, maximising awareness.

This type of activity will show up on their social streams and could mean that you are advertised to all of their friends, families and extended networks. Not only is this free advertising, which is great, but also an acceptance of your brand into somewhat of a community. Other people may see the contest and like the idea of winning the prize, leading them into liking and following your page.

You never know, this simple action could one day entice them into becoming a fully fledged customer, which is something that all businesses want to achieve.

Best of all, this type of sharing is caring approach isn’t seen as an intrusive form of advertising. This means that you won’t be seen as an irritating company by those who you want to attract.

2. Become more visible

Not only it is the post itself that can become seen by a wide variety of people, but your brand can get noticed too. Inbound marketers invest huge amounts of resources into content marketing and paid social advertising, while a simple, cost-effective contest could bring much better results.

There is also a good chance that the contest will catch the eye of plenty of influencers and high-profile bloggers, which can expand the reach even further. Whilst this is great news from a promotional point of view, you will need to ensure that you keep these users engaged.

By creating a contest that has a huge emphasis on sharing, there is a good chance that you will reach a higher number of people. This ensures that your name gets out there.

3. Up your engagement

Keeping your customers engaged is one of the key ways to ensure that you have a decent social media presence. What better way to do this than by running a contest?

In doing so, you will see the rate of shares, likes and comments rise by a significant amount. Not only this, but people who may not have been particularly engaged with your page may suddenly start to interact with you.

4. Increase your sales

While the main aim of any contest is to increase the visibility of your brand, you will also want to convert visitors into customers. This can be done by dedicating a landing page on your site, requiring users to fill in a quick form. Subsequently, you can build up a massive email list of prospective clients.

5. Give them a reason to follow you

When it comes to encouraging people to follow your brand, a social media contest may just be the perfect route. By offering a rather exciting or interesting prize, you can make sure that you stand out from your competition, especially if they are not offering any type of competition themselves.

Whether you are in a service or e-commerce sector, there should be nothing to stop you from designing your own contest. Make sure to spend some time researching and planning your giveaway, and you will see an influx of social engagement and sales.