Loquax's Guide For Running Competitions Online
Running a competition or prize draw on your website can be a fun and rewarding marketing tool. It can be used to boost your social media presence, collect newsletter subscribers, highlight products or as a reward for loyalty. Setting up a competition is actually relatively easy but why do so many promoters manage to get things so wrong? Over the years we've not only given our users hints and tips about entering competitions, but we also have some hopefully useful advice for promoters/siteowners so that they can get the most out of running a competition.
Our guide contains plenty of hints and tips on how to get the most from your competition, what prize to offer, the type of competition to run, which roles to have and much more. We even look at Facebook and Twitter for competitions and promotions. We also cover issues such as cheating and making sure your competition runs as you intended. A section about automated competition entry services has also been updated along with a new resources section.
1. Why Run A Competition?
If you're thinking of adding a competition/prize draw to your site or social media channel you need to decide what purpose it has! Are you looking to build an audience, advertise a product, generate leads or make more sales.
2. What Prize Promotions Are There?
Most promoters will opt for a simple prize draw but there's actually a lot of different options open to you when considering running a giveway. You can go nice and easy or you could be elaborate and ask for entrants to show their creative side. We explain the advantages and disadvantages.
3. What Are The Best Prizes To Offer
Everyone wants their promotion to be successful but what prizes will help grease the wheel. The type of prize and number of prizes can be a factor in attracting entrants. We look at the advantages and disadvantages of types of prizes and tell you the most popular ones too.
4. Do I Really Need Rules?
Yes you do and whilst we know they're a bit tedious they're also very very important. Don't ignore them because they protect you and protect your entrants. We also provide a basic set of rules that you're welcome to use and adapt accordingly.
5. Can I Make Money From Competitions?
We all like the idea of a competition paying for itself but can you use giveaways as a way to generate regular income for your business. Sites like Pick My Postcode have been successful in this endeavour but does it work for everyone?
6. How To Promote Your Competiton
What are the best ways to get your competition noticed - not just at the start but after you've selected a winner too! We look at how to run a successful competition.
7. How To Pick A Winner
If you're running a giveaway then you need to make sure it concludes with a winner. People like to know if they've won and if they haven't that someone else has! We explain the importance of picking a winner and some of the tools you can use to make the process fair.
8. Problems With Running Competitions
Running a giveaway should be easy but there are pitfalls and problems to look out for. Cheating, vote rigging, automated entry services and fake social media accounts can all derail your prize promotion. We tell you what you should be looking out for so that the cheats don't win your prizes!
9. How To Run A Win A House Competition
Loquax has been featuring win a house contests since 2009 and in that time we've picked up a few top tips. Whilst we're not able to run your property raffle or provide legal advice we do feel we can give you some immediate advice about the pros and cons of this increasingly popular area of competitions.
10. Useful Links & Other Resources
As well as our own hints and tips, we've also curated a bunch of links that cover SEO, legal advice and useful tools for running your prize promotions.
