Brand-specific contests on social media exist since the mid-2000s, but they are still omnipresent on all digital levels. However, social media platforms and applications changed within the years, and so did customers and their social media habits. To engage with today’s biggest prospective customer group – millennials and Generation Z – it is important to revise and possibly renew your company’s approach to creating a social media contest/competition in 2019. Online contests fit in with the zeitgeist of these generations since online enthusiasts are looking for strong relationships with brands via digital interactions, which can be generated via contests. Furthermore, with the latest algorithm change on Facebook, which led to a decrease of the organic reach, marketers have to try to adapt and adjust to those circumstances and see the benefits of contests on social media in this context.
Also always keep in mind what is trending, whom you want to address and what else is important to take into consideration before launching a contest. Creating a good social media contest can be a win-win situation. Here we will explain how to gain the maximum benefits for your brand and how to tackle this task.
What are your brand’s benefits?
Some of the benefits of using online contests as a part of your marketing strategy are increased brand exposure to prospective customers. This can be achieved for example via likes/shares/comments/tags and other reactions on your contests of already existing fans as well as people who just got introduced to your brand and who want to participate. This turns fans into promotors, who reach people who possibly didn’t even know about your brand yet. Thus, your brand exposure receives a huge boost. As a cheap by-product, you can also introduce your new product range to fans and strangers and increase sales.
How to approach and set up an online social media contest?
- Know the audience your brand wants to address and shape your content around this target group. Keep in mind that your content has to be aligned with customers and not only to potential contest participants. Make sure you don’t define the audience you want to reach with your campaign neither too broad nor too tight and therefore risk losing out on possible customers. The campaign has to be relevant for your audience, otherwise, you will spend money and time without getting the desired results.
- Tie your contest/promotion to events or trends which matter to your audience. This will keep them engaged with your brand. On a small scale for example, if you have a tattoo artist studio tie your contest of “winning a free tattoo” to an upcoming tattoo convention at which you work at with your studio.
- Find out which platforms are the most promising for your customers and choose on which you want to set up your competition. In this context testing and experimenting with different platforms helps to find out which one works the best for your brand’s needs and marketing goals.
- Choose a campaign type which meets your brand’s needs as indicated in 1-3.
- Video-based campaigns
According to the HubSpot Digital Consumer Trend Report 2017, 54% of customers prefer video content of brands they support/follow and thus are the most preferred type of online content. Millennials and Generation X want to engage with active, visual and experience-based campaigns. Important for this campaign type is always to be up to date in terms of specs, sizes, dimensions and ratios which are accepted by each platform. Also, avoid low-quality videos. Stick to a certain degree of quality. Here are recommendations for some good platforms: Instagram Video Marketing, Twitter Video Marketing, Facebook Video Marketing - Comment Giveaway campaigns
Comment Giveaway campaigns aren’t a new thing, but they are very easy and fast to set up and a good way to start testing out your audience’s receptivity for contests. - Fan Content campaigns
Fan Content campaigns are the perfect way to get your business into customer co-creation and offer a lot of benefits: new perspectives and ideas, specific knowledge about the needs of your target group as well as your market and technologies, a relationship of trust on a more personal level between your brand and customers and a reduction of the risk of flops. One famous customer-co creation campaign was initiated by Lego. Important for this campaign type is to set up good incentives to get your fans motivated to act, create, participate in the contest and share it on social media. - Social Cause campaigns
Social Cause campaigns are especially suited for brands, which want to improve their brand image by taking up corporate social responsibility. It is important to make the campaign as much as valued and relevant as possible for your customers. Therefore, choose a cause which you can promote with a simple and memorable message and which is somewhat related to your brand/company.
- Video-based campaigns
In addition to these points, it is advisable to be well informed about the channel-specific legal terms of 2019 in order to prevent possible problems and inconsistencies or even a blockage. With these first and simple steps, you should be ready to go for setting up a successful online competition.
References:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-contests/
https://www.wearemarketing.com/blog/the-disappearance-of-organic-reach-on-facebook-and-7-tips-to- give-it-a-push.html
https://mention.com/blog/beginners-guide-social-media-competitions/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/lovable-video-marketing-campaigns
https://www.peter-apel.de/blog/customer-co-creation-wenn-kunden-mitunternehmen-gemeinsam-produkte-herstellen/
https://blog.hubspot.com/news-trends/content-trends-global preferences_ga=2.72351636.609036202.156224014418421680.1562240144#LINK3
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/part-ii-6-steps-to-creating-a successful-cause-marketing-campaign/169664/#close
https://mashable.com/2010/05/10/social-cause-campaign/?europe=true
https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples/
https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.easypromosapp.com/blog/en/2018/12/8-trendsinonlinecontests-and-promotions-that-well-see-in-2019/
https://seoexpertbrad.com/social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/part-ii-6-steps-to-creating-a successful-cause-marketing-campaign/169664/#close
https://mashable.com/2010/05/10/social-cause-campaign/?europe=true
https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples/
https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.easypromosapp.com/blog/en/2018/12/8-trendsinonlinecontests-and-promotions-that-well-see-in-2019/
https://seoexpertbrad.com/social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-contests/
https://www.wearemarketing.com/blog/the-disappearance-of-organic-reach-on-facebook-and-7-tips-to- give-it-a-push.html
https://mention.com/blog/beginners-guide-social-media-competitions/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/lovable-video-marketing-campaigns
https://www.peter-apel.de/blog/customer-co-creation-wenn-kunden-mitunternehmen-gemeinsam-produkte-herstellen/
https://blog.hubspot.com/news-trends/content-trends-global preferences_ga=2.72351636.609036202.156224014418421680.1562240144#LINK3
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/part-ii-6-steps-to-creating-a successful-cause-marketing-campaign/169664/#close
https://mashable.com/2010/05/10/social-cause-campaign/?europe=true
https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples/
https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.easypromosapp.com/blog/en/2018/12/8-trendsinonlinecontests-and-promotions-that-well-see-in-2019/
https://seoexpertbrad.com/social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/part-ii-6-steps-to-creating-a successful-cause-marketing-campaign/169664/#close
https://mashable.com/2010/05/10/social-cause-campaign/?europe=true
https://www.braineet.com/blog/co-creation-examples/
https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics/
https://www.easypromosapp.com/blog/en/2018/12/8-trendsinonlinecontests-and-promotions-that-well-see-in-2019/
https://seoexpertbrad.com/social-media-marketing-statistics/
