Facebook Contests offer great opportunities to help a Facebook page grow, reach more people, and generate leads.

Contests have the ability to draw visitors to a Facebook page and when used correctly, can be a very valuable tool to accomplish engagement objectives.

CONTESTS CAN:

• Drive Traffic
• Increase “Likes” of the fan page
• Extend audience reach to friends of current fans
• Boost engagement and activity on a fan page
• Generate buzz and viral sharing
• Grow Sales!

Research shows that persons who become a fan are more likely to purchase from that brand.

Facebook Contest Tips:

Here’s a few key Contest Tips to help yours be a success:

1. Relevant Prize:
   • The prize value should be in line with the time commitment the entrant will invest in order to develop the entry. (Simply offering a iPad does not help you attract relevant fans if you sell fashion art!)
2. Design Matters!
   • A great visual presentation is key to drawing in fans. Take the time to design graphics (or hire a designer) so that design is clean, pleasing to the eye, and keeps the main thing the main thing! Too often a unclear, busy, or bland design can cause users to not enter or not finish their entry.
3. Keep the contest moving!
   • Do not run a month-long contest. The attention span of a Facebook user is not geared toward keeping track of an entry and voting once a day for 30 days. A better span is 5-7 days, or perhaps 10 days if it’s a two-stage contest (initial and final rounds).
4. Set voting to once per day.
   • This encourages entrants to get voters to come back each day, a perfect situation for your Page! You want return visits and more interaction, so keep them coming back.
5. Promote it well!
   • Contest Promotion Tips - Simply having a contest or promotion live is not the end. You’ve got to capture attention and drive fans and their friends to the promotion. This may be one of the BIGGEST mistakes we see, not promoting the contest by making posts about it coming, posts about the launch, updates during it, etc. You've GOT to share about it widely so people know about it!
6. Consider a 2 Stage Contest.
   • 2 Stage contests include a main open round of entry and voting, followed by a second round of narrowed down “finalists” voting. A Case Study on a 2 Stage Photo Contest showed that engagement could be increased, particularly by the fact that the initial round of entries generated voting interest and therefore voters were motivated to come back again in the second stage to see who the finalists were and vote again. More stages with daily voting = more interaction and engagement.
7. Use #Hashtags!
   • Include a specific and unique #hashtag in the posts you share on Facebook, Twitter, and Google + (etc.). Remember to include your hashtag in your contest text and instructions on the contest tab for further reinforcement.
8. Be sure it is Mobile friendly!
   • Over 70% of Facebook users are now accessing Facebook on a mobile device! This means if they see your post in the news feed and want to enter, you better make sure they can via their mobile! Facebook DOES NOT naturally make this possible. You MUST use a tool like our Smart URL that lets users on a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone access it because we detect their device and display what works! See more details: Mobile

TabSite offers a full suite of Engagement Apps for use on Facebook Pages including Photo Contests, Caption/Essay Contests, Video Contests, and a Instagram Photo Hashtag Contest. Easily setup and run Facebook promotions. View options on Facebook Contest Apps here:

Facebook Contests can be a great tool to help pages market and expand their reach. These key tips can help a contest move from mediocre to AWESOME in the results column!

Want to see more examples? Check out my Pinterest board:

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