Everyone loves getting something for nothing, and everyone loves having fun – there’s no creative genius involved there. The sad thing is that all too often in online marketing it seems like we've forgotten that the two can be linked.
In a world of ‘like this page to win a prize’ and ‘tweet this comment for a chance to win’ the science of digital marketing is beginning to feel fairly bland. The good news about this though is that anyone who puts a little bit more effort into their competitions is practically guaranteed to attract some attention – so here’s a few of my favourite ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
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The website treasure hunt
This is quite possibly my favourite idea because it really evokes a sense of childhood in us. Hide a number of clues of varying difficulty around your website and advertise that the first (insert appropriate number of people for your business here) to find them all will win prizes.
The great thing about this idea is that it gives you completely free reign to direct viewers wherever you like on your website; think you've got a new product which will sell like mad if it gets enough exposure? Put a clue on the product page.
People love their pets
Everyone loves their pet, and most people just generally like looking at cute animals. With that in mind, produce an event which incorporates your target audience’s animals; I once created a ‘pets in specs’ competition for a glasses company which asked entrants to supply a picture of their pet wearing a pair of sunglasses.
The secret word competition
Similar in some respects to the treasure hunt, advertise some clues to a ‘secret word’ around your website/social media outlets and offer that the first few people to write in with the correct word will win a prize.
The great thing about this is that it allows you to easily create synergy between your website/facebook/twitter page and any other medias you use to advertise, which results in a higher footfall and degree of exposure.
The photo caption
Provide a photograph (generally either one of your products or one which is entirely random and bizarre) and ask for entrants to provide an entertaining/ clever caption in return for the chance to win a prize.
This one’s nice because it’s genuinely fun to judge as well as enter.
Come see us
What better form of exposure than really meeting your fans in person? Advertise a time and a place to meet members of your business/website and offer small gifts for coming. Try to put on a fun game like capture the flag for those who come.
What contest strategies do you use? Share your contest success stories in the comments below!
on
These are great ideas! These games will attract visitors and the site will be more interactive as well. People will start remembering your site because it’s more fun and exciting, thanks to various games and prizes.
on
These are interesting!
Adding competitions is important to keep your readers excited. So is adding giveaways, it makes everyone crowd all over them, because the urge to get it before it disappears forever is overwhelming!
on
I have been considering running a competition to boost to my Facebook page for some time but have found that people are irritated by many of the ‘like’ or ‘share’ style competitions currently popular on Facebook. This has given me some great idea’s though, I think I will be running something on my Facebook page soon
on
I have never run a contest for a website. I can imagine that it could really be attracting, especially now with the importance of social media.
Because I do not see many contests being ran on the majority of the websites I visit, I think that it shows that this strategy is not being used by everyone. Because of this, such an even could be even more enticing.
on
These are all really very creative ideas. I think what we also need to consider is the market for our website. Some of these ideas may work while some may not, depending on the market. We need to find a match to guarantee a return from these contests and competitions. Everything we spend on should definitely bring value to our customers and, of course, to our business.
on
Great tips Rob! In fact i don’t have any contest success to share. But definitely I got enough inspiration how simple contests can make your site busy.
on
Definitely a great way to bring in new visitors!
on
This all sounds really interesting . I haven’t got my my Website started yet but I will keep these tips in mind whenever I start mine up.