How to Create A Winning Facebook Contest in 7 Simple Steps! By Donna Hamer

How to Create A Winning Facebook Contest in 7 Simple Steps! By Donna Hamer

Contents Introduction...3 What Motivates People to Like your Brand...3 Why Use a Facebook Contest to Promote your Business?...4 Set a Goal!...4 What type of Contest is Right for Me?...4 1. Facebook's Promotional Guidelines & your Local Rules...8 2. Decide on the type of Contest for Your Page!...10 3. Preparing Your Contest...12 4. The Prize!...13 5. Warm up Phase...14 6. Launching & Promoting your Contest!...14 7. When It s Over!...15 Here s what To Do Next!...17 Copyright 2013 Donna Hamer. By reading this document, you assume all risks associated with using the advice given below, with a full understanding that you, solely, are responsible for anything that may occur as a result of putting this information into action in any way, and regardless of your interpretation of the advice. The information contained in this ebook is the personal opinion of the writer and produced is for educational purposely only. Further, the writer the Fanpage Competitions Facebook Page and website Fanpage Competitions is not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by Facebook, nor has it been reviewed, tested or certified by Facebook. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 2

Introduction Facebook Contests Are One Of The Easiest Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Facebook Page And Convert Them Into Raving Customers! What Motivates People to Like your Brand According to Mashable.com, two of the biggest Motivators in liking a Brand on Facebook are: 34% for Promotions/Discounts 21% for Free Giveaways (Contests) STOP! Before rushing off and posting a Contest on your Page - there are Guidelines to follow. We ll reveal these Guidelines in the following pages, and show you how to ensure your Contest meets Facebook s Guidelines. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 3

Why Use a Facebook Contest to Promote your Business? Many businesses use Contests as a way of rewarding their existing customers, either as a way of thanking them for their business or as a way of enticing them back to become reacquainted with their brand. A Facebook Contest will also; Increase your Likers Re-ignite those MIA (missing in action) on your Page Bring customers over to Facebook Build brand awareness Grow your social proof and BUILD a LIST (a huge benefit)!!! Set a Goal! Before doing anything else DECIDE on the purpose of your Contest. Is it to create brand awareness, reward your existing Liker s, gain new customers, get more Likes and/or make sales? What do you hope to achieve from a Contest? By creating a Goal for your Contest, you ll then be able to measure the results. For example, if its to grow your social proof record how many Likers you had at the start of the Contest and then how many at the end of the Contest. What type of Contest is Right for Me? As at August 2013, Facebook changed the Promotional Guidelines and now you can post an image on your Page or use a Contest App to administer your Contest. An OnPage Contest also known as a TimeLine Contest, are very simple contests which bring immediate engagement to your Page. I personally still prefer to run Contests using an App as they are a much easier to manage and one of the main benefits of using an App; is you have a list of names and emails at the end of your Contest. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 4

So let s take a look at the Advantages and Disadvantages of using OnPage Contests: The Advantages; It s free to set up. It s quick to set up create an image and post it. Easy entry for your fans and non fans. Great way to get quick engagement on your Page. The Disadvantages; People don t have to put any effort into entering; you ll attract a lot of seagulls ie. those who swoop in to take the prize. Managing it can be rather time consuming. Stopping people from cheating will be a nightmare. Drawing a winner will have its challenges. Ensuring it s fair and that everyone is happy with the results could give you some headaches. Big one contacting the winner when it s over (unless they are active on your Page or reading your posts, they might even miss their name being shouted out). Don t laugh this is already happening! By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 5

So let s look at the Pro s and Con s of using a Contest App: The Advantages; You can collect name and emails. You can collect any additional data you require ie. phone numbers or locations etc. Can fangate your Contest ie. have person Like your Page before entering (gaining additional social proof). Much harder to cheat using an App. Easily managed. Easily able to contact the Entrants and Winner at the end of the Contest. Able to make an offer at end of Contest to Entrants. The Disadvantages; Takes a small amount of time to setup. Fee involved in buying the App. Both types of Contests have their place in your marketing strategy, which one you use is a decision based upon the goals of your Contest. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 6

