Nothing grabs attention like a contest. They enhance engagement and help participants feel more connected to your brand. Contests can help boost conversions too. Contest calls-to-action (CTAs) convert 3.73% higher than other CTAs. Let’s look at a few friendly competition ideas and contest prizes to give your business a marketing edge.
Social media contests
Social media is part of daily life—make it work for you by making it a contest platform. If you’re planning an upcoming event or participating in a community event like a carnival or baseball game, create a contest where the grand prize is a pair of tickets to that event. Ask people to like and share your post to enter and randomly select a winner. Offer an extra incentive if they tag you in a picture while they’re out having fun. A convenient travel case is a great prize.
Partner with a neighboring business to draw more people to your online contest. Ask a nearby movie theater, roller rink or bowling alley to offer up a prize (like free admission or a discount coupon) and create a complementary product of your own. For example, if the prize is a pair of movie tickets, a tin of popcorn would be a perfect match. You could offer a sports bottle to keep people hydrated while roller-blading or a colourblock shirt to wear while bowling. Tag your partner company in the post and have people enter by sharing it. Randomly select a winner.
Hacks, tips and tricks contests
Some customers probably have secret tips related to your product that everyone else will love. Hold a “favorite tips and tricks” contest where people can show off how they get the most from your product or service. Sort entries by categories and choose a winner for each one—like the best time-saving trick, most innovative hack and most surprising tip. Let winners pick their own gift from a prize pool. Offer a little bit of everything, like a laptop backpack, tasty truffles and an adult coloring book.
Content creation contests
To improve engagement, have your customers play a starring role in your contests. The more involvement they have, the more connected they’ll feel to your brand. A few ideas:
- Name that: Have a new product? Have customers enter ideas for its name. The person whose name gets chosen gets the product for free and an extra prize, like an insulated wine tote.
- Influencer-for-a-day: Let your followers know it’s their time to shine. Ask for pics of people using your product, along with a testimonial. Pick a few of the best ones and feature them everywhere: social media, pamphlets, banners, etc.
- Best story: Create a contest for the best short story related to your brand. Feature it on your website and social media as a mini case-study. Let customers vote on the winner. You pick the top three stories and they choose the best one. The top three winners get a prize to help them keep writing stories, like a bound notebook.
Win for a friend contests
Instead of holding a contest for people to win for themselves, make it “win for a friend.” You can correlate your giveaway with holidays. For example, on Mother’s Day, offer a luxurious robe to give mom a well-deserved day of pampering. For First Responder Appreciation Day, competition prize ideas can be a firefighter stress reliever and a police officer hot/cold pack. For Teacher Appreciation Day, offer a beautiful glass paperweight to keep those runaway papers in place.
Contests: A win-win
Exciting competitions and contest prizes make you and your audience happy. Customers get a coveted prize and you get an audience engaged with your brand. Next time you want to stir up some fun, try these ideas.