,

Tiktok for Business: 5 Content Ideas to Gain Followers and Boost Engagement

Tiktok for Business 5 Content Ideas to Gain Followers and Boost Engagement

Tiktok and business may not seem like a good match. After all, the platform is mainly composed of teens showing off their dance moves, right? Not really. You’d be surprised to know that many brands, entrepreneurs, and service providers are on the platform.

In a leaked Tiktok for Business pitch deck, we learned that the average user spends 89 minutes per day on the platform. For businesses, 89 minutes gives you invaluable opportunities to get in on the action, capture your audience’s attention, and pique their interest.

If you’re new to the platform and wondering what type of content you should be doing, we got you covered.

In this blog post, we’ll go over some content ideas to help you gain more followers and boost your engagement rate. Let’s get started!

Tell your brand story

If you’re hoping to build a community on Tiktok, this would be a great way to introduce your brand. People are interested to learn about your story, and Tiktok would be the perfect platform to share your journey.

Share the meaning behind your brand name. Or you can share your brand’s mission and vision. It’s a compelling way to let your prospects know that they’re your priority. Plus, it humanizes your brand.

Create educational content 

You can use Tiktok to share tips and answer questions your audience may have.

If you’re a financial advisor, you can share bite-sized information about building wealth or managing money. This encourages the younger generation to think differently about their finances and helps them reach their financial goals.

If you’re a healthcare provider, you can create videos that educate viewers about your specialty. Use the platform to dispel medical myths and talk to your audience about medical issues that may otherwise go unaddressed.

It’s an excellent way to provide information to people who need it and meet them where they are.

Product videos 

Tiktok is a great platform to highlight your product, explain what it is, and what problems it solves. When done right, a product video can persuade buyers who are still on the fence about buying your product.

If you’re an eCommerce brand owner, try shooting your video in a creative way to get people intrigued and mesmerized. Think of iPhone teasers that show us how sleek their products are. If you’re a SaaS founder, consider creating a video walk-through to show potential users how to use your app and what problems it solve. The goal is to convince people to buy your product.

Share your success story

Your content doesn’t always have to be about your products or services. You can also share business tips or life hacks with your audience.

There are a lot of aspiring business owners out there. While many dreams of starting their own business, some may not know how to start. You can share a story of how you began, mistakes you’ve made in the past, and obstacles you’ve overcome.

Success stories, when told authentically, will hook your audience and motivate those struggling to make their dreams come true.

Collaborate with influencers

Savvy brand owners leverage the power of Tikok collaborations. They partner with like-minded businesses and creators to reach new audiences, increase engagement, and boost sales.

For instance, Chipotle engaged famous Tiktok personalities like Zach King and Kombucha Girl to extend the viral reach of their Halloween #Boorito challenge. The said campaign offers discounts to customers who wear costumes while visiting its restaurant on Halloween.

The Boorito campaign brought in a whopping 3.9 billion views in 4 months.

Final thoughts 

With over 1 billion users worldwide, Tiktok has become advertising have for businesses. It can be your best bet to attract a wider audience and increase your conversion rate.

Keep in mind, though, that Tiktok isn’t a serious platform. You’ll need to show your fun and creative side to grow your following and capture the public’s attention. Fun, light-hearted, and audio-driven videos thrive the most on the platform.

Get in front of the camera and try the content ideas we shared to help you get started. Be sure to post content regularly. You may feel like your videos aren’t getting much attention initially, but don’t quit. With consistent effort, you’ll be able to succeed on the platform and eventually see the fruits of your hard work.

5 Tiktok Content Ideas to Gain Followers and Boost Engagement

5 Tiktok Content Ideas to Gain Followers and Boost Engagement5 Tiktok Content Ideas to Gain Followers and Boost Engagement

/by
, , , ,

5 Ways to Boost Sales Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget

5 Ways to Boost Sales Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget

Most business owners think it’s impossible to generate sales without paid advertisements. This is why we often see startups spending a considerable chunk of their budget on ads.

But let’s face it. Small businesses don’t have a limitless marketing budget. In most cases, they need to think creatively to boost their sales. Increasing your sales with a limited marketing budget can be challenging, but it’s not impossible.

In this blog post, we’ll share five ways to pump up your sales without increasing your marketing budget. The best part? They can help you build a stronger relationship with your audience.

