4 Reasons Why: Social Media Contests Work
The summer months can traditionally be a tough time to get something good going in marketing. Brand managers throttle back spend to ensure they don’t overshoot their budgets by midyear. Media planners and creatives head for the coasts for well-deserved holidays. Traditional media programmers broadcast a season of reruns and (admittedly riveting- don’t tell anyone that some Votigo people are captivated by this) reality fare. In short, July and August are historically surrendered by marketers.
But social media changes everything, enabling a year-round calendar of opportunity to engage your audience and reach potential new customers. Launching a summertime Contest or Sweepstakes on across social media- from Facebook to microsites to mobile platforms to Twitter to YouTube- is one effective way to harness social media and jumpstart your audience.
Make sure to check out the Summer Social Marketing Sweepstakes Powered by Votigo - a preview of our Sweepstakes app and an opportunity for you to win a $5,000 credit to run a social media promotion through the Votigo platform. Meanwhile, here are 4 reasons that Social Media Contests and Sweepstakes are a great way for businesses and brands to burst through the dog days of summer.
1) Contests Are Opportunities to Engage Customers And Tell Your Story
The best contests generate repeat audience participation. An ideal lifecycle for a participant in a Photo Contest on Facebook, for example, would look something like this:
User receives an email from a friend to vote on friend’s submission -> He visits the Facebook Brand Page and “Likes” it -> Casting a a vote for his friend’s photo, he gets swept up by the contest’s stunning graphics or compelling incentive -> He decides to enter, finding a great picture to submit or taking a new one -> He shares his entry via email, Facebook, Twitter and more to friends, asking for their votes -> He checks back frequently to see how many votes he has or whether he made the Final round…
Contests give your brand’s audience relevant reasons to engage, or check-in with your frequently. They are opt-in by nature- participants choose to submit, comment, or vote- always a more powerful form of engagement. And they help tell the story of your brand.
2) Contests Put Your Customers In The Spotlight To Create Content
A well-designed contest conveys your brand message quickly and effectively…and then gets out of the way, allowing your audience to take center stage, tapping their creativity and asking potential customers to share their favorite picture or produce a clever 
video. American Cancer Society does just that with it’s Create More Birthdays Contest & Sweepstakes, asking participants to submit art or music inspired by the organization’s life-saving work. Flipping through the early submissions is already inspiring as entrants tell their stories in visually or with music.
Similarly The Drummer of Tomorrow Video Contest, presented by Mapex and other percussion and music brands, continues to generate soul-thumping videos from hardcore and hobbyist drummers alike, all competing for over $50,000 in prizes.
Why is having your own content important to your brand? Major brands are finding that producing and publishing their own content increases not only brand awareness but also subscribers and leads, writes Shane Snow on Mashable. Snow points to inbound marketing expert Hubspot’s recent study that shows that a content-driven marketing strategy can drive a 4x increase in leads within a few months. There is no more authentic way to get creative content for your brand than asking your audience to generate it. So contests that drive UGC can be an important part of a content marketing strategy.
3) Contests Are An Effective Way to Connect To Big Events
There are few better ways to motivate an audience than with the possibility of winning a trip to a huge championship, VIP access to 
a major concert, or an expenses-paid dream vacation. Great contests capture the buzz of the destination or event they’re tied to. Check out the Four Points Score Tickets Sweepstakes, where Starwood Preferred Guest offers the chance to win a serious travel experience to anyone booking a room by July 15: an all-expense-paid trip to the 2011 Major League Soccer AT&T All-Star Game in New York City.
Contests are an effective vehicle for offering an authentic incentive for customers to spread the word. Nothing is as authentic as getaway travel to an event or destination that reflects the message of an aspirational travel, hospitality or luxury brand. What would be a fitting giveaway for your brand?
4) Contests Can Easily Involve Babies and Adorable Animals
It’s been said time and again: you want participation? Ask for photos of babies and pets. Not only do social media audiences simply respond to these adorable submissions; participants generally have such photos or videos handy on their laptops or mobiles- removing a barrier for quickly entering to your contest. Zulily- the daily deals site for moms and babies- has a simple branding rationale to ask for photos in their Zulily Cuties photo contest, which features a gallery full of adorable pictures and rolling monthly winners of shopping credits. But even for brands that don’t center on gear for babies and kids, tapping into parents’ affinities for their children (and pets) is a proven tactic.
There you go- 4 Good Reasons that you can get social media contests working for your brand- even in the summer months. Stay tuned early next week for 4 More Good Reasons. Have a great weekend.
