Trying to get more social media followers can be a challenge for any business owner. How do you draw in new customers who might be interested in your products or services without spending a ton of money on advertising? One great option for growing your social media following is to run a contest.
There are a few tried-and-true tricks to making sure your contest is as successful as possible. Read on to discover how to get more social media followers by running a contest.
Check the Terms of Service
When you get ready to run a contest on social media, one of the first things you need to do is check the terms of service. Each platform has its own rules for what you can and can’t do, and violating these can get your account shut down. Most platforms have special regulations regarding what you are and aren’t allowed to do with contests.
Make sure the platform you’re running your contest on allows contests and giveaways in the first place. If they do, check if they have limits on what you’re allowed to give away, including value limits. Some platforms may not allow you to give away something as valuable as a car, for instance.
Set Goals
Once you’ve checked on the rules for the platform you’re running your contest on, it will be time to set some goals for your contest. This will determine what requirements you use for your contest. For instance, if you want to grow your social media following, you may require entrants to follow your page in order to enter the contest.
It’s also a good idea to set specific goals for how much growth you want to see from your contest. This can help you decide what sort of prize you want to give away with your contest. A larger prize will likely garner more growth, though it will also require more up-front investment on your part.
Pick a Contest Type
Once you’ve set some goals for your social media contest, you’ll need to decide what sort of contest you want to run. There are all sorts of different contests you can run, depending on what you want to accomplish and what sort of branding you want for your business. You may also want to take into account your industry or the season when picking a contest type.
Some of the most popular contests are outright sweepstakes in which entrants have to follow your social media pages, sign up for your email list, or get a free estimate in order to enter. You may also run a photo contest themed around a holiday or something related to your industry. Questionnaires are also popular options; entrants will respond to a question, and your company picks their favorite answer to win.
Get Your Timing Right
Timing is important in so many aspects of life, including social media contests. You want to make sure to run your contest at a time when plenty of people will see it, so you get maximum results for your effort. You also want to make sure your contest runs for long enough that people don’t miss it without running for so long that people forget it’s happening.
Try to avoid running contests during holiday weeks, when people will be away from social media and spending time with their loved ones. You may want to keep contest lengths to around a week to keep people invested and intrigued. And set up a countdown to your contest, so your followers know to keep an eye out for it.
Set Clear Rules
With your contest type settled, you’ll need to set clear rules for your contest. For one thing, this will help you avoid any confusion with eventual contest winners. But it will also be important for when you advertise your contest rules.
Sit down with your team and decide exactly what participants will need to do to enter your contest. Summarize your rules into a few simple sentences that you can easily post in a status. It’s also a good idea to separate the rules into a numbered list to make them clearer and easier to understand.
Choose Exciting Prizes
One of the best ways to ensure that your contest is as successful as possible is to choose exciting prizes. Even if you don’t have a lot of budget to put towards your contest, you can still find prizes that your followers will be thrilled to win. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box with the sorts of prizes your customers may enjoy and that your company can offer.
If you’re working with a small budget, consider offering a free service to your contest winner. Not only will that help you save money and still have a successful contest, but it can also get you some great word of mouth marketing from the satisfied winner. You can also think about other prizes that will appeal to your target demographic and align with current market trends.
Make It Marketable
Aside from picking a great prize, perhaps the best thing you can do to make your contest successful is to make it marketable. People need to be able to get the word out about this contest. Remember, if the point is to draw in new followers, those new followers need to be able to find out about this contest.
If you’re running a contest on Facebook or Twitter, be absolutely certain your post is shareable (and consider offering extra entries to people who share the contest post). If you’re running the contest on Instagram, you may want to run paid advertisements to get your post in front of new and potentially interested viewers.
Use a Contest to Get More Social Media Followers
A contest can be a great way to get more social media followers, but you have to handle it properly. Make sure you do your homework ahead of time and choose a contest type that will work for your business. Then pick an exciting prize, find the perfect time, and make sure your contest can be shared far and wide!
If you’d like to get more tips to grow your plumbing and HVAC business, check out the rest of our site at Plumbing and HVAC 360. Our proven online marketing system will help you increase the amount of traffic, appointment requests, and phone calls to your business. Get a free digital marketing audit and start unclogging your marketing pipelines!
