The Crochet Chronicles
SPECIAL EDITION
MYSTERY BOX GIVEAWAY
Hosting Your Own Contest or Giveaway
Little Luvin Stitches is hosting a selfie contest and the to prize is A $50 Mystery Plushie Box. Contest is starting August 13, at 3pm, and in honor of this event I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned after setting up our event so that you can decide if hosting a contest or giveaway of your own is something you are interested in doing.
Whether you have a large following or your business is brand new, hosting a giveaway on social media is a great way to market your business. A giveaway can engage your audience by making them feel included and the winners of your contest can offer a review to endorse your product's quality. It’s also a great way to build brand awareness and bring in leads with the only costs to you being the prize you are the prizes you are giving away.
In this article I will cover the following:
•What is the difference between a contest and a giveaway?
•How to establish your objective?
•Choosing a platform to promote your giveaway?
•Select prizes.
•Selecting the winners.
•What happens during and after the promotion?
Contest and giveaways are not the same in the sense that a contest judges a skill or entry by a set of criteria and a giveaway determines the winner completely by chance.To hold a contest first you have to determine what action your contestants will perform to enter. In our recent contest contestants are required to submit a selfie with their favorite plushie and an accurate email address along with first and last name to be contacted if chosen. We also request a like and follow on both Facebook and Instagram but this is not made to be a requirement. If you would like to be a part of our contest and enter with your selfie of you and your favorite plushie you can do this here or below.
It is also necessary to decide how the contest will be judged and by whom. If you decide to do this on your own, consider the ramifications of friends and family entering and how your audience will view this if someone you have a connection to wins the contest. It may be a more suitable option to use a third party to judge the contest for you.The main thing to remember is that fewer people may participate in a contest with too many requirements or if the requirementents are too complicated.
Giveaways have lower requirements therefore you may get a higher number of entrants. A good way to determine if you want to host a contest or a giveaway is to take the time to jot down your objective for the promotion. Ask yourself why I want to do this and what are the benefits to your business. For us at Little Luvin Stitches our objective is to grow our email marketing list and audience as well as generate more sales. The benefit would be a larger audience which will of course help our business grow.
After you set clear goals and decide what kind of contest you want to host, it is time to decide what platform that will better serve your needs for the contest. You can use social media or your own website. However when using social media always remember that each site has its own set of rules and are very specific about what you can and can not do. For example, always include a disclosure that the platform is not endorsing or hosting your contest or giveaway and is not affiliated with their platform. I have prepared a disclosure statement for you free of charge and if you would like me to send it to you sign up with your email and I will send you a copy of a disclosure statement that will protect you on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. You can also head over and send in your entry and check out how our contest is set up. And who knows you just might become the winner of one of our great prizes! Click here to enter or sign up below.
Let’s take a look at some of the specifics for each platform that will help you decide where to promote your contest.
Facebook/Instagram
•Must use a business page or Facebook group to host promotions. You can not use a personal Facebook page.
•You can not require tagging friends as a condition of entering your contest. You can request this, but it can not be required.
•You can not require sharing your promotion as a condition of entering the contest. You can request this, but it can not be required.
•You also can not require someone to like or comment on your page to enter. You can request this, but it can not be required.
Pinterest
•Users are only allowed to enter your contest once.
•Can not ask users to repin a specific post.
•Pinterest suggests creating a board for your promotion and ask followers to repin something from there.
Overall each site has its benefits and makes promoting a contest or giveaway fairly uncomplicated and keeps the rules fair and easy to follow. Only you can decide where your audience will have the best chance of seeing and engaging with your promotion.
Prizes & Winners
The prize is what it’s all about so before you announce your contest or giveaway, you’ll need to choose a prize. Think about your target customer and what might appeal to them. What would your target customer find useful or entertaining? I think this would be obvious to most, but choose a prize that is relevant to your business. Make the prize worth winning without breaking the bank.
While giveaways are chosen randomly and can be done in any number of ways from simply choosing from a hat or using software that chooses for you, contests have to be judged and this means choosing the right person for the job. Of course you want to select someone you trust but also consider if this person is qualified to judge the contest you are having. For example, if you are hosting a photo contest that requires skill you want someone who knows what to look for in a quality photograph. Judging your contest should be done fair and without bias so choose your judge wisely.
Announcement Time
The day of your contest or giveaway announcement you will need to include the following information on your ad or social media post:
•Platform’s required disclaimer (sign up here or below to receive your copy and paste disclaimer for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.)
•Include on your post or ad “No purchase necessary” and “Void where prohibited” to cover your bases as the location of the entrants is the enforcer of the rules and not your own.
•Include the starting date, length of time, and ending date of contest or the deadline. The contest should be short enough to create urgency, but long enough to allow the promotion to generate leads or revenue for your business. 5-7 days is suggested.
•Be clear about the number of entries each person is allowed.
•Mention the prize of course!
•Number of winners and when and how they will be notified.
During the promotion you will want to send out regular reminders on social media as well as through email to maintain interest in the contest or giveaway. You can draft these reminders and automate them in advance using social media calendars and email drips. It's also a good idea to ask anyone you know personally in your industry to mention your contest or promotion in their blog or on their social media. This will increase visibility and engagement as well as reach an audience you may not have otherwise been able to get your brand in front of. I have a great announcement that I can send you a link for and you can easily edit using Canva to announce your contest or giveaway. Leave me your email here or sign up below to get yours free right now!
When your contest is over it’s time to notify your winner(s), preferably through email first to allow them to confirm their interest in the prize and to send necessary details for shipping, and then announce it publicly. This will avoid having to choose another winner and posting another announcement if the original winner does not respond. Also you want to put some space between the contest and marketing to your new leads to give them time to be more receptive since most of them were not winners of your contest.
Don’t forget to head over and put in your entry for our Mystery Box Giveaway Selfie contest before time runs out! We are giving away three great prizes to the top three cutest selfies with your favorite plushie. Official contest rules and how to enter can be found on Little Luvin Stitches official contest page. 1st place prize is a $50 Mystery Plushie Box stuffed full of plushies with a value of over $60. 2nd place prize is a Digital Crochet Project Planner, and 3rd prize is a Digital Pattern of Sid The Squishy Squid with email and live chat support! Help us spread the word and tell your friends!
Until next time, keep crocheting, never stop learning, and always love what you do and do what you love!
Check out our website littleluvinstitches.com and pick up a cuddle buddy or get some creative inspiration and enter our selfie contest. Also don’t forget to see what our Etsy shop has to offer. We have small business digital printable planners and planner inserts available now! Along with our Plushie inventory and learn to crochet with Nathan when you purchase Plushie Luv In a Box!
JUST A REMINDER:
Our Website - www.littleluvinstitches.com
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