Online contests and giveaways count as some of the most effective strategies for promoting brands in any niche or industry. Besides raising awareness, online contests can increase engagement on social media, encourage people to follow the brand’s pages, and generate leads for the business. For companies that are looking for ways to drive traffic to their pages and build a loyal following, online contests are by far the best way to do so. Here are ten fail-proof contest ideas that are guaranteed to increase engagement and raise awareness about your brand![adrotate group=”4″]
#1 Facebook Live Contest
Live contests on Facebook are exceptionally successful because of two reasons. First, going live on Facebook sends out a notification to all of your followers. This way, brands can notify their fans that something is going on. Secondly, Facebook users love tuning in live streams, which means people are more likely to participate in a contest announced live on Facebook. Make sure to market the upcoming Facebook live competition and then start the live stream when announced.[adrotate group=”4″]
#2 Caption Contest
Online Caption Contests require people to come up with an interesting caption for a photo to enter the competition. This type of contest encourages users to be creative and have some fun while they’re at it. As one of the more interactive types of contests, the caption contest model will also generate entertaining content for other users to go through. The most creative caption with the highest amount of likes usually wins the competition.
#3 Fill in the Blank Contest
Another way to get your followers to think creatively is to start a Fill in the Blank Contest. To do so, write a sentence related to your brand or product and leave an empty spot for the followers to fill in. The user who comes up with a unique comment wins the competition. This is a great way to increase engagement on your post and get people to express their ideas and opinions about your brand or products.
#4 Fan of the Week Contest
To start a Fan of the Week Contest, ask your followers why they think they should be the winners. Ask them to leave a comment explaining why they deserve to be the fan of the week. Reward the best comment with a shoutout and a product from your brand.
#5 Photo Contest
Start a Photo Contest by encouraging fans and followers to post a photo related to a certain topic. The content they upload should be related to the brand or a specific product. That way, users will be motivated to spend time thinking about the brand and creating content to enter the competition. As a reward for the best photograph, share the user’s post on the official page or send them a specific product.
#6 Quiz Contest
Quiz contests tend to be some of the best converting types of online competition, especially if there is a money prize involved. If you want to get people to talk about your brand and share your page, this is one of the best routes to take. Ask the followers to complete a quiz and share their results in the comments. The user with the best score wins the competition.
#7 Q and A Contest
Next up is the Q and A contest, which is one of the most straightforward strategies to increase engagement. Simply ask a question and let the users respond in the comments. The user with the best answer wins the competition.
#8 Name Our New Product Contest
One of the most exciting contest ideas is to ask your followers to name a new product. Describe the brand’s newest product in the post and ask people to name it. The most creative and/or liked comment wins, and the product is named after the user’s idea. This strategy is also convenient if you want to save your team from having to come up with a new name.
#9 Tell Us Your Story Contest
Online contests are all about engaging the audience. With that said, there is no better way to engage the audience than to ask them to talk about themselves. Ask your followers to share an interesting story about themselves and let the one with the most likes win the competition. Besides engaging users, this strategy will allow the brand to learn more about its customers.
#10 Like and Tag a Friend Contest
Last but not least, the tenth contest idea is to go with the simple Like and Tag a Friend contest. This is the classic format of an online contest where the company encourages users to leave a like and tag another user to enter the competition. Even though this is the most commonly used strategy for online contests, it is effective as long as there is a good prize for the winner.
Conclusion
Our ten fail-proof online contest ideas will help you promote your brand, increase engagement, and learn more about the audience that responds to your content. Online contests have been around for a while, and they seem to be getting even more popular. That’s why every brand should leverage this opportunity to create some buzz about their products and services.
Online contests are a great way to collect contact and other information from your current or potential customers. It’s a valuable resource for the marketing team. However, make sure you keep that information safe. Nothing ruins a company’s image like a data breach. So use additional security measures, like file encryption, two-factor authentication, and get password managers and a mobile VPN (install one for your Android) for all your employees.[adrotate group=”2″]
