According to a Forbes report, 60% of the world’s population uses social media. If you don’t utilize the power of social media to your benefit – you will be left behind in the race.
Besides marketing your product and services, social media can be an effective tool for customer engagement. There are many ways to engage your followers on social media, but it is essential to be different to stand out – from the rest.
You can use effective strategies like giveaways and contests for lead generation. Today, we’ll discuss social media contests that can help you gain followers and generate leads.
Importance of Social Media for Lead Generation:
Social media platforms dominate most people’s attention today. Leveraging the platforms for contests is a good idea. Through hyper-engaged contests, you can reach a large audience.
Plus, engaging contests can spotlight your services in the best possible way. The best part is that you can nurture leads as the contacts will share their information while entering the contest.
Ideally, you can promote a contest and drive traffic to your website. Also, user-generated content builds business credibility, which can help in the long run. When you run contests, it allows you to increase your reach and conversions. Through social media contests, you can generate positive leads.
What is a Social Media Contest?
You might be aware of social media contests that run on social media channels. These contests can help you capture leads, increase visibility, and build brand awareness in exchange for prizes. Plus, the word ‘contest’ can intrigue a customer to take part in it.
Additionally, you can encourage users to comment, like, and share your content. The best part of a social media contest is that you can interact with your audience. You get people to talk about your brand, increasing your reach through the setup. But, creating the right strategy can get tricky, so you need to make the best one to engage customers.
How to Generate Leads with Contests?
You can generate leads by organizing contests. However, it is vital to follow the best practices like:
Choose the right platforms
With so many social media platforms, how will you choose the best one for running contests? Besides, not all the platforms work well for contests. You must choose a platform where the audience is active – Twitter or Instagram.
Plus, image-focused contests give the best results on Instagram—visual storytelling works well on Facebook. If you want to focus on B2B lead generation, you can choose LinkedIn.
Most companies focus on using hashtags (#) for contests. You can stick to Twitter for hashtag contests. Choose a platform that aligns with your target because each platform has a specific audience.
Pay attention to the contest structure
Everything depends on the contest structure. It is a type of giveaway you wish to host. Plus, the format can impact promotion and creativity. Hashtag contests are usual on social media platforms, allowing participants to enter user-generated content.
Next, you can use photo contests to share it as social proof. Plus, this format excites most social media users. Review contests can help build brand credibility, as participants post reviews and feedback in this format. You can also leverage the instant win contest structure as it quickly gets over, and participants enter the contest and win immediately.
Promote your contest
Shoutout for the contest is essential – otherwise, how will it reach your target audience? Once you plan the contest and allocate a budget, the next step is to focus on advertising. Start your promotion well in advance.
Ideally, you can post about your contest on social media channels to build anticipation. Write blog posts on the contest and post them on different platforms. Plus, use emails to reach your audience.
Giveaways and contests have a surprise element when you mail them to clients. Some companies also choose print materials to alert the users. And the latest option is paid ads to amplify your reach.
Offer attractive prizes
Why would a user be interested in a contest with no compelling prize? If the prize is attractive, it can encourage the user to participate. Offering an exciting price can increase your followers and engage potential customers.
You can take time to decide which prize will align your marketing efforts and user preferences. Besides, you can’t keep a random prize for all your efforts. Attractive prizes can enhance your marketing efforts. It’s about lead generation, so your focus should be on that aspect.
Also, keep a catchy line when you declare the prize to hold the attention. Do not use enter to win as a tagline, as it is the most cliched one.
Monitor the outcome
When you organize a contest, monitor its outcome. Without this, you won’t be able to determine the positive impact. Didn’t get the deal? Once your contest is concluded, you must evaluate the performance and identify bottlenecks in your contest creation.
Moreover, track the metrics and conversion rates you strived to achieve. Once you analyze the metrics, you can clearly see the success rate.
Also, collect valuable insights into what made the audience tick the contest. You can use the information you get through the contest to generate leads later. Besides brand credibility, a contest will increase your reach.
It is time to set up a contest
Contests and giveaways sound exciting, right? So, why don’t you use this effective social media strategy to promote your business and generate leads? Besides, setting up a contest won’t cost you a bomb.
You can market it online for free and find a sponsor for the prize part. Social media contests are an excellent lead-generation opportunity for businesses.
To get the desired results, focus on the strategy and reach. Planning is significant, and execution is even more critical. You can get more followers and visibility once you generate buzz among your audience.