Why and how to organize a competition?

Reading time approx. 7 min

Competitions have been popular for many year and are a very effective marketing action that not only builds customer loyalty but also attracts interested prospects.
Quizzes, photo contests, challenges or even just a prize draw, there are many possibilities for competitions and the choice depends first and foremost on what your goals are.
So what are the different goals that can be achieved through competitions? And what are the rules to follow?

The competition, a multi-objective marketing tool

As we mentioned in the introduction, they can be used to cover many of your marketing requirements:

Increase your visibility & reputation

Organizing this type of competition will help you gain visibility, especially if you choose to distribute it through social networks.

Of course it depends on your strategy, but if you want your competition all over the web, and get a maximum of participants, then make it attractive enough.
The goal? To enable it to be shared across the many online competition sites on the net, some of the best known French ones include jeu-concours.biz or concours-du-net.com

Contests have a strong “viral” potential, they are the ideal opportunity to make the most of the organization of your events and maximize your chances of creating a buzz with skillful marketing.

Add to your database

Organizing a competition is a great way to easily add to your database by attracting new prospects.
To enable you to collect your participants’ data in the best possible way, the ideal is to design a dedicated landing page including a registration form.

Build customer loyalty & engage your customers

Organizing a competition can help you build lasting customer loyalty by giving them a dynamic and friendly impression of your store.

On social networks, this will allow you to work on the engagement of your community. This is how competitions work, by inviting your subscribers to identify friends and share your competition post for a chance to participate.

Working on your e-reputation & brand image

A competition (especially when it is well organized), is a fun event that will project a good image to your customers but also to prospects.
A successful competition will have a positive impact on your e-reputation and help to keep you top of mind for your customers & prospects

When should you organize your competitions?

You can of course choose to organize them all year round whenever you like, but apparently they are ten times as effective when they are linked to a particular marketing event.
Organized in the run-up to annual key events (Christmas, Sales, Valentine’s Day, etc.), they will help you significantly boost your website traffic.

It can also be a good idea to organize a competition as part of a special event: your company’s anniversary, the launch of a new product, etc.

Organizing them frequently can be part of your e-marketing strategy, but be careful not to organize them too frequently which could spoil the new and fresh dynamic of your events.

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How to post / distribute your competitions?

In the e-commerce sector, there are three main channels suitable for publicizing competitions:

Social networks

Social networks remain the main channel for sharing competitions as they allow you to reach a large segment of your target audience. Sharing is quick and easy.

Website

To make the most of your competition, it is best to display an attractive and punchy banner. Your visitors will see it on all the pages of your site.

You can also choose to have your competition appear in a pop-up. Be careful not to be too intrusive and not to trigger it too suddenly.

Newsletter


Of course, the newsletter is still the ideal tool to inform your customers and prospects about the competition you have organized.
If possible, use the Perfect timing feature that allows you to spread your mailings over time to optimize your opening rates.

Radio, a relevant option for broadcasting your competition

Depending on your target, it may also be a good idea to use a radio station that broadcasts locally.
In France some good examples would be  NRJ, Chérie FM, Virgin, Fun Radio, RFM or France Bleu.
They regularly offer prizes for their listeners.
You can contact them to set up a partnership, they will be delighted to be able to offer their audience “free” gifts in exchange for increased visibility.

Of course, they will not broadcast the terms and conditions of participation in your competition (unless you pay for an advertisement), however, they can talk about your brand, about the product you are giving away (which could be the same as your competition) and invite listeners to go to your social networks to participate.

It’s up to you to negotiate the terms of this partnership. ?

Rules to be observed when organizing your competitions

When organizing a competition you have follow certain rules to comply with the legislation.

Write clear and complete competition rules

These rules must contain certain information about the competition you are organizing, as well as information about your company:

Name of the competition
Name and contact details of the organizer (including the legal status of your company and your registration number in the Trade and Companies Register).
Dates of the marketing campaign
The denomination and value of the prize(s)
The mechanics of the competition explained as precisely as possible: what do you have to do to participate? How are the winners selected, when and by whom?
Location: what country or city is the competition aimed at?
Terms and conditions for the reimbursement of any participation fees

Find all the compulsory information required to be in the competition rules on the Fastory.com. website.

Please note that it is no longer compulsory to lodge your competition rules with a bailiff, but it is strongly recommended since it enables your competition to have legal value and protects you against possible disputes.

Finally, remember that the rules for organizing a competition on your site or on social networks differ slightly.
Find out more before launching any marketing.

Ensure compliance with GDPR

More than any other marketing actions, organizing a competition requires mandatory compliance with GDPR.
So don’t forget to include a tick box in your registration forms so that participants can indicate their agreement to receive your communications.

Conclusion

Organizing a competition is an ideal way to fulfill several of your marketing objectives, particularly regarding customer acquisition or loyalty.
In order to increase your chances of success, make sure you offer one or more gifts that are attractive enough to tempt your customers & prospects to participate.

Finally, carry out regular market monitoring to help you identify a theme for your competition and – be creative!
You could, for example, piggy-back it on a popular TV show, by using the conventions or themes of that show (without quoting it of course unless it is an official partnership) or ride the wave of a culinary or artistic trend to attract more participants.

It’s up to you!

visuel Marion

About the author

Marion Drapala

Marketing & Communication Manager

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