There are many benefits to using contests to help with your marketing campaign, such as lead generation. When orchestrated properly, contests can provide your marketing team with many interested and strong leads.
When planning your next contest, utilize these seven tips to effectively generate new leads and potential customers!
1. Make sure your prize actually has value
Your prize must be valuable enough that people will want to enter into your contest. It must catch the eye of your potential new customers and be powerful enough to drive them to conversion.
2. Have a value specific prize
While the prize must be valuable enough to drive conversions, you must also make sure it’s only valuable specifically to people who have the strongest potential of becoming your newest customers.
If the prize has little to no customer value, no one will enter your contest. But if it has a strong generic value, everyone will want to enter and you will end up with many unqualified leads. An example of a value specific prize could be an extended trial of your product or service.
3. Make everyone feel like a winner
Now, this does not mean you have to pull an Oprah Winfrey and handout extravagant prizes to everyone in sight. It simply means you should attempt to make everyone who enters feel like a winner.
You can do this by offering a limited time discount or a sale exclusive to the contestants. This will both make them feel special and produce more sales for your company.
4. Utilize social media
When integrated correctly in your marketing plans, using social media can be a great way to spread the word about your contest and your company, interact and communicate with your leads, and ultimately, increase sales.
Utilize platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to rapidly spread the word to your followers and all of their followers.
5. Like and share
By using platforms such as Facebook, you can ask fans to like and share your business page or a photo posted on the page. The winner can be then be chosen from the pool of people who shared your post as a form of entry.
Be sure to provide an incentive specific to your company such as a discount or freebie. Make sure whatever they’re sharing clearly displays your company and product or service offered.
6. Photo contests
Ask fans to take a photo of themselves with your product and post it to your page. Collect all of the photos and place them in an album with the contest rules.
The contest entrants will most likely share their photos and ask friends to vote for them, giving your company and product plenty of exposure to new potential leads.
7. Create a designated landing page with a CTA
If you are conducting your contest through email marketing or highlighting it via your company website or social media, having a designated landing page is vital.
When your customers click on the link, it is important that they are taken to a page that is tailored specifically to the contest. The page should include the contest rules and a clear call to action of what you wish for them to do next! This will increase your chances of conversion.
Contests are a fun, interactive way to produce new leads, create new exposure for your product, and form relationships with customers. Do not ever underestimate the power of a good contest! “Nobody loves free stuff.” …said no one ever.
Looking to use a contest to get your name out there and generate new leads but don’t know where to start? We’d love to help! Contact us today and we can schedule a meeting ASAP!
