Viral Contests to Promote Your Online Business

Posted: Apr 01, 2011 |Comments: 0 |

Contests allow you to spread the word, creating a viral marketing buzz about the products and services that your company offers. It is a good way to build up your mailing list so you have more qualified leads to cultivate. Social media such as FaceBook, Twitter and Youtube allow you to spread the word about your companies contest rapidly, with the potential of it going viral on the internet. A viral contest awards users/contestants points based upon how much they spread the word about YOUR website.

Key elements required for the success of any contest:

Is the prize worth signing up for
Come up with a prize (or many prizes) that would be appealing to your readers. The prizes will make or break your contest. If you have nothing that people want, they won't play to win. So, come up with attractive prizes that people can't resist. The prize could be a package of your products and services, a cash prize, prepaid gift cards (which are very popular these days) or a paid vacation to a cool destination. Get this part right and your off to great start.

Make it easy for customers to enter
Your contest needs rules. Rules keep things fair and legal. Keep the rules for your contest simple and easy to follow. The easier it is for people to enter your contest, the more people will enter.
Make it easy for people to spread the word or create a buzz
Social media marketing can help your contest go viral and reach thousands of participants who may have never been exposed to your business before. Include social media buttons on your contest page so that participants can easily Tweet or Facebook their friends about the contest.
Consider teaming up with a complementary business
One thing you may want to look into is finding someone or a business to sponsor the contest with you. For example, let's say you run an online home based business and you want to give a laptop computer to the winner of your contest. You could pair up with an computer company who could offer computer electronics to the winner. This allows you to create a better prize, and it helps to better spread the word about your contest.
Promote It Everywhere
Once the contest is ready, it is time to promote the contest to everyone you know. Naturally, the first place to do so would be on your website. Next, promote it on other websites, on newsgroups, wherever you can stick the contest announcement.
Don't think only in terms of online promotion. You'd be surprised that offline promotion works too. At the same time, don't leave out your existing customers either. Send them an email announcing the contest. Tell them to send or refer the contest to friends and families, especially since you know they've bought from you and they know your products well (that is, if you are offering your own product). The key to any successful online contest is to keep promoting it, even until the deadline itself.

Now that you know how to run a contest, go on, get one organised! It takes some work and needs some creative thinking but it's fun and helps you promote your business in the most innovative way!

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