How to run a competition on social media

Who doesn’t love a freebie? Launch your business and grow your brand awareness with a competition on social media.

If you’re unsure about what makes a good competition, check out the rest of this article for a comprehensive guide. Yo’ll find out:

• What makes a good competition
• How to run a competition on social media
• Which rules you need to follow
• How to track your success
• How to save time for your marketing with Countingup

Give your marketing and new business the attention they need and learn how to save time with Countingup below.

While a well-executed competition for customers is made up of several elements, two main factors play a more important role: the prize value and the effort needed to enter. 

Finding the right balance between these two elements is crucial as you need to be able to interest customers enough to enter because they’re interested in your offers. A competition will struggle if the (perceived) prize value is low but it requires a relatively high effort for customers to enter. 

A slightly less damaging version of this problem comes when these aspects are flipped: a high prize value with a low entry demand. This can create greater interest in your competition on paper, as your competition engagement will be strong and your number of entrants high. However, it may mean you dilute the proportion of entrants who actually like your business. 

Therefore, as you’re looking to capture your target market with a fun giveaway, make sure your prizes have a reasonable exchange of effort.

Below is a run-down of the basic elements for any competition. Consider the right-most column for additional ways to increase engagement with your competition post and marketing campaign.

Sharing your competition is as simple as showing off the prizes you’ve got available and letting people know how they can enter. However, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your post is eye-catching

• Interest your customers with good photographs of prizes. These will likely be the first things your entrants see, so make sure you grab their interest. This is particularly key  if you run a restaurant, bespoke jeweller or trade business where you can show off your work.
•  Excite your audience with a good description. Your post’s text should engage customers with a high-energy introduction. Then, inform your customers with a clear outline of your competition’s rules.

Social media platforms also offer ways to circulate your post to a wider audience through paid promotion. For a fee, you can show your competition announcement to more people than your post would otherwise organically reach. Therefore, use this powerful tool to grow customer interest in your competition and build your brand awareness.

Social media platforms will have specific rules to follow if you choose to run a competition with them. Most require you to follow laws and regulations in your local area. For example, you should not provide alcohol as a giveaway prize to anyone under 18. 

However, other terms and conditions may require you to avoid ‘spamming’ posts. For example, Facebook requires businesses to keep photo tags accurate and prohibits promotional content on personal timelines. Depending on which social media platform – or platforms – you choose to run your competition on, make sure your mechanisms for people to enter are allowed by the site you’re using.

You shouldn’t just give away freebies for nothing – as a business, it’s vital you track your success.

For your competition specifically, most social media platforms can provide a breakdown of important engagement metrics. These allow you to track new followers to your business, total post likes and comments and how far-reaching your competition and brand have been.

However, don’t forget to also measure any sales increases you receive from your competition campaign. Customers who are engaged with your business but didn’t manage to win (this time) may seek to buy from you directly. Therefore, across multiple competitions and different marketing strategies, track how each method translates into sales for your business.

Growing your business and handling social media marketing can be demanding but rewarding. Unfortunately, bookkeeping is often a tedious chore. 

Save time and stress by using Countingup to automate your financial admin and stay focused on building business. 

Countingup is the business current account and accounting software in one app, so you can save time and understand your finances easier and faster. 

With automated invoicing tools and handy receipt capture, you can be confident that your books are accurate. And with real-time profit and loss insights, you’ll be able to quickly understand when your marketing efforts are beginning to pay off. 

Gain complete confidence in your books and save time with the Countingup app.

Find out more here and sign up for free today.