An online giveaway is an ideal way to help you grow your business. You’ve probably seen those super-shareable online contest forms across social media. The contest entry forms get submitted, and news of the online contest spreads like wildfire.
Users don’t mind sharing their email address when the prospect of getting a nice, juicy prize is dangling right in front of them.
While a contest can be a great way to attract new users, it’s also perfect for rewarding your current subscribers. It creates user engagement on a whole different level.
However, there are several simple steps that you definitely need to know before you create that first giveaway.
Define Your Goals
As previously mentioned, an online giveaway engages subscribers, and you gather many email addresses. But you can do so much more than that with a contest.
Here are some things you can accomplish with a well-structured contest:
- Increase traffic to your website
- Get fresh content (photo/video/essay contests)
- Obtain new leads
- Forge customer loyalty (hey, you’re giving them something for free!)
- Sell your product (send them a coupon code after entering)
- Amplify your social media reach
- Receive feedback from users (polls or surveys)
These goals will help you decide on the type of contest you’d like to host.
Don’t settle only for a measly email address. Ok, email data is fundamental–but why not ask for a little more in exchange for the chance at a free giveaway?
Know Your Audience
Don’t try to set up a contest without knowing your audience.
An online giveaway is a carefully-crafted piece of content. Just like with a blog or social media post, you must gear your contest towards your prime users.
So, if you’re a travel agent, a photo contest featuring images of past fabulous vacations can work well for you–but would be as successful for a graphic design firm.
This should be a reasonably straightforward task–your contest audience will almost certainly be your blog, website, or social media followers.
Select a Relevant Prize
Only after you’ve established your contest goal and defined your target audience can you move on to choosing a prize.
Contests that flop often results from the prize not being alluring enough to the website users.
Make the prize fit your contest; don’t make your giveaway suit the prize!
Therefore, a school holding a back-to-school giveaway to fill the last few available seats for the upcoming year might find a big backpack filled with school supplies to be a hit with parents and students alike. But, if that same school gives away a nice set of bakeware, it would not be an appropriate match.
Set Your Start and End Date
Before you announce your giveaway, you also need to define a clear start and end date. Otherwise, you’ll risk annoying or frustrating your users–the opposite of the effect you are hoping to achieve!
You can even establish those limits in your contest form to avoid any confusion. Late entries will receive this message:
Decide on a Contest Platform
Finally, decide on how you’ll be sharing information about your contest. You can have a successful giveaway by sharing on:
- Website or blog
- Email marketing
- Social media
- A combination of the above.
By partnering with EmailMeForm to implement your contest form, you’re not limited to choosing only one platform. You will create your online form and share it anyplace that you want using the link or embed code!
How to Create a Contest Form
You can use EmailMeForm to create a contest form right from your dashboard. There is no coding required, and you’ll have the same form security you know and love.
As you create your giveaway, here are some fun elements you might like to include:
- A themed background that sets you apart
- Dynamic tokens to add a personal touch
- Auto-responders to send a confirmation email
- A checkbox to subscribe to email marketing
- Redirect upon submission to your sales page or social media site
- Mask emails and use Captcha to enhance form security and reassure entrants that you are protecting their privacy.
- Limit form submission to one per IP address (to avoid being flooded with multiples)
- And, remember to integrate your contest form with your email marketing provider. You’ll streamline communications later!
Let’s take a look at building a contest form in action:
During Your Giveaway
As you move into the heart of your giveaway, don’t just sit back and take entries. Continue to promote your contest to encourage additional social shares and keep the entrants excited.
Post reminders of the deadline in “hype posts” on your social media and remind users of the deadline in blog posts and email newsletters.
After Your Contest
After your giveaway entry period closes, make a splash by announcing your contest winner by blog, email, and social media.
First, you want to reinforce user trust that you actually did give away an item as promised. Second, you will build excitement for the next giveaway that you plan.
EmailMeForm: Built-in Form Security for Your Contest Entry Form
Choosing EmailMeForm for your online contest will not only make your giveaway fun for your users, but it will also allow you to offer the built-in form security that keeps people safe.
When you’re ready to set up your contest, feel free to incorporate some fun features. Pull out all the bells and whistles and make this an excellent experience for you–and your users!
Deborah Tayloe
Deborah is a blogger and freelancer who often writes for EmailMeForm. When she’s not blogging, you’ll probably find Deborah working on DIY projects around her home in North Carolina.
