DIGITAL - Running a Successful Social Media Contest

Have you run social media contests in the past without successfully building your email list? Or are you thinking about running your first contest?

A recent blog post by Simply Measured may have all the answers you need to make your next social media contest a success.

Choosing the right prize is at the top of the to-do list. A generic prize, such as a trendy piece of electronics - think iPad or digital camera - may be very popular and generate a lot of entries.

But are they from entrants who are interested in your business that you can convert to customers? Probably not.

Choose a prize that is relevant to your demographic. In the animal business, an electronic device for pets such an automatic feeder or GPS enabled tag might work.

Step two is to make sure the contest is mobile-friendly. More and more contest entries are coming via mobile and tablet.

Third on the list is to enlist your fans to promote the contest - share options should be prominent and metadata needs to be set up properly.

The blog post gives an example of a very successful contest run by the Prepared Pantry and why it worked so well.

Plus there’s a checklist to help develop a contest plan.

Read the full article here.