4 Wrong Moves When Creating a Facebook Contest

Who doesn’t want to win a major award? Even if it isn’t a bowling alley (I mean, how would they deliver a bowling alley? The deed maybe…), we all understand the power of Facebook marketing, and contests are draw in thousands of likes and increase your visibility. We know this. It’s easy. Right? Creating a contest for your fans is a great way to engage them and get them to tell others about your company. However, there are some things you shouldn’t do if you are creating a Facebook contest.

Not Researching Facebook Guidelines

Facebook has specific rules when it comes to using their site to run contests. You must provide official rules for starters, and you can’t run a promotion/contest on a personal timeline it must be on a business’s page. Probably the most important rule is that Facebook is in no way responsible for your promotion and you need to say as much in no uncertain terms. They recently changed the rule that said you couldn’t use “likes” to enter a contest, so that makes it much easier for “fans” to enter your contests. The best practice for this situation is to look up the guidelines.

Using Non-Relevant Prizes

Giving away an iPad is easy, most people want one – or at least a tablet of some sort, so using one as your prize will probably get a few entries. But if you are trying to promote your sports bar and grill it isn’t really showcasing your business. Try to find a prize that has something to do with your business, in the bar and grill example you could give away a gift certificate or a dinner for two. If you run a golf shop give away a putter, for a musical instrument store- a low range amp or guitar. Find something that represents your business because that’s what your customers want to see from you. Don’t over-do it though; you don’t want to go broke trying to get some new leads.

Making It Too Complex

If your contest has your fans making a video or taking a photo under a sign on the other side of town you may not get very many entries. If you must have something creative like a photo or video make sure it won’t take too much effort on their part. It could be something like taking a photo of them playing golf or enjoying a drink at your bar, something that a fan of your page would already be doing anyway.

If you’re going to do a sweepstakes-style contest keep it simple. If you have 20 fields for them to fill out, with 3 phone numbers to reach them, marital status, job title, height, weight, etc., they are not very likely to fill out the entry. Keep it easy with the bare essentials, name, email, age if necessary, and best phone number to reach them.

Not Promoting the Contest

If you only promote on Facebook, you won’t reach the full potential of a contest’s reach. Use Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare, and other sites to promote your contest. If you already have an email list that you send coupons and specials to your customers with, use it, too.

Promotion doesn’t need to be limited to the internet either. Put up signs at your business, print it on your receipts; anyway to get more entries for the promotion the better. If you have a website, it should be on there with a link to the actual contest page. Also provide a share button for the contest so that your fans can bring more people in. A great Facebook campaign can bring in a dedicated consumer base ready to be advertised to and monetized. Organizing a contest can be a great marketing technique but only if you avoid these four things.