Leverage the power of social media

While not everyone on social media is interested to make a purchase, it’s one of the most cost-effective marketing channels. It gives you the chance to promote your products and get in front of your audience with very minimal effort.

When used correctly, it can help you generate more leads, build a relationship with your audience, and get them to buy your products later on. Plus, social media platforms have analytics, which allows you to monitor and track results.

Consistency is the key to social media success. Your audience value a steady presence, so make sure you post consistently. You don’t need necessarily need to post every day. If you can only post two to three times a week, then that’s fine. What’s important is that you stick to your posting schedule.

Keep your audience engaged with video marketing

Videos are one of the most popular choices for content consumption today. Believe it or not, videos can help you generate more sales. In fact, 80% of marketers claimed that video content helped them directly increase sales, and it can help you too. 

One of the reasons why videos increase sales is because they tell your story more emotionally and dramatically as compared to photos and plain text.

People are more likely to share the video with their family and friends if they are interesting, informative, and entertaining. This helps you reach a massive audience. Even better, 84% of consumers say they’re convinced to buy a product after watching a brand’s video.

Nurture leads with email marketing

Email marketing may look complicated and intimidating if you haven’t done it before. But it’s not as complex as it seems. Plus, it’s a great way to build a relationship with your audience and turn them into brand enthusiasts.

You see, not all customers who visit your products will buy from you. Some are just looking. Others would actually add products to their cart and then abandon their carts for some reason. In fact, studies suggest that 7 out of 10 customers abandon their carts. It doesn’t matter how good your products are; this happens most of the time. 

One of the most effective ways to turn prospects into customers is by nurturing them. You can educate them about your products. Let them know when you’re running a promotion. The goal is to establish trust and convince them to buy from you.

Another way to recover lost sales is by sending abandoned cart emails. It’s a follow-up email that is sent to customers who left your site without purchasing. The goal is to encourage customers to complete their purchases.

Generate leads with a strong SEO strategy

To boost sales, you need to have a strong digital presence. SEO is a great place to start.

Studies suggest that 89% of customers start their buying process with a quick Google search. They look up reviews for products they’re interested in. Or search for the best restaurants near their home.

SEO can help improve your online visibility and drive more traffic to your website, giving you more opportunities to convert leads into customers.

Implement a customer loyalty program

Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in converting leads to customers that you fail to realize that your best customers are right in front of you. 

Existing customers are 67% more likely to purchase your products than new customers. Why? Because they already know how good your products are, how fast your delivery time is, and most importantly, they know that they can trust you. This is why it’s essential to maintain a relationship with your existing customers. 

Loyalty programs play a huge role in retaining customers. They work because they make your customers feel more valued and appreciated.

It makes them more likely to choose you over the competition, which leads to repeat purchases, referrals, and more profits. 

Final thoughts

There is no denying that it’s possible to boost your sales with a tight marketing budget. Sure, you can focus on social media marketing, publish SEO-optimized content, or publish video content every week. All these can help you gain more exposure and eventually turn prospects into paying customers. However, relying solely on free marketing strategies will require a lot of time and effort on your part.

If you want quicker results, it is be best to re-invest a portion of your profits into your marketing and advertising budget. It will save you valuable time and provide a more scalable way for your company’s growth.

5 Ways to Boost Sales Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget

5 Ways to Boost Sales Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget5 Ways to Boost Sales Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget 

 

/by

5 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Video Content

5 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Video Content

When given a chance to choose a type of content, most people would choose video. After all, they’re more engaging and easy to grasp. This is why more and more businesses are investing in video content.

But let’s face it. Creating videos can be time-consuming. From research to prep to production and distribution, you’ll need to dedicate a lot of time and resources to the process. Worse, some videos don’t get the attention they deserve.

But why let all those videos gather dust when you can get more mileage from them? This is where repurposing comes in.

Repurposing content not only helps you save time but also captures the attention of a wider audience than if you were to present the information in a single format.

Here are five clever ways to repurpose your video content.

Share the video on different social media platforms

From Instagram to Tiktok and Youtube, there are a variety of platforms where you can upload bite-sized video content.

The maximum length for IG Reels is 15 to 30 seconds, while Youtube shorts can be 60 seconds. Now, Tiktok allows users to upload videos that are 3 minutes long. That means you can add more of that valuable content to your video.

