For most businesses, the goal of a Twitter contest is to boost the number of targeted followers.
Having targeted follower's means that you have a group of people who are spreading the word about your services and products for free.
If you have people who do not work for your brand out there who are saying positive things about you, then you are given more credibility.
That means more people will be coming to you to have their needs met.
Another goal of Twitter contests is to gather information about followers in order to generate leads that can be turned into future sales.
This is done by asking people to complete a form on your site or blog that provides you with their contact information.
The key to holding a successful Twitter contest is to attract only targeted followers.
A contest that draws in too many people who have no interest in the products or services from your company will be of no help when it comes to lead generation.
This is why you need to focus on drawing in targeted followers, and here is how: Set a clearly defined contest goal Ask yourself what it is you want to achieve with a contest.
Do you want to create more new leads? Do you want to bring more traffic to your blog or website? Are you trying to create buzz for a new product? Know exactly what your goal is for this Twitter contest and you will end with better results.
Pick the right prizes This is the area that most businesses make a big mistake.
The prize needs to reflect the goal of your contest and attract more targeted followers.
Giving away big ticket prizes like an iPad or even cash will probably bring you a lot of new followers, but they won't be the valuable ones that you are seeking.
Instead, you will be flooded with people who have zero interest in your company and are just there for a chance to win a big prize.
That is why your prize selection in so crucial.
You need to pick a prize that will discourage non-targeted followers and encourage the people you are interested in to start following.
For instance, if you are a wedding planner, your prize might be a gift certificate for a nearby bridal shop.
This will ensure that you bring in more followers from your targeted audience (brides-to-be).
Keep track of your contests Use the right tools in order to measure the results of your contest.
For example, if you want to increase re-tweets, boost the number of followers and generate more leads, find a tool that will help you track those metrics.
Email campaign auto responders can help you track the number of leads while HootSuite is great for tracking re-tweets and followers.
Once you have a contest winner, reach out to them via email and Twitter so that you can make sure that they are, in fact, a person and not just a Twitterbot.
After you confirm your winner, announce it to the rest of your followers.
When you try to contact the winner, let them know that they have X amount of days to respond or you will choose another winner.
If that time passes with no response, choose another winner.
Waiting too long to announce a contest winner will cause it to lose momentum and people will be less eager to sign up for any contests in the future.
Make your contests a big deal and go out of your way to make everyone know who your winner is.
That generates more anticipation for your upcoming contests and will bring in even more followers.
Finally, make sure you review your contest results.
Figure out if you reached the goals that you set.
You can see what worked and what didn't and take that information with you into the next contest.
Do you hold regular Twitter contests? What do you think the pros and cons are of social media contests?
Having targeted follower's means that you have a group of people who are spreading the word about your services and products for free.
If you have people who do not work for your brand out there who are saying positive things about you, then you are given more credibility.
That means more people will be coming to you to have their needs met.
Another goal of Twitter contests is to gather information about followers in order to generate leads that can be turned into future sales.
This is done by asking people to complete a form on your site or blog that provides you with their contact information.
The key to holding a successful Twitter contest is to attract only targeted followers.
A contest that draws in too many people who have no interest in the products or services from your company will be of no help when it comes to lead generation.
This is why you need to focus on drawing in targeted followers, and here is how: Set a clearly defined contest goal Ask yourself what it is you want to achieve with a contest.
Do you want to create more new leads? Do you want to bring more traffic to your blog or website? Are you trying to create buzz for a new product? Know exactly what your goal is for this Twitter contest and you will end with better results.
Pick the right prizes This is the area that most businesses make a big mistake.
The prize needs to reflect the goal of your contest and attract more targeted followers.
Giving away big ticket prizes like an iPad or even cash will probably bring you a lot of new followers, but they won't be the valuable ones that you are seeking.
Instead, you will be flooded with people who have zero interest in your company and are just there for a chance to win a big prize.
That is why your prize selection in so crucial.
You need to pick a prize that will discourage non-targeted followers and encourage the people you are interested in to start following.
For instance, if you are a wedding planner, your prize might be a gift certificate for a nearby bridal shop.
This will ensure that you bring in more followers from your targeted audience (brides-to-be).
Keep track of your contests Use the right tools in order to measure the results of your contest.
For example, if you want to increase re-tweets, boost the number of followers and generate more leads, find a tool that will help you track those metrics.
Email campaign auto responders can help you track the number of leads while HootSuite is great for tracking re-tweets and followers.
Once you have a contest winner, reach out to them via email and Twitter so that you can make sure that they are, in fact, a person and not just a Twitterbot.
After you confirm your winner, announce it to the rest of your followers.
When you try to contact the winner, let them know that they have X amount of days to respond or you will choose another winner.
If that time passes with no response, choose another winner.
Waiting too long to announce a contest winner will cause it to lose momentum and people will be less eager to sign up for any contests in the future.
Make your contests a big deal and go out of your way to make everyone know who your winner is.
That generates more anticipation for your upcoming contests and will bring in even more followers.
Finally, make sure you review your contest results.
Figure out if you reached the goals that you set.
You can see what worked and what didn't and take that information with you into the next contest.
Do you hold regular Twitter contests? What do you think the pros and cons are of social media contests?
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