Social media is the best place to attract new prospects with contests and holiday season is the perfect moment to held a contest.
If you want more holiday shoppers this year, creating and promoting a social media contest now will help you see the increase in traffic you want.
With a perfect contest, you will be able to get more fans, increase audience engagement, show customer appreciation, boost your validity as a business, and collect email addresses/birth dates/feedback.
Sound good? Feel free to use any of the ideas below to help you promote your business this holiday season.
Before You Get Started
It’s important that you know what your goal is before you create your giveaway:
- More email subscribers?
- More fans?
- More website traffic?
Your goal will determine if you can run a simple giveaway or if you need to use a third-party app that will allow you to collect information like email addresses.
1. Small-Item Giveaway on Facebook
Selecting a small item to give away means you can offer your fans multiple chances to win. This can often be more enticing than one huge prize because it seems more attainable. To hold your own small-item giveaway, you can use the help of a third-party app. You’ll be able to choose from various templates and you’ll be given the option to specify what information is required to enter.
Keep in mind that the prize should match the effort to enter. In other words, no one is going to fill out a 10-line entry form to win a scarf, which is why we asked for name and email address only. For a contest like this, choosing a winner at random is best.
2. Pin It to Win It Giveaway
Pinterest is an awesome platform for anyone whose goal is to get conversions/increased website traffic. It’s important to note that the demographic on Pinterest is largely women, with 27.4% of them being in the 25-34 age range and 22.1% in the 35-44 age range. If this demographic issuitable with your business, a “Pin It to Win It” giveaway is a fun way to actively involve your followers in your brand.
Here are a few ways you can do this:
- Ask followers to pin the item they want to win from your website
- Have followers create a “holiday wish list” they’d most like to treat a loved one (or themselves) to
- Have followers create a board that shows what the holiday season means to them to win a specified prize
You can choose a winner by most repins, public vote, or panel of judges, but this information needs to be decided upon and disclosed upfront. You can run your giveaway without an app but using one can make it look more professional and allow you to collect information.
3. Post/Vote Giveaway on Instagram
Social media contests on Instagram are fun because they allow you a lot of versatility. Here are some ideas of what you can do with an Instagram giveaway:
- Ask your followers to post a picture of themselves wearing/using/eating/etc. your product and have them use a special hashtag you’ve created for this specific giveaway. For example (#IWannaWinIt)
- Post a collage picture of a few of your favorite items (if you can tie them into the holiday season, even better) and then ask them to vote on their favorite by leaving a comment.
- Ask your followers to vote on your new logo/slogan/possible new products/scents/flavors by leaving a comment.
- Have followers show you who they’re thankful for in November/December by posting a picture of the most important person (or animal) in their life. Have them use your specified hashtag.
You can create your own graphic with the giveaway details if you would rather hold a faster and more simple giveaway. To select a winner, specify if it will be based on likes, comments, random entry, or by judge.