With every aspect of marketing you do, you learn something. I learned that just deciding to have a contest without preparation (or research) is like typing with one hand. It’s possible and it works – but difficult.
For me, I woke up one day and said, “Today, I think I’ll have a contest.”
Organization
Well, it wasn’t exactly like that. I had been thinking of a contest, but I didn’t prepare. It was whim and only ice-cream and new shoes fall into that category. Although my contest was a success, I learned no matter how great or small the project – you have to be organized.
Point One. Create an Urgency.
You would think this would be ingrained after being in advertising for 30 years. Urgency is a factor you want to create. You want people to feel compelled to immediately respond to your request, so limiting the time is essential.
My contest was 17 days. Waaaaay too long. People lost interest and you could see the daily entries dwindle down to a few handful by the last day.
People have busy lives. So a longer contest isn’t better, it’s just longer.
Point Two. What’s the goal?
What’s the goal of your contest? To generate traffic? Get newsletter signups? Goodwill? You need to know the WHY you are having the contest otherwise you won’t know how, or to whom to promote.
Point Three. Automate the process.
Automation is a wonderful thing. It saves you time and a lot of headaches. Due to my poor judgement of making the sign up link in the widget of my blog, every morning, for 17 days I had to manually modify the sign up forms.
A better way is to create a blog post for each contest entry day (whether 1 day or a week). The posts can be scheduled to post sequentially at a time you specify, this way, the contest is running, even while you are sleeping.
Point Four. Advertising and Marketing.
Take the time to polish your advertising headlines and slogans. Like the all-important 25-word elevator pitch for your novel, the advertising for you contest needs the same attention.
Research other contests. Do they entice you? Why? Research the best marketing areas for your needs. Social Media is great – and there are so many. Learn what is best for each and use them fully.
Conclusion
Contests are a great way to generate interest and traffic to your site. What you giveaway, besides the prize, needs to fill a need or desire of your target audience. But you need to plan and prepare.
We are planning a second contest in the Spring, which we are in the planning stages now.
