- Are you trying to figure out
how to run a social media contest,
but you don't really know how to start?
Well, duh, that's probably why you clicked on this video.
- I mean, then we don't need to tell you
that running contests on social media
is ideal for raising your brand awareness,
attracting potential customers or qualified leads.
I mean, actually studies show
that accounts that run giveaways grow their following by 70%
and receive 64 times more comments
and 3.5 times more likes than those who don't.
- However, there is some assembly required
when building your contest
and there are some very important steps
that you don't wanna skip,
starting with set your goals.
As with anything, right, any marketing campaign,
you need to figure out what you want the outcome to be,
and then depending on your goal,
you can go backwards from there,
the entry methods of your giveaway
need to reflect your desired outcome.
Now ask yourself, like,
"What do you want the you user to do to enter your contest
"and do they just need to follow your account
"or do they need to leave a comment as well
"and tag their friends?"
I saw that recently on a surfboard company
that they're encouraging folks
who bought their boards recently
to go out there, surf, tag the company,
and they could win some free swag.
I mean, what a great way for that surf company
to get some user-generated content.
So, another example, if your brand's goal
is to use a giveaway to grow your email list,
you'll need to include a method of entry
that requires their email.
- Then once you've set your goal,
pick a platform and competition.
Based on your target audience, industry, and niche,
certain social media platforms
may be better choices than others.
You don't have to limit the contest to just one,
but you're more likely to get attention of your audience
on the platforms they are most active on.
I mean, for example,
Venmo has frequent giveaways on both Instagram and Twitter
where users need to follow their account,
share or retweet the post,
and comment with their Venmo handle
for a chance to win some cold, hard cash.
I know 'cause I've tried to do it every single time,
I have not won yet, but I'm still gonna try anyways.
I mean, it hits all the engagement buttons on both accounts.
- One day Nealey, one day.
And follower milestone giveaways
can work on actually any platform.
So giving away something to your fans and your supporters
when you hit 100 or 1000,
or 1 million followers
is a cool thing to do.
It shows how thankful you are towards your fan base
and there's nothing wrong with
a subtle, humblebrag to let the internet know
how successful you are.
And no matter what you decide to do,
we hope you're prepared for all the notifications
that you are going to receive once this thing goes live,
and it can quickly get overwhelming
if you don't have a plan to track all the entries.
- And hey, don't worry.
To keep your phone from blowing up,
you can use a third-party platform
to help you manage the contest
and give you a bit more flexibility and control.
There are plenty of free and paid options out there
and you might have even used one to participate
in a giveaway yourself.
So, do your research and pick one that suits your needs.
- But before you start your contest,
make sure you can actually run it right.
Social media platforms have cracked down on contests
due to liability issues,
and you'll need to read the rules
to ensure you're doing things by the book,
and some guidelines for posting promotional content
on social media platforms
may include limitations on age, location,
or really any other factor.
So just make sure those requirements are clearly stated.
And this is because social media giveaways
have been abused by less than ethical marketers in the past,
leading to government oversight today,
and intentional or not,
lots of influencers have gotten into trouble
with the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC
for not playing by the rules.
- And when it comes to keeping the FTC happy,
they have an entire page on their website dedicated to this.
So we'll link that below in the comments for you.
Obviously, everyone wants to win and emotions can run high.
The best way to manage expectations
is to be fair and transparent from the very beginning.
Winner winner chicken dinner.
This goes the same for announcing
the winner of your contest.
Once the winner is selected,
how are you going to get the prize delivered to them,
good question, and when?
Make sure you know this and communicate it in advance.
A disgruntled winner is the easiest way
for a competition to completely backfire.
And you can use a random winner generator
to keep things fair and transparent
or any of those third-party tools
usually have their own mechanism
for choosing your champion as well.
- Now, with this surge of engagement,
your post-giveaway content is crucial.
Let's be honest.
Lots of users will have only followed you
for the free stuff
and you'll probably see about 10% drop off after a giveaway.
I mean, that's okay,
but if you repost some of your most popular posts
or create some custom content that catches their attention,
you might be able to retain some new fans.
And once the dust has settled, take a look at your metrics
and see if you hit the goal you set in the beginning.
- So competitions will always be valuable
for brand visibility, new leads, or sales,
but they're also a way for you to give back
to the community that supports you,
which I just love that.
And here's our competition for you, our viewers,
no matter if this is the first video
that you've ever watched
or you watch every single Journey video,
we wanna know what you wanna watch.
So leave a comment below with your video idea
and the submission with the most likes
will be made in two its own video.
All right, that's a wrap,
but your journey doesn't have to end here,
we have over 250 videos for you to watch.
- So be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
Thanks for watching.
This is The Journey.