INFOGRAPHIC: 18 Steps for Facebook Contests

The holiday season is approaching, bringing with it the prime season for brands running contests on Facebook. On that note, Facebook application creator ShortStack shared 18 tips for building social media contests, in infographic form.

Far more detail is available in the infographic, which is also embedded below, but ShortStack’s 18 tips are:

1. Set goals.
2. Choose a campaign builder with three essential features (flexibility, embeddable capabilities, mobile readiness).
3. Make sure the campaign builder is budget-friendly.
4. Familiarize yourself with Facebook’s policies and guidelines.
5. Design the right type of contest.
6. Pick a relevant prize.
7. Make it worthwhile.
8. Create hashtags for your contest.
9. Know what you want.
10. Action-gate your contest.
11. Keep it simple.
12. Incentivize people to share more.
13. Encourage entrants to follow you on social media.
14. Tell the world about it.
15. Advertise.
16. Mine the data.
17. Follow up.
18. Be consistent.

Readers: Anything to add?

Build a Better Social Media Contest

Contests, coupons and free products offered by businesses drive the majority of social media users to stay more connected with brands they follow.*  

If you’re ready to engage with your followers using a contest,
use this checklist to build a better one.

SET GOALS

Do you want to increase brand awareness or highlight a new product? Do you want to boost user engagement, gather user feedback, or develop advocates for your brand? Decide before you begin.

CHOOSE A CAMPAIGN BUILDER WITH THREE ESSENTIAL FEATURES:

Flexibility. If it’s not customizable, the campaign might not deliver the results you’re after.
Embeddable capabilities. Look for a campaign builder that allows you to install the contest on social, mobile and web.
Mobile readiness! 60%** of social media activity is done on smartphones or tablets.

MAKE SURE THE CAMPAIGN BUILDER IS BUDGET FRIENDLY

There are free campaign builders and those that cost thousands of dollars. Using free or low-cost software reduces your risk if the contest doesn’t deliver what you hope.

FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH FACEBOOK’S POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

If you plan to host your promotion on Facebook, make sure you know the “dos and don’ts.” Read Facebook’s rules here.

DESIGN THE RIGHT TYPE OF CONTEST

There are five basic types of social media contests: sweepstakes, photo, video, essay and vote to enter. Decide which one will help you achieve your goals.

PICK A RELEVANT PRIZE

A contest should showcase your own products and services. To stay on budget, choose smaller items/discounts that your users will appreciate.

MAKE IT WORTHWHILE

The value of your prize should reflect the effort participants need to make when they enter. Photo-voting contests are easy; essay and video contests require more effort.

CREATE #HASHTAGS FOR YOUR CONTEST

Use unique #hashtags for your contest that your audience can use on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

Decide on the one thing -- e.g., email address, product preference, location -- you need most and ask for that.

ACTION-GATE YOUR CONTEST

Use a form to collect user data that can be used for future marketing efforts.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Make the contest easy to enter. Note: The more fields you ask users to fill out, the fewer entries you’ll receive; each additional field could reduce participation by 10 percent.

INCENTIVIZE PEOPLE TO SHARE MORE

If you need more than one piece of information, e.g., an email address and a location, give your audience additional entries for providing more information about themselves and/or for referring your contest to a friend.

ENCOURAGE ENTRANTS TO FOLLOW YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Once they enter your contest ask your audience to continue their support on social media.

TELL THE WORLD ABOUT IT

Promote the contest on your social networks, in email newsletters, on your website and blog. Remind your audience periodically -- just don’t overdo it!

ADVERTISE

Invest in advertising to increase the reach of your promotion. Facebook advertising is effective and affordable.

MINE THE DATA

You ran the promotion so you could gather information about your customers, so spend a little bit of time making sense of what you’ve collected.

FOLLOW UP!

Make sure you follow up and let your followers know that you appreciate their engagement so they’ll be motivated to keep “talking” with you. Ultimately they’ll be even bigger fans of your business.

BE CONSISTENT!

One contest is never enough. Run contests frequently to keep engagement and traffic numbers up.

Presented by ShortStack

*According to stats from Silver Rank | **According to stats from Business Insider