With a Contest App you can create the following types of contests: 1. Sweepstakes 2. Ask a Question (variation of a Sweepstakes) 3. Caption Contest (another variation on Sweepstakes) 4. Challenge 5. Quiz 6. Video voting 7. Photo voting There are literally hundreds of different Contest Apps available. Choosing the right one, will depend on the style of Contest you are planning to run, the size of your Page and your Budget. I personally love Sweepstakes (or the variation on a Sweepstakes), they are easy to setup and you ll get a great response from the entrants. At the end of this Guide, I am going to give you a special link to grab your own copy of our very simple Sweepstakes App & our brand new OnPage Contest Tool, so you can knock out a Winning Contest today! By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 7

To Create a Winning Contest - Plan for Success! Here s my 7 Simple Steps that ll have you creating a Winning Contest every time. 1. Facebook's Promotional Guidelines & your Local Rules Facebook has two sets of Rules that as users of the Platform, we must abide by; (1) The Terms of Service and (2) Promotional Guidelines. When joining Facebook we agree to the TOS. Most people don t even realize that Contest, Competitions, Giveaway or Promotions fall under the Promotional Guidelines and that these have their own Rules! Click Below to view Facebook s Promotional Guidelines - https://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php My suggestion is to take your time to read Facebook's Promotional Guidelines; this will help you understand what you can and cannot do with your Promotion. If you re anything like me, having to follow rules and regulations, let alone understand them, can be a task in itself! The best news about these Guidelines is that there are only 4 of them to learn! In this table below, we ve broken them down for easy referencing. Rule Facebook s Promotional Guideline 1 If you use Facebook to communicate or administer a promotion (ex: a contest or sweepstakes), you are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including: a. The official rules; b. Offer terms and eligibility requirements (ex: age and residency restrictions); and c. Compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (ex: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals) What This Means. When holding a sweepstakes, contest, competition, or a giveaway, you are responsible for the rules, the in and outs of how the Contest is run, including the prize and eligibility (such as age and any residency restrictions) of the Promotion. The Promotion must meet your Local and State rules for running Promotions. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 8

Rule Facebook s Promotional Guideline 2. Promotions on Facebook must include the following: a. A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant. b. Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. What This Means. Your Contest must include a release and disclaimer, ie releasing Facebook from all liability and acknowledging that Facebook has not sponsored your Contest. If you are using a Contest App these are already included in the App. 3. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: share on your Timeline to enter or share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries is not permitted). You re ALLOWED to run a Contest on the Wall of your Business page aka Timelines (ie. Posting a simple image and the disclaimers & rules from point i. and ii. above). You re also ALLOWED to use a Contest App to run your Contest. You CANNOT run a Contest on your Personal Profile or ask people to SHARE on their personal profile as an entry mechanism. 4. We will not assist you in the administration of your promotion, and you agree that if you use our service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk. Facebook confirming they have nothing to do with your Contests, in the event you happen to fall into trouble when running these. Here s a quick summary of those rules (as at August 2013). A person can entry a Contest Posted via an image on your Page by : 1. Commenting on the Page Post, 2. Liking the Page Post, 3. Messaging the Page with an entry, AND 4. People can now click LIKE as a voting mechanism. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 9

There are still a couple of things you cannot do! 1. Run an OnPage Contest on your Personal Profile (Contests are only for Business Pages). 2. Tagging You cannot ask users to tag themselves in images in order to enter the Contest. 3. Asking fans to share your post. 4. Asking fans to post something to their own profile to qualify. Word of Warning: You still need to add the disclaimers and releases for Facebook to be compliant with the Guidelines. Remember it s important to ensure your Contest meets any Local or State rules for running Contests and Promotions. For example, (I live in Queensland, Australia) I m able to run Sweepstakes without a Permit yet in other States in Australia you need to have a permit. *** Check out this article below with links to State Rules in Australia, UK, US & Canada. http://fanpagecompetitions.com/facebook_contest_rules/ 2. Decide on the type of Contest for Your Page! Facebook Guideline 3. states. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within Apps on Facebook When planning your Contest you need to decide on the type of Contest you plan to run. As an example, I had tickets to an event that was being held in 48 hours and I wanted to give away two tickets to the audience on my Page. I decided to run a OnPage Contest. It s fast and quick to setup and created a lot of instant engagement on my Page. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 10

Whereas if I was running an event and I wanted to be able to sell tickets at the end of my Contest, then a Contest using an App where you can collect the details of the people would be far more beneficial, as you can contact everyone at the end of the Contest. Tip: A Contest App is a program written by individuals or companies other than Facebook, which can be added to your Page usually with the click of a button! By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 11

