August 25

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How to Use Facebook Contests to Explode Your Traffic

Social media isn’t going anywhere. Even with more people using their mobile devices and less engagement taking place on desktops and laptops… not knowing what’s currently happening on your social media stream is something on everyone’s mind.

With over 1.3 billion users on Facebook, the content just never stops flowing. If you currently aren’t using social media to build traffic, engagement and leads for your site, then you need to start. It’s likely that your competition is… so now it’s time for you to do the same.

JustRetweet is a great example of the power of social sharing and how others can influence and help grow traffic to your site. However, it’s not the only game in town…

Social Media Contests Drive Serious Traffic

Social media contests are a great way to bring attention to your blog, brand and business. Just like users of JustRetweet earn credits for sharing your posts and content, people can do the same when entering your contest to earn more entries. This means your contest will start to promote itself as more people continue to participate… and best of all, this is free viral promotion.

Lots of people are running social media contests, but many of them aren’t doing it right… and even more have no idea how to get started at all.

I recently published a list of recommended facebook contest apps that people should consider using to grow traffic and leads to their site. Each of them provide the necessary tools for you to easily create a contest like the one featured below.

How to Setup a Facebook Contest

Gone are the days of coding, messing with tabs and getting frustrated when trying to setup a Facebook or social contest. Now you can join any of these services to quickly and easily create contests in just a few minutes, and many of them provide templates, split testing and tracking.

Best of all… each of the sites I mentioned in my list also have a free trial period — which means you get to try them out, check out their cool features and even run your own campaigns for a few days.

Before You Create Your First Social Media Contest

I mentioned earlier that a lot of people are running contests, but not everyone is doing it right. Here are five tips to set you on the right path and make sure your first contest is a success!

  1. Select a prize that matches your target audience
  2. Promote your contest through your sites and social outlets
  3. Collect email addresses in your entry process
  4. Make sure your contest forms are mobile optimized
  5. Notify all participants of winners and contest closure

Here is where many sites are setting up their contests the wrong way right from the beginning. One example is requiring participants to only “like” or “share” the contest to gain more entries. The real value is in getting their email address so you can follow up with them for more offers and future announcements.

As for the prize, how many times have you seen an Apple iPad being given away… only to have no idea who the actual sponsor or site was for the contest. This is the problem with giving away a high ticket item that everyone wants — they want the prize and have no interest in your site or business. Instead you should give away a product or service that your site is already focused on or sells.

By following these steps you will be able to reach the target audience that is most likely to visit your site, read your content and even convert into customers.

If you haven’t done anything with social media and contests yet, I highly recommend it! Start with a small giveaway and see what different types of promotions and prizes your audience responds to.

Good luck!


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