Anyone who’s spent any time on social media like Facebook and Instagram have seen countless contests, and although it’s rare to get lucky on one of these contests they usually are worth entering.
The prizes for social media contests typically are so great because companies have a true incentive to provide their fans and followers with something very rewarding and worth entering towards. Contests of all types will be able to boost business awareness tremendously and help small businesses connect with their audiences.
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Building community
Online contests of all types typically are a great way to build up followers and likes very quickly, and many times people don’t hear about certain brands until one of their friends or family members shares a company post about a contest. Businesses of all sizes are constantly trying to reach out to their local communities in terms of building up audience engagement, but an online contest is going to help you reach out to more people more efficiently.
The fact that other people will be speaking out on behalf of your brand’s contest is one of the very best forms of marketing because it’s unintrusive and very valuable to all business platforms.
Incentives to follow
A lot of social media contests will ensure that all contestants like the company pages on several platforms before officially being entered into the contest. This does a great job at getting more and more people to follow you on several platforms, which many times can have a ripple effect outside of the contest as well!
Gaining new audience members on social media is really important, and having online contests help you gain followers on several platforms all at once will ensure that you are gaining the traction and engagement you’re looking for.
Increasing awareness
Contests do wonders in terms of building up awareness about a company or online page, and many social media contests will encourage contestants to share the contest with their friends.
There are several stories about small businesses with little to no social media presence gaining incredible success and follower rates by conducting contests with their audience members.
Gaining subscribers
Online contests are always great opportunities to get a large amount of people to sign up for your company’s newsletter and emails. A lot of online contests require lead capture forms which allows companies to keep contestant information as they join in.
It’s always best to target the type of clientele you really want with your online contests, and it goes a long way to create contests that are associated with what you and your company do.
People on social media platforms really only want what’s relevant to them, so it goes to show that your contests need to target specific people and interests that are closely associated with you and your company’s services.
Sales boost
It’s only logical to assume that the main reason you want your company to gain subscribers and awareness is because you’re looking to increase your sales. A lot of times contests are one of the best and most efficient ways to not only gain leads but turn those leads into consistent customers.
One of the best things your contest can provide is your regular services for free, and this is because the winners of the contest will want to experience your company and potentially come back for more after they’ve ended their reward.
Engagement increases
Contests are always one of the very best ways to increase overall brand engagement with your target audience, and when your contest can also increase new fans there can be a lot of upside.
What you need to make sure of is that the engagement that your contests create last amongst you and your audience members, and this can mean lasting relationships on mailing lists and other forms of marketing. So try out an online contest or sweepstake and see just how effective this type of digital marketing strategy can be!