Make Contests Key to Your Social Media Strategy

Contests as a way to capture audiences and foster engagement with brands predates the internet by decades. The iconic McDonald’s Monopoly game of 1987 cleverly combined the thrill of winning with the allure of collectible gameplay. Similarly, Pepsi’s unforgettable Pepsi Challenge in the 1970s revolutionized taste-test marketing by inviting consumers to blind-test their preference against Coke. These early examples underscore the power of contests to create buzz, build brand loyalty, and directly involve consumers in a brand’s narrative. Although the tactic has evolved in the social media era, the appeal of contests stays essentially the same: they tap into the human love for competition and rewards, which makes them a perennial strategy in the marketer’s toolkit.

Evolution of Contests in the Social Media Era

Contests have adapted to digital while they’ve retained their core appeal. Brands like Starbucks with their “White Cup Contest” leveraged user-generated content, inviting customers to doodle on their cups and share their designs online. This both fostered creativity and amplified the coffee brand’s visibility across its social platforms. Similarly, Dove’s “Real Beauty Should Be Shared” campaign on Facebook encouraged users to tell stories about their friends, blending emotional engagement with social sharing. GoPro also leveraged social media contests by encouraging users to upload adventurous videos they captured with their cameras, effectively turning customers into brand ambassadors. These examples show how social media has expanded the scope and reach of contests in ways that enable you to engage with a broader audience, foster community, and forge some viral marketing opportunities while you gather valuable consumer insights and content.

The Role of Social Media Automation in Contest Strategies

Automation can be critical to streamlining and enhancing your marketing strategies. Automation tools like dlvr.it can help you manage the potentially complex details of contest campaigns across various platforms. They can enable you to schedule and publish accurate contest-related posts consistently in a way that can maximize your visibility at peak engagement times. Automating your distribution of contest announcements, reminders, and updates can reduce the time you’d devote to those tasks so you can focus on creative aspects and real-time engagement. These tools can give you invaluable analytics and insights into how contest participants behave and how your contests campaigns perform. This data-driven approach can help you fine-tune your contest strategies so they resonate more with your target audience. When you integrate social media automation into your contest planning, you can efficiently manage large-scale contest campaigns, maintain target engagement, and ultimately drive successful outcomes with reduced operational overhead.

Five Reliable Types of Social Media Contests That Get Effective Results

Contests are a reliable tactic for engaging audiences and achieving brand objectives on your social media platforms. Five types of contests stand out for their reliability and effectiveness:

1. User-generated content contests can be a goldmine for brands seeking authentic engagement. By encouraging users to create content that resonates with their personal experiences, brands like GoPro have successfully leveraged this strategy. GoPro’s Photo of the Day challenge is a prime example, inviting users to submit their best photos captured with GoPro cameras. This not only generates a wealth of original content but also fosters a sense of community among users.
2. Giveaway contests are straightforward, highly effective ways to engage audiences on social media. With their Ultimate Fan Experience contest, beauty retailer Sephora invited its followers to win exclusive beauty products or a personalized shopping experience by following Sephora, liking the contest post, and tagging a friend in the comments. This approach both increased Sephora’s social media engagement and expanded its reach to potential new customers through the tagging. The simplicity of entry combined with the allure of high-value prizes made this contest a successful method for boosting Sephora’s online presence and customer interaction.
3. Creative challenge contests can push participants to think outside the box. LEGO’s fan design contests, for instance, invite enthusiasts to submit their unique LEGO creations. This type of contest not only stimulates creativity but also deeply involves participants in the brand’s world, turning them into active contributors rather than passive consumers.
4. Trivia and quiz contests are excellent for engaging and educating audiences. National Geographic’s Instagram trivia contests are a testament to this, combining engagement with educational content, thereby reinforcing the brand’s authority in geography and nature.
5. Skill-based competitions on social media platforms invite participants to showcase their talents or expertise in specific areas, creating a highly engaging and interactive environment. Adobe’s Creative Jam contests, conducted on platforms like Instagram, challenge designers and creatives to showcase their skills using Adobe software. Participants are often given a theme or a specific task, and their creations are shared on social media where the audience can view and engage with the submissions. This type of contest highlights individual talents and aligns with Adobe’s brand identity as a leader in creative software. They foster a community of skilled individuals, encourage learning and sharing, and create a buzz around the brand by showcasing practical applications of its products. Skill-based contests engage both participants and spectators, which makes them valuable tools for brands that want to showcase their community’s talent and creativity.

Six Strategic Tips for Effective Social Media Contests

• Understand your audience. To create a successful social media contest, it’s essential understand your audience deeply. That means knowing their preferences, behaviors, and the type of social media content that resonates with them. Tailoring your contest to align with audience interests increases participation and engagement–a beauty brand might run a makeup tutorial contest while a travel agency could solicit best travel photos. This alignment ensures that your contest has direct appeal in order to create more relevant interaction.
• Generate engaging contest content. The content of your contest needs to engage and be shareable. It should spark curiosity and encourage people to share with their networks. You can do this through creative challenges, compelling visuals, and intriguing prompts. The goal is to create content that engages your current audience and can go viral to reach a wider audience.
• Refine your timing and frequency. Timing and frequency are both critical for maximizing participation in your contests. Consider launching contests during holidays or special events when your audience is more active online. Try to be balanced with your contest frequency–too many contests can lead to audience fatigue, while too few might not keep your audience engaged with your brand.
• Use automation for consistency. Social media automation tools like dlvr.it can help you ensure consistent and timely posting of your contest content. Automation can help you schedule your posts for optimal times, ensuring your contest reaches the maximum number of people. Posting consistency also keeps your audience engaged throughout the duration of your contest.
• Monitor and analyze your contests’ performance. Using analytics tools to monitor your contests’ performance is vital. This involves tracking engagement metrics, participant feedback, and overall reach. Analyzing this data can help you understand what’s working, letting you both make real-time adjustments and improve tactics for future contests.
• Integrate contests into your broader marketing efforts. Contests shouldn’t just be one-off events. When you integrate them into your strategy, you can ensure that each contest supports your overall brand goals like increasing awareness, launching a product, or driving sales.

Bottom line

Strategically implementing contests on your social media platforms can significantly help enhance how your audience engages with your brand. Your contests need to align with both your brand’s identity and your audience’s interests. Each contest type can convert audience interaction into tangible results. When you integrate contests with social media automation tools like dlvr.it, you can keep the engagement consistent and monitor the performance of each campaign. When you thoughtfully plan and execute contests, you’re able to both grab existing audience attention, attract new followers, and strengthen your overall presence on the platform. Contests aren’t about short-term gains, but building lasting follower relationships and a loyal customer base. Learn how dlvr.it can free you from posting tasks and keep you focused on bringing relevant contests to your audience.