White paper 10 tips for running successful competitions on facebook 07/ 2014 www.kontestapp.com
Introduction Facebook has undoubtedly become the largest social network in the world. With over 1.23 billion of users - 945 millions are mobile users* - it has to be integrated in the existing promotion efforts. This windfall of users makes it an excellent choice for deploying various promotional strategies, including promotions and contests. Including the user in a game mechanic is a great way to develop an intention. An intention to buy, enquire, review, recommend. * Facebook datas - December 2013 White paper proposed by Kontest - 2
It will make you brand switch from a traditional strategy to a relational strategy. Brands that offer the best experience will not only attract attention but also transform their customers into fans likely to share and viralize their message Brands are also using promotional apps to collect a qualified database of clients and prospects that allows them to improve the intelligence of their future marketing campaigns. Recruit Viralize Why? Entertain Engage White paper proposed by Kontest - 3
I have a Fan page, what s next? Many brands, companies and artists have a Facebook fan page and promote their new products to their communities called «Fans». Today, if you have a fan page it s important to try to understand who your fans are, how they have heard about you, why they decided to become fan and how to interact effectively with them. While it s obvious that having a Facebook page with fans is not an end in itself, we can also apply the same idea to promotional applications. The promotion should not be viewed simply as a unique event with no links to your other marketing efforts. It should be integrated into a whole strategy of community management and data gathering that you need to plan and carry out conscientiously. White paper proposed by Kontest - 4
1 / Follow Facebook terms and conditions Facebook often updates its terms and conditions, especially the promotion guidelines which aims to frame the sweepstakes and contests on the platform. It is essential to follow those rules if you want your campaigns to be smooth. Facebook is not in charge of the contest A contest hosted on Facebook should contain the following: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to [disclose recipient(s) of information] and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for [disclose any way that you plan to use the user s information]. By entering this contest, each participant approves a complete release of Facebook. It should also be noted in the contest s Official Rules that Facebook does not support and can t be held responsible if something goes wrong. White paper proposed by Kontest - 5
From now on page administrators are allowed to run contests on their page timeline and Facebook no longer requires the use of third-party applications. What are the main new changes? It is authorized: Users can participate in a contest by posting, commenting or liking a Page post. Users can participate in a contest by sending a private message to the Page. Businesses can now utilize likes as a voting mechanism. It is still not possible to use personal Timelines to administer promotions and to participate in a contest by asking users: to tag themselves in the picture of a new product. to share a post with their friends. White paper proposed by Kontest - 6
Can I still use Page tabs and apps to administer a promotion? Yes, of course. The Facebook promotion guidelines state explicitly that Page administrators have the option whether they use a dedicated application or the Newsfeed to run promotions. In order to help, here is an infographic which summarize pros and cons of each model. blog.kontestapp.com/best-way-spread-facebookpromotion/ White paper proposed by Kontest - 7
Dedicated App You need a link to your «Privacy Policy» page. The purpose of this page is to define: The nature of the information collected Their future use. How you intend to allow users to delete or update their personal data. In addition to comply with the law in place in every countries where the promotion takes place, you must comply with the promotion guidelines of Facebook. White paper proposed by Kontest - 8
You can hold the contest in a fan page tab To maximize the effectiveness of a contest, you must use an application. This will appear in a dedicated tab. Participations may therefore be processed within the tab without having to leave the page or use a dedicated application (the tab being an application), which will greatly facilitate and encourage participation in your contest. White paper proposed by Kontest - 9
You can restrict the contest to fans only Facebook allows you to condition the participation of a user with the following features: liking the fan page, checking in to a place, or connecting to your app. You can ask the user to click on «Like» to enter the contest and this feature is now also available on mobile devices. Since 2013, Facebook no longer specifies conditions to follow for notifying or annoncing the winners. The best solution remains to contact them directly through e-mail. White paper proposed by Kontest - 10
2 / Comply with any legal obligation in your country The law and various legal obligations (if any) tend to vary a lot from one country to another or even from one state to another. In the US, some states require that sweepstakes are registered when offering a certain amount of prizes. In the UK, according to the Gambling Act 2005, competitions are allowed if no payment is required to enter OR skill is highly involved in determining the winner. Otherwise, it would be considered as an illegal lottery. White paper proposed by Kontest - 11