This gives you plenty of opportunities to repurpose your videos, use them to fill up your content calendar, and reach a wider audience.

Create short video snippets

Creating short, bite-sized videos can be used as a teaser. Think of them as video trailers for your content. They can capture your audience’s attention and pique their interest before you even publish the whole video.

For best results, focus on the most exciting parts of the video. Don’t forget to include a link to let people know where they can find the rest of the video.

Write a blog post 

Of course, you can always publish an embedded video on your blog. But if you do, you won’t be able to maximize your video’s SEO potential. To do that, we highly recommend that you transcribe the video into text.

Believe it or not, one solid blog article can drive traffic to your site for years. Don’t worry. You don’t need to transcribe it manually. There are lots of software out there that provides you with a transcription of the video.

Turn video into a podcast episode

If you’ve thought of starting a podcast but can’t find the time to start, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. In fact, you can easily convert your videos into an audio file. Now, all you have to do is to add an intro and outro, and your podcast is ready to go.

Turning your video into a podcast is one of the best ways to get your content in front of a wider audience without much extra work.

Turn it into a lead magnet

Are you looking to generate more leads for your business? Then why not turn your video into a lead magnet?

If you’ve just conducted a webinar, then you shouldn’t let it go to waste. It’s valuable, informative, and something most people can’t say no to. Plus, it can help you capture leads, and who knows… it may even help you convert visitors into paying clients.

Create a pop-up on your website and let visitors know they’ll get access to the webinar in exchange for their email address. Well, if you ask me, that would be a no-brainer. I’d hand in my email address, no questions asked.

5 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Video Content

5 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Video Content5 Clever Ways to Repurpose Your Video Content

/by
, ,

How to Create an Effective Content Calendar for Your Business

How to Create an Effective Content Calendar for Your Business

As a business owner, it is important to provide your audience with a steady supply of interesting and engaging content. But let’s face it. There will come a time when you’ll run out of ideas and don’t know what to write about. If you find yourself in this situation, then a content calendar may be just what you need.

Creating a content calendar allows you to plan your content in advance and schedule them across multiple channels at once. This allows business owners to come up with well-researched and valuable pieces of content and then schedule them on multiple platforms in one go. Plus, it will spare you the trouble of having to come up with a topic just before the deadline.

You may not realize it, but creating posts and content on the fly is more prone to mistakes and typos. With a content calendar, you’ll have enough time to write your content and proofread them before publishing.

Ready to create your own content calendar? Here are 4 tips to help you get started.

1. What content does your tribe want?

It is important to know what your audience is looking for before you just start posting. What do they like? What are they engaging on, sharing, talking about? Look at your past social media posts if you have them or your competitor’s posts and see what is working. One way to do this is looking at your social media analytics to get a good idea of what posts people have engaged in. What if you are just starting out and you don’t know what your audience is looking for yet? This is where your competition comes in, take a look at a good competitor and see what are they talking about, what type of posts are getting the most engagement?

Be sure to mix up your content, have posts with just text, articles, blogs, images, videos, gifs, to make sure you are grabbing their attention. Once you have a good idea of what type of content your tribe/audience likes then you can start creating!

2. How often should you be posting to each platform?

This is a question we get asked all the time! Each platform is different. As a business owner, you will have Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and maybe even more than that. It is important to keep your audience in mind when posting. Meaning, how often should you post and what times should you post. When you were doing your research in step one, also check out the times that people were engaging.

You do not want to bombard your audience by posting too much and you don’t want to post too little so they forget about you. It’s kinda like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you don’t want your porridge to be too hot, too cold, but just perfect!  

Here is the common rule of thumb for posting to the social media platforms:

  • Facebook: 1 time per day and 3 on the high-end
  • Twitter: 3 times a day on the low-end and 30 on the high-end
  • LinkedIn: 2-5 times per week
  • Google+: 3-5 times per week
  • Pinterest: 5-10 times per day
  • Instagram: at least once per day

Each platform is going to be different for you, some you will have more engagement so you can post more and some you will have less engagement so you may need to only post a few times per week.

Remember to use the analytics to look at the numbers and see what they are reflecting so you can stay top of mind to your tribe/audience!

3. Time to Create Your Content

Once you know what your tribe/audience is looking for and how often you should be posting, it is then time to create!

