Want to build an engaging user community online? Social media marketing is one of the ideal ways to increase user interaction and create conversations with your target users.
But you need something to actually initiate that engagement.
That’s where social media contests and giveaways take centre stage. You can hire a social media and SEO services company California to use several formats to execute social media contests.
The formats depend on your unique business model and the social media channel you use.
Regardless, most types of social media contests and giveaways are great at engaging your existing customers and new leads. In this blog, we have enlisted 15 ideas that you can try to executive your social media interactive campaign.
But before we share the ideas, let’s first get a fundamental understanding of social media contests and how they work.
Collaborating with an experienced social media marketing services company is the best way to get the greatest value out of your social media contests.
What Are Social Media Contests And Giveaways?
So what exactly are social media contests and giveaways? Both these terms and marketing tactics are almost similar. However, they do have subtle differences.
- During social media giveaway contests, brands, businesses, and even influences ask people to participate and complete a task to become eligible to receive gifts/prizes. In giveaway marketing, the winners are selected randomly, giving a fair chance to all the participants.
- Social media contests generally focus on a challenge that participants must complete and give their best version to win a prize. For example, contests can be submitting the best photos, captions, or sharing a particular post. Only the selected winners (based on pre-defined criteria) of the contest receive a gift hamper or prize.
Why Should You Include Contests In Your Social Media Campaign?
To survive and sustain in the highly competitive industry and make a mark, you need to build enduring customer relationships with the audience through engagements.
With social media content marketing San Diego, your brand can enjoy the following benefits:
- Increase brand page/account followers.
- Convert high-quality leads.
- Amplify brand awareness within the market.
- Enhance customer loyalty.
How To Execute A Social Media Contest?
For executing a social media contest, your social media marketing services company need to develop a strategy and follow certain steps.
Depending on the business requirement, the social media contest execution may vary. However, it includes the following basic stages:
- Set your campaign objectives and decide your giveaway or contest type (stay tuned to know more)
- Determine your contest budget and select prizes (it can be products from your brand or an entity you’re collaborating with)
- Know your target audience and pick the right social platform to host the contest
- Plan, market, and execute your giveaway or contest
- Measure the campaign outcomes and ROI (here, ROI can be customers gained, brand recognition, order placement after giveaway)
10 Social Media Contest Ideas to Engage Your Customers
Share a photo contest.
With a photo contest, you can create a repository of user-generated content. The photos you collect from users can be used to illustrate the benefits or features of your product or services.
Ask users to click some snaps of how they use your product or service daily. The winner can be chosen based on the number of votes a photo receives or via our judge panel.
Photo caption contest
Photo captions can be fun and exciting since there’s creativity involved in the contest. Request your users to participate in writing captions for a particular social media post or photo.
Participants can also share their captions on other social media platforms leading to a potential viral campaign for your brand.
A photo caption contest can be executed in a creatively unique way by an experienced agency for content marketing San Diego.
Brand partnership bundle
Brand partnership bundle contests are great for collaboration or influencer marketing. Team up with a brand (not your competitor) and co-host a contest.
Couple your resources to craft the ultimate prize bundle. Plan a “follow to win” strategy by requesting participants to follow you and your partners.
Surprise giveaways
Rather than hosting a competition, surprise giveaways focus on sending gifts or prizes to one of your loyal followers randomly. This will create an element of surprise.
Your followers will love such surprises and want to share them within their own social community. Such surprises will also drive the target audience to follow your brand more religiously.
Creative photo contests
Your SEO services company California can plan a unique concept encouraging your followers to get creative with your product or components.
You can have customers reuse the product container or packaging in a creative and innovative way. Users can share their creations, and you can award the best submission.
Voting promotions
You can ask your target audience to vote for a particular event, such as getting likes or comments on a post, sharing a snap, etc. The poster with the most likes at the event’s end is the contest’s winner.
Form submission
Form submission can provide a discreet way to participants to enter a contest. Using the form, your social media marketing services company can ask your target audience to participate in a contest with an email address, contact information, or personal details. Apart from engaging your audience, you create a rich data repository.
Trivia contest
In trivia contests, followers are encouraged to participate in a quiz. Entrants with the correct answers can be declared winners within the shortest span of time. You can go with small gifts to all the participants with correct answers or randomly choose a winner who receives an ultimate giveaway.
Feedback contests
Contests can also be an excellent tool to gather feedback about your products or services. Ask customers/followers on your social platform to share quick feedback about their experience with your business. Award a few winners randomly. You can also socially share the winner list to encourage more participation.
Referral contests
A remarkable tool for reaching new customers and gathering potential leads. The rule of referral contests is simple. The participant needs to refer your business offerings to a particular number of friends through commenting on sharing to win the contest.
Wrapping Up
Social media contests allow you to engage with your target audience and encourage brand interaction.
With the correct social media and SEO services company in California, you can incorporate contests into any business model, social media channel, and even budget.
