Pro's and Con's of Facebook Contests
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By: John McMalcolm
Promoting your business on Facebook is a great way to increase traffic to your website and generate sales. The effectiveness of this strategy, however, is dependent on the kind of activities you carry out.
Many businesses are running contests on Facebook to boost their visibility and engage potential customers. Such contests have brought great rewards for some businesses, but they have done more harm than good for others.
If you are planning to hold a contest on Facebook, it is a good idea to know both the positive and negative effects it can have on your business website.
Pros of Facebook Contests
Effective Audience Engagement
Successful audience engagement can make your business go viral. Facebook uses Edgerank to emphasize the importance of engaging content, and it increases the visibility of such content to enable it to reach a wider audience.
Running a contest is an effective way to create engaging content, especially if it produces user-generated content, involves voting and offers incentives to users who invite their friends to participate.
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Expand Your Fanbase
Holding a contest on Facebook can also help you widen your fanbase.
If you use third party apps to make the contest available to your fans only, users who are not your fans have to like your page in order to take part in the contest. This can increase your fanbase substantially, which will in turn drive more traffic to your website.
Free Content
After generating engaging content through a contest, you can post it on your website and social media websites to promote interest in your business.
You can post pictures of the winner, comments from participants and any other interesting content you have gathered. However, it is essential to let your fans know how you will be using their content before you start posting it.
Cons of Facebook Contests
Negative Feedback
If your Facebook contest generates a lot of attention and interaction, it can significantly increase traffic to your website. However, a high level of interaction can also result in certain circumstances that can negatively affect the reputation of your website.
There are instances where participants of contests are accused of cheating and winners are not satisfied with their prizes.
If you want to get the most out of your contest, you should take the necessary measures to minimize negative feedback.
Exclude Part of Your Audience
When you run a contest on Facebook, you may exclude potential customers who do not have a Facebook account.
Depending on the objectives of the contest, it may be better to hold the contest on your website and promote it on Facebook. There are third party apps that you can use to make entry forms available on both your Facebook page and website.
Facebook contests can be an excellent marketing strategy if they are properly planned.
Before you start a Facebook contest, make sure you have a clear idea of your objectives and are well-prepared to handle any potential problems.
About the Author: John McMalcolm is a freelance writer who writes on a wide range of subjects, from social media marketing to biographies of famous entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Mark Cuban and Steve Wynn.
