The Real Value of Facebook Contests

Recently we were asked on our Facebook page what the value of Facebook contests was. That’s a great question! Oftentimes people are a bit weary of asking for page Likes or post interaction for a contest because it feels contrived with an incentive tied to it. Much like paid promotion, doing this may not seem genuine. However, with Facebook continuing to reduce the amount of page content making it into the newsfeed of users it has be come even more important to ask for engagement. Contests can be a great way to increase brand interaction and awareness!

Three reasons to host a Facebook contest:

1. Generate New Leads

Direct fans to a signup page on your website. This way, fans will not only go to your website to enter, but you will also get their email address and any other requested information. This is a great way to start increasing leads and boost brand awareness even after the contest ends. People always ask how do I convert fans to customers? The answer is simple. Get them on your email list. Social is the place to connect, engage and build trust and relationships. Selling happens most effectively once you move your fans to your email list. Using contests to help move fans to your email list can be a very effective.

2. Direct People to Your Blog or Website

Host a contest that requires fans to submit or click something on your website. It will help increase traffic and draw non-participants to your website as well. For example, Sephora drove traffic to their website by encouraging users to visit and upload personal photos to The Beauty Board. This strategy can easily be modified for contests!

3. Boost Social Media Engagement

While community interaction is the foundation of social media marketing, boosting fan engagement has become even more important with Facebook’s newest algorithm changes. Contests that require interaction on your Facebook page can be very effective to increase overall engagement and therefore ongoing organic reach. It also helps spread your message and page organically to your fans Facebook friends. Contests that require voting or commenting or submitting ideas can be very effective. There are also many ways to run photo contests, video contests, quizzes and other types of contests that focus on engagement as part of the process of picking a winner. And let’s not forget simple sweepstakes where people like the page to enter. You get the idea!

Three types of Facebook contests to consider:

1. Content Contest

If your web traffic could use a lift, consider a content-centered contest. Let’s say you want to host a guest-posting contest. Fans would submit their writing to be entered in the contest for a chance to be featured on your blog. This is a great community builder because it gets your fans thinking, interacting, and the final product is something you can post! Another option is to ask fans to submit a photo or video to be entered in the contest.

2. Vote-Driven Contests

There are two steps to this type of contest. First, fans have to submit an entry, such as a photo or a comment. Next, fans vote on their favorite post(s), and this is how the winner is chosen. Content contests are often driven by votes, which removes the work of selecting a winner.

3. Comment/Like to Win

This is an easy way to increase engagement if your numbers are low or if you’re looking to promote something specific. Fans can Like or Comment on a post to be entered into this type of contest. For this type of contest, you can use an app or a random number generator to select the winner.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that hosting a contest will permanently increase your page likes and boost engagement long-term. While contests can help both of these things significantly, they are only temporary and you need a solid strategy to keep your fans engaged!