Social Media Contests: How to Generate Leads

Free products. Giveaways. Contests. No matter what you call them, people love a chance to get something valuable through fun activities like social media sweepstakes or photo contests.

Brands, bloggers, and businesses everywhere are luring audiences into promotions—and you can do the same. What if you could leverage these flashy giveaways to connect with fresh leads eager to engage with your brand?

In this post, we'll dive into how to run social media contests that rack up impressions, spark conversation, and generate leads. You're about to learn actionable tips to create compelling giveaways that convert. Plus, avoid common contest mistakes brands often make.

Ready to plan your next viral contest? Let's get started!

Why Use Social Media for Lead Generation

Social media dominates most people's attention nowadays. In fact, around 61.4% of the world's population uses social media regularly. Tapping into these massive, hyper-engaged networks allows you to:

• Reach a Large Audience: Billions of people visit social media daily. Contests give you access to broad, relevant audiences.
• Build Brand Awareness: Compelling contests spotlight your brand in entertaining, shareable ways. They spread awareness organically.
• Capture Leads: Contests require participants to share contact info, allowing you to nurture leads.
• Drive Website Traffic: Promote your contest and encourage visitors. 
• Leverage User Content: Require submissions like photos or videos. User-generated content builds credibility via social proof.

Overall, contests allow you to increase reach, engagement, and conversions cost-effectively.  

How to Generate Leads with Social Media Contests

Contests can be powerful, but only if executed correctly. Otherwise, you risk coming across as inauthentic or untrustworthy. 

Follow these tips to boost lead generation through social media giveaways.

Choose the Right Platform

Not all social platforms work equally well for contests. Consider where your audience is most active. For example, image-focused contests often thrive on Instagram and Pinterest. These platforms are great for user-generated content and visual storytelling. Meanwhile, LinkedIn is a better platform for B2B lead generation.

Hashtag contests may perform better on X (FKA Twitter) but may be less effective on other platforms. Each platform has a specific audience and demographic, so choose the one that aligns with your target audience. 

Choose a Contest Structure

Next, contest structure refers to the type of giveaway you will be hosting. Different formats impact entries, creativity, and promotion opportunities. Common options include:

• Instant Win Contests: Participants enter for a chance to win immediately. These contests typically drive lots of entries.
• Sweepstakes: Users enter over a timeframe, with the winner(s) picked at the end. Sweepstakes may receive fewer daily entries than instant-win contests, but they usually get more shares and referrals.
• Hashtag Contests: Participants post using a unique hashtag for a chance to win. Allows entries via User Generated Content (UGC).
• Photo Contests: Users submit original photo entries based on a theme. UGC photo contests tend to be very shareable and do wonders for social proof.
• Video Contests: Same as photo contests, except entries are fun videos. Often more interactive and engaging than images.
• Review Contests: Participants post reviews of your product/service to enter. It helps generate credibility via ratings, reviews, and testimonials.
• Comment-to-Enter: As one of the most straightforward formats, users comment on a post to submit entries. Super easy promotion via tagged posts.

Weigh the pros and cons of each before choosing one that matches your goals. In most cases, a mix of different contest structures may be the most effective strategy. For example, you can host a photo contest to showcase your products, in which participants have to use a unique hashtag and tag their friends for extra entries. 

Set SMART Goals 

Like most business initiatives, diving headfirst without clear goals rarely yields success. And if it does, you'll have no way of tracking it. As such, don't launch a contest without knowing what you want to achieve. Start by considering potential goals for this campaign, such as increasing brand awareness.

However, simply increasing brand awareness isn't a tangible goal. Instead, make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—a.k .a. SMART. Here is a closer look at the classic SMART acronym:

• Specific: Concrete numbers like 100 new leads or 4% landing page conversion rate.
• Measurable: Metrics like form entries, email signups, and coupon claims to track.
• Achievable: Ensure your goals are reasonably obtainable based on past campaigns and audience size.
• Relevant: Goals should map directly to current business needs and growth plans.
• Time-bound: Ground the giveaway within a distinct timeframe, generally two weeks to 2 months.

Setting SMART goals keeps efforts focused. It also enables you to accurately evaluate contest success after completion.

Offer a Compelling Prize 

Your epic prize is the primary reason people will enter your contest. Brainstorm rewards that specifically appeal to your audience.

Get creative with experiential prizes like VIP access, exclusive content (e.g. online courses, private videos, etc.), personalized consulting, and more. These establish your authority while delivering high personal value.

If you are awarding a physical product or gift card, ensure it spotlights your brand. For example, an outdoor goods company could offer special edition hiking gear. 

Make the prize posting visually compelling with strong copywriting. Clearly explain why followers will be thrilled to win this specific, customized reward.

Craft Engaging Content 

Your contest-related posts, graphics, and captions must grab attention fast. With a limited-time offer, you need to make every impression count.

Include:

• Crisp, fun copywriting style packed with personality
• Bright, eye-catching images that align with brand style
• Relatable messaging reflecting audience interests and values

This ensures all contest promotion content works extra hard to inspire engagement and entries.

Ensure Strict Rules 

Remember that different platforms have different contest rules. Make sure you review them to ensure your giveaway follows their guidelines. Additionally, you'll want to establish specific procedures around your event.

Draft an official set of contest rules/terms covering entry instructions, eligibility, judging process, and other legalities. These should be free of any ambiguity. If you have a legal team, consult them to ensure all bases are covered. Full transparency helps avoid confusion or complaints. 

Clearly state things like:

• Who can/can't enter
• Geo-restrictions or age requirements
• Start and end date
• How winners will be selected
• How entry info will be used
• Prize details and fulfillment timeline

It's also best to state that the contest is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with the social media platform itself. This will protect your brand from any potential issues down the line.

Partner With Influencers 

Influencers—users with devoted social followings in your niche—possess huge opportunities for extra contests and brand exposure. The most popular influencers charge a hefty sum of money, but those with followings as small as 1-2k can still net significant interest.

Research micro and nano-influencers in your industry. Reach out to potentially interested collaborators and offer reasonable compensation. That could range from anything like free products to affiliate sales commission in return for creating buzz.

Ensure any sponsors tag your brand and utilize approved hashtags plus legal contest disclosures. Their established followers plus content can expand the giveaway's scope.

Promote Your Contest 

In a similar vein, remember that giveaways don't market themselves! You should treat your giveaway as any other marketing campaign for your brand. Give it a budget, plan it out, and advertise across all company channels, including:

• Website & blog posts
• Email lists & newsletters
• Social media (with eye-catching graphics and videos)
• Print materials like flyers and signs
• Paid ads to amplify reach

This multi-channel promotion strategy maximizes impressions. Craft a unique, branded hashtag for people to include with entries and shares, too.

Monitor and Analyze Results 

Finally, analytics will be of great help for future contests. Actively track contest metrics, including entries, conversions, social mentions, and more, using your management platform of choice. Review daily and weekly reports highlighting top times/days for engagement. Use these insights to guide promotion scheduling and cadence.

Next, tie these performance findings back to pre-set SMART objectives. If lagging, brainstorm ways to improve next time. On the other hand, if the contest goes well, take away key learnings for future campaigns. 

Launch a Social Media Contest For Your Brand

Well-planned social media contests offer affordable engagement and lead gen without huge marketing budgets or resources. 

Now it's your turn. Use these tips to start growing leads today with custom social media contests! 

Are you interested in enhancing your social media strategy? Let us help prepare your brand for success! Call TechWyse Internet Marketing at 866-208-3095 or contact us here.