Marketing fads come and go, but a tried and true tactic for driving engagement is a Twitter contest. It's an easy way to reward brand loyalty and pick up some new followers or leads along the way.
Similar to Facebook, Twitter's low barrier to entry makes it a popular platform on which to hold a contest. But there's a lot more to launching a successful Twitter contest than just Tweeting out a prize and counting Retweets. There are guidelines to follow, and coming up with fresh contest ideas can sometimes be difficult.
Twitter Contest Guidelines
Before you start Tweeting about prizes, you need to familiarize yourself with the guidelines. The first key to running a successful Twitter contest is to ensure you're playing by the rules. Kick off your contest preparation by reading the Guidelines for Promotions on Twitter.
Here are a few key points to be aware of:
- You can collect entries by asking people to Tweet an update, follow a particular account or use a specific hashtag.
- If you're asking people to use a specific hashtag, it needs to be relevant to their Tweets. Adding your hashtag to a completely unrelated Tweet could result in a violation of the Twitter Rules.
- You must include a rule that states only one account per individual can be used to enter the contest. Anyone caught using multiple accounts to enter a contest will be ineligible, and run the risk of having all of their accounts suspended.
- Quality, not quantity should be top of mind. If contestants are asked to repeatedly post near-duplicate Tweets in order to enter your contest, it's a violation of the Twitter Rules. Doing so could result in users being automatically filtered out of search. Additionally, you run the risk of turning off their followers.
Also remember that any contest or sweepstakes you launch must comply with applicable laws and regulations. Ensuring compliance is your responsibility. This is definitely something you'll want to run past your legal team ahead of time to make sure there aren't any violations.
Twitter Contest Ideas
Every marketing campaign needs clear objectives, especially with contests. There's potential to garner a lot of engagement here, and that's not something you want to waste with a spur-of-the-moment contest. Really think about what you'd like to achieve.
Twitter contests can:
- Increase traffic to your website.
- Collect sign-ups or subscriptions.
- Generate more leads.
- Increase followers and brand mentions.
Each of these objectives can be achieved using one of the contest ideas below.
Tell Your Story
Twitter contests, while certainly valuable for engagement, can double as vehicles for your brand's story. Consider this example from the textbook rental company, Chegg.
We're giving away $250 EVERY DAY! How to enter? Share your savings using #cheggmeout Get the deets >> http://t.co/0lJFFHlM33
- Chegg (@Chegg) January 6, 2014
Chegg provides discounted textbooks for college students. What better way to promote its budget-friendly service than by asking its customers to show off their savings? To be entered in a daily $250 gift card drawing, students had to post a picture explaining their Chegg savings and use the hashtag #cheggmeout.
I really don't think I'll rent from anywhere else again
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