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Giveaways are such a fun time for both marketing teams and their target audience. Who doesn’t love a good contest?
No one. No one doesn’t love a contest, and that in itself can become a challenge for businesses who want their brand to stand out.
Your giveaway needs to be fresh and unique to catch the eye of a wide variety of people. That might mean having a stellar prize, a unique structure, or over-the-top engagement.
Whatever your goal for a contest is, getting it to stand out is half the battle, so here are a few of my favorite ways to spice up your next campaign.
Powerful Prizes
At the end of the day, most people will be invested in your contest because of the prizes. If the potential gains are out of this world, the engagement will be too.
As tempting as it is to just throw money at a prize to make it tempting, that would make your team miss out on one of the biggest benefits of running a contest.
Memorable prizes that your core audience will use and appreciate will keep your brand at the top of their mind way more than a fancy bit of tech or large cash prize ever could. In fact, studies show that they cause way more brand engagement in the long run!
Here’s a few ways to make sure your contest winners are thinking about your company far into the future.
Fun Experiences
FOMO (Fear of missing out) is alive and well, especially in our internet age. If you want your prize to stand out and get people talking, a fun event or experience is the way to go.
Whether it’s an afternoon with a celebrity influencer, a weekend away in a luxury beach house, or a private dinner and movie screening with someone special, these are the types of prizes every contest fan dreams of.
You could even plan an exclusive party or event around a product launch to get everyone excited. A stellar example of this was Nikon’s VIP party for winners back in 2011.
A Plethora Of Prizes
If one prize drums up excitement, imagine what a whole bunch of prizes can do! This is a spectacular way to have your contest look like a bountiful harvest without spending too much on gifts.
With one or two big ticket items, and a ton of smaller prizes like gift cards to win, you can spread the love around!
Another way this can take form is by having lots of prizes for winners to choose from. This will ensure they actually use what you’re offering them, and keeps those good brand-related feelings going far into the future.
Silly Memorable Prizes
Whether it’s a personal portrait on a nut, an inflatable flea, or something even more ridiculous, a silly novelty prize is a low-cost way to get people talking.
While this kind of gift probably won’t get as much attention as something that your customers will actually use, throwing it in can spruce up an otherwise straightforward competition.
Novelty prizes also become conversation starters. People see something silly and it opens the door for them to ask questions.
"Where did you get that giant statue of a peanut in swim trunks?"
"Oh, I won a contest for this awesome swimwear brand!"
You get the picture. It'll keep bringing value to your company for years to come.
Structure
Delivery is everything. In a sea of contests and giveaways, asking for something fresh and new adds a bit of excitement to your brand.
The structure of your contest can give you an opportunity to build an even bigger personal connection between you and potential customers. Who could ask for more?
Don't waste this opportunity, take a look at these innovative ideas for your contest structure.
Trivia About Your Brand
Every brand has its own reasons for running a contest, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you don’t want people to just sign up for the contest and then ghost you.
You aren’t going to get much bang for your buck if your prize goes to someone who doesn’t actually care about your company. Having the contest revolve around information about your brand and your products ensures that the most engaged customers are rewarded for their loyalty.
The biggest challenge is going to be knowing how esoteric your questions should be. You don’t want them to be too difficult, but you also don’t want a quick google search and some common sense to foil your plans.
Feedback Frenzy
If you want to generate some buzz while covertly getting feedback from your customers about your brand, this kind of contest is just what you need!
Users can let people know their favorite part of your company, one thing they wish they could change, or even their favorite memory based around your products. This will get them to think seriously about your brand, and could let potential customers see what they’re missing.
However, the real goal of this kind of contest is finding out what’s resonating with people. You can use all this information to cater your marketing and products to your audience in the future!
Playful Promotion
People can't know about your contest if you don't tell them!
When it comes to promoting your giveaway, use your imagination. Think about what your target audience is most likely to respond to.
For example, if you want to connect with hardcore gamers, watercolor marketing materials might not be the best option.
Since contests are inherently fun, don’t be afraid to take some risks and try something more adventurous.
Referrals
Tying your contest into a referral campaign means that it practically promotes itself! A Referral bonus allows your users to earn a reward when they share details about the contest with their network.
Using a referral software like ReferralHero, you can easily embed a unique link in each user’s profile, allowing a one-click automated referral system. This allows you to keep track of each referrer’s progress and see who’s bringing in the most business.
User Generated Content
Your users are a wellspring of inspiration, so why not tap into that resource? Encourage your users to share their experiences and creativity with a contest based on their content creation.
This way, every single entry can double as exposure for the contest and your company!
A crazy 79% of people say that user-generated content has a big impact on their decision to buy a product. You really can’t understate how powerful this kind of content is!
You can get your fans to make videos, take photos, or even post art like Starbucks has in the past. Whatever it is, make sure you share the most eye-catching entries along with a huge endorsement for your brand!
Brand Partnership
As I mentioned, running a contest is a pretty popular way for brands to raise awareness. That means there are probably a few other companies invested in your target market who would be interested in running one alongside you!
For example, if you create a video game, you could partner up with a snack brand to offer special rewards to players who have high scores. Bonus points for being creative with the partnership.
This kind of connection doubles your built-in audience and adds credibility to both of your giveaway efforts!
Endearing Engagement
Once you’ve decided on the prizes, structure, and promotion of your giveaway, you have one more task to handle. Make sure that the engagement with your contest is a positive and memorable experience for entrants.
Make it fun to interact with the contest, not just fun to win. This way, everyone who participates will be invested in your company, instead of just the lucky few.
Gamification
The fastest way to get people excited about your giveaway is with a little bit of gamification! This could mean a puzzle, leaderboard, or even a scavenger hunt like you see above!
Leading up to the giveaway, why not give additional prizes to users who complete the steps of the game before them? This kind of incentive is sure to get people engaged with the contest and make them stick around until your grand prize is revealed.
Giving your users challenges to complete resets the format of the giveaway and keeps peoples’ attention. If you want to get creative, make them have to find hidden objects or solutions to complete the final stage.
Good Old Ridiculousness
Everyone wants an excuse to get a little silly. If your contest asks people to step outside the norm, it's likely to get a lot of attention.
You might ask people to dress up like cows, make up a story about a talking chair, or dance around like a chicken for a chance to win. Anything that goes beyond the ordinary and ties back to your brand.
There may be a huge volume of weird pictures and videos when the contest draws to a close, but you’ll get massive exposure with each share.
The Bottom Line
No matter how you structure your giveaway, you want to make sure it stands out. Your goal is to capture the attention of those looking at the thousands of other promotions out there, so make sure you give it the extra care and time it needs.
With a unique prize, a clever structure, and maximal engagement, you can rest assured knowing that your giveaway will rise to the surface!
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