3 / Come up with a creative design The apparence of a competition is an aspect often neglected. Yet it can provide a very interesting exposure for your brand or product you want to promote. So use this space to remind users about the context of your competition, who you are and what you do. However, on Facebook you ll face an important limitation: the width. In a Facebook page the content of a tab can t exceed 810 pixels wide. The height is less limited, but keep it as short as possible. White paper proposed by Kontest - 12
4 / Encourage users to become fans first Try to get them to Like your page first so that you get a way to reach out to them afterwards with status updates. This advice is especially important if increasing the number of fans is one of the main goals of your competition. Try to remind them at different stages of the participation - if you can t enforce it - to become a fan of your page. Don t let new users leave after entering the promotion. White paper proposed by Kontest - 13
5 / Offer an exciting prize Try, when possible, to spend your budget mainly on the 1st prize. Most of the participants are here for the 1st prize and not the other ones. Offer different prizes to attract a diverse range of participants. For example you can offer a trip or a hightech product or gift vouchers as a first prize. This way you address a large target and don t extend your budget since you will only provide what prize the player picks. Boost participation with attractive prizes Choosing the prize is a highly strategic step and therefore it should be done before the project even starts. White paper proposed by Kontest - 14
6 / Tell your fans beforehand To create excitement and enthusiasm around your operation, you need to announce it before it happens, using different channels of communication. One status a day for a week, a newsletter, a press release... or anything else to make sure your competition is a success. It s also noteworthy that the peak of attention on Facebook is during the week at 3 PM. But it may vary depending on your activity : take a look at your Insights to find the time frame when your fans are more engaged on your page. Use this information to give your page updates more exposure. Also note that if the attention of your fans is important, it s also quickly lost. Try not to announce your contest too early and not to make it last too long (no more than 20 days). White paper proposed by Kontest - 15
7 / Maximize your contest visibility You can now include in your cover as many informations as you want: price, discount, address, email, website Ensure maximum exposure for your contest by using an attractive Facebook Cover highlighting the tab of your promotion. Thus, each person visiting your Facebook fan page will directly see your contest, whatever tab he is on. A Call to Action on you cover could be a good incentive to like your page or to enter the game. This will significantly increase the participation rate and the efficiency of your promotion. Facebook rules about cover : Keep in mind that covers can t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. White paper proposed by Kontest - 16
8 / Invest in a Facebook ads campaign If the viral aspect and the word of mouth of a competition is particularly important - and even more on Facebook - it s often not enough. Investing in a Facebook Ads campaign is an excellent way to promote your contest. The Adverts Manager or the Power Editor platform will guide you to create targeted campaign ads : choose a goal (to promote your contest, we advise you to sponsorize a post with the game url in it), display your ad to a really precise audience (country, age, language, interests ). If you already have an intern database, you can target this audience by creating a custom audience in the Power Editor. And then you only need to edit the message and to define a budget. White paper proposed by Kontest - 17
Once validated, your ad will be online and the number of participants should dramatically increase. www.facebook.com/advertising If you are interested in investing in a campaign and have a significant budget feel free to contact us and we ll forward you to someone in Facebook s advertising team. 9 / Collect data carefully If you want to reuse them later, you must first ensure that you collect the data you really need. The data must be properly formatted and stored in a database or a spreadsheet to be easily processed afterwards. You must ensure that processing the collected data will be scalable and ROI-friendly. Make sure you collect date relevant for the use you re White paper proposed by Kontest - 18
going to make of it. For example as a video game editor you could ask: What gaming console do you own? Nonetheless, try to keep the number of requested fields at a minimum. 10 / Calculate your R.O.I. Once your promotion is over, you should try to leverage the data collected by sending relevant promotions to users who checked your Opt-in box. Try to Use the collected data to target the follow-up emails. Use the data collected correctly Non-targeted email campaigns tend not to be effective and are easily considered as spam, which will eventually harm you in the long run. White paper proposed by Kontest - 19
Conclusion You got it, promotions can be a efficient marketing tool if you take some time to think about it and if you manage it smartly. Here are to three things you need to launch the perfect campaign: 1. Triangle of success Tool Triangle of success Incentive Advertising White paper proposed by Kontest - 20
Leverage your brand through games Build awesome contest and promotion apps for Facebook, web and mobile kontestapp.com hello@kontestapp.com