3. Preparing Your Contest Once you ve decided on the type of Contest you want to run, now it is time to prepare: If using a Contest App MAKE SURE it s mobile friendly app - 62% of people enter Facebook Contests via a smart device. Make your Contest easy to enter. Decide on a Prize - imagine being in the shoes of your entrants, what would they like to win. Create eye catching images. You want your images to entice people to enter. Your images should include: Start Date; Finish Date; A picture of the prize; How many prizes are being given away; The value of the prize/s; Anything that is relevant to your contest. Set a date and finalize your promotional plan in preparation of the launch. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 12

4. The Prize! A key factor in who ll be attracted to your Contest is the prize you offer. When choosing a prize make sure it s relevant to your Niche. Whilst people love money consider a gift voucher, these can be used in your store at the end of the Promotion. This is a win win for everyone! The prize winner has to come back and use it in your business and hopefully they ll spend a little extra along the way Contrary to popular belief, there is absolutely no need to give away an ipad or iphone. This is just a waste of money unless you are in the electronics industry. Your goal is to attract people to your Contest that are interested in your Products and Services so choose the prize wisely. Prizes I have won include: Kindle Reader Tickets to courses Books Clothing Gift Certificates Entries into Memberships programs By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 13

5. Warm up Phase 2 weeks before you launch, start to warm up your Page. Ask questions to get people excited. In the example below, you can see that the 4 Ingredient s Page asked people what color apron you would like to win. (Reference: https://www.facebook.com/4ingredientspage) This one post attracted 23 shares and 242 Likes and hundreds of comments. 6. Launching & Promoting your Contest! Launch Day - Now the fun begins! If you are using a Contest App, as you launch your contest and share the link to the App. Ask questions, share photos and videos, meme s anything that gets your message out there! Keep your Liker s up to date with your Contest news. Post often, as you never know when they might see the post. Most people never return to your Page, they ll only see your Posts in the newsfeed. If they missed your last post, they may not even know your Contest exists. By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 14

Share about your Contest as often as possible Drive as much traffic back to your Contest App as you can Set a budget for advertising and start your FB Ads straight away Use a Boost Post Write to your Email list Create a Press Release Create a YouTube Video Do a launch on Google+ Set a daily budget and run FB Ads (you don t have to spend a fortune to achieve great results on Ads). Tip: One of the easiest Ads to do is a Boost Post depending on your Page size these can start as little at $5.00. (You must have at least 100 Likers on your Page to have this feature. 7. When It s Over! Congratulations, you have run a successful Contest Campaign. Your Page has grown socially and you have a list of people (IF YOU USED A CONTEST APP ~ can you now see why we prefer to use a Contest App) who are interested in your products and services. Don t let this opportunity go write to the Winner and congratulate them. Ask them to pop on over to your wall and share a picture of themselves and their prize. Continue to share the excitement on your Page about the Contest. If you like being in front of the camera, do a video of you drawing the Winner. Think outside the box when it comes Getting your Contest Seen! By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 15

MUST DO next write to everyone else who entered and let them know who won. Some people will naturally be disappointed they didn t win but did they? Use this opportunity to give them something else. It might be a discount voucher to use at your store or something that rewards them for entering. Your entrants will love you for it and be telling their friends about the Winning Contest you just ran, and sharing more about your Page! By following these 7 simple steps, I can guarantee that each and every entrant into your Contest will become raving fans of your Business! By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 16

Here s what To Do Next! CLICK THE LINK BELOW and grab a copy of our Simple to use Sweepstakes App & take Action today! http://fanpagecompetitions.com/success/ Our very simple to use Sweepstakes App can be used for Ask a Question, Caption This and Sweepstakes. Also included are STEP by STEP videos to show you how to setup your Contest! Plus as an added bonus, we are including a brand new OnPage Contest Tool to help you manage any contests you run via your Timeline. If you enjoyed this ebook, please share it with your friends by clicking the links below! http://fansof.it/fanpagecompetitions http://fansof.it/fbcompetitions http://fansof.it/winningcontest http://fansof.it/fbcontests To Your Successful Facebook Competition. https://www.facebok.com/fanpagecompetitions. Donna Hamer By Donna Hamer / Fanpage Competitions v2 Page 17

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