ONLINE SUCCESS

Increase Traffic and Engagement with Facebook Contests

 

Facebook contests are often talked about, but many blogs and brands still have yet to actually set up their first promotion. The good news is that Facebook is still growing by thousands of new users every minute, so never think that it’s too late for you to jump right in!
With the holidays and shopping seasons about to go into full swing, it’s a great time for blogs and e-tailers to start planning on how they can bring a boost in traffic and engagement to their online properties. Not only is social media a great way to bring attention to your brand and blog, but also a great way to stir up some social engagement along the way as well. This can clearly be seen by some of the top brands on Facebook who are using Fan Pages to increase engagement.
This is where Facebook contests come into play.

Shortstack, a Facebook contest app, recently came out with an infographic that breaks down 18 different tips for finding success with Facebook contests and promotions. I’ve highlighted their list for you below.

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.

As with all content and promotional campaigns on the internet, the most important thing is to always make sure you are targeting the right audience. Where most brands are getting this wrong is that they are giving away big ticket prizes such as Apple iPads and getting everyone under the sun to enter their contest — thus killing their conversions on participants who are actually interested in their site content or becoming a customer.
People love Facebook and everyone likes to try and win stuff. So with that being said, don’t be afraid to start up your own Facebook contest no matter how big or small the prize.

Read more at http://www.bloggingtips.com/2014/09/12/increase-traffic-engagement-facebook-contests/#6ACkLK9se9ZLhCIF.99