Remember to keep it fresh and mix it up. Here are a few different content ideas for you:

  • Create a custom image through Canva, WordSwag, Typorama, Prisma, etc.
  • Create a video through Ripl, iMovie, Videorama, Animoto
  • Post your blog post from your website to social media
  • Find outside sources, articles, other blogs and videos you like, that align with your brand to share
  • Gifs to increase engagement

Here are a few tools we use to help keep our outside sources organized:

Feedly

The content you need to accelerate your research, marketing, and sales.  Stay ahead of the curve. The content you need to accelerate your research, marketing, and sales.

Stumbleupon

Discover the best of the web, one click at a time.

4. Time to fill in your calendar

Now that you have put your plan together and figured out the type of content you are going to write, where you are posting it and how often, you can fill out your calendar.

We have found that there are a few tools to help you with that content calendar. Everyone is different, some people like more of a visual calendar and others like more of an excel type of calendar. We love creating the content calendar in Google Sheets then using Trello to write the content and copy from there to our platforms. Others like to use Google Calendar for their topics and then put the posts directly into Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule them at one time to the correct social media networks.

You have to explore each option to see which one resonates with you the best! So we wanted to give you some to choose from:

Trello

Trello is a project management tool that’s very popular with bloggers, marketers and social media managers. It’s a good way to keep track of your content ideas and even has an additional calendar add-on you can use to get a monthly view of your planned content.

Google Calendar

If you want to keep it simple, you could always just create a new Google calendar for the process and invite everyone on the team to view it. Those teammates could also add all of their own posts and ideas to the same calendar.

Google Sheets

We have created our clients content calendars into here for topics and it will look like this:

Or this is how our Social Speak Content Calendar looks, you can be as general or as detailed as you want:

Buffer

Buffer is a new and smarter way to share what you want to share on Social Media. People have called it great names before, like your Social Media Assistant or the Siri of Social Media.

What it does is simple. Posts in your queue will be sent out automatically by Buffer, according to the posting schedule that you put in place.

Select the social account you’d like to customize the posting schedule for, select the Settings tab at the top, and then select Posting Schedule. From here, you can choose which timezone is best for this account and customize the days and times your posts should go out. Select the days you’d like to include and add the individual times you’d like your content to be shared.

Hootsuite

Manage all your social media in one place. From finding prospects to serving customers, Hootsuite helps you do more with your social media. Save time by scheduling your social posts. Keep your social presence active 24/7 by automatically scheduling hundreds of social media posts at once, across your social accounts.

How to Create an Effective Content Calendar for Your Business

How to Create an Effective Content Calendar for Your BusinessHow to Create an Effective Content Calendar for Your Business

 

/by

45 Social Media Questions That Will Get Your Audience Talking

45 Social Media Questions That Will Get Your Audience Talking

Social media is an excellent platform for promoting your business and reaching your audience.

With billions of users logging in on their accounts almost every day, there is no doubt that social media can help you grow and scale your brand over time.

But the truth is that having an audience isn’t enough. If you want to grow a fanbase, you need to interact with your audience and keep them engaged. One of the best ways to get the conversation started is by asking questions.

Asking questions will not only help you genuinely connect with your audience, but it can also help you improve your organic reach.

But before we give you a list of social media questions, here are some tips to further pump up your engagement when asking questions.

Ask questions that are easy to answer

This is supposed to be a fun activity, so don’t let your audience think too hard. The easier it is for your audience to answer the questions, the more likely will they participate.

While some may not always engage, but fun and easy questions may encourage people to stop and be interested enough to read the comments.

Make use of visuals  

Studies suggest that social media posts with images get 2.3 times more engagement than those without. So if you want to grab people’s attention, we highly suggest that you include a visually appealing image with it. But make sure that it is relevant to your content.

Post when your audience are most active

Just like any other social media content, you want to post the questions when your audience are actively engaging on the platform. Keep in mind, though, that the best time varies from platform to platform. So be sure to do some research.

Choose relevant and on-trend topics

If you’re struggling to find questions to ask your audience, just hop on to Google and do some research. There are also lots of tools available that can help you find trending topics in your industry.

Questions to ask on social media

Just for fun questions

Social media is a great place to ask just for fun question. The answers people give you aren’t really important. What matter most is that you’re

  1. If you were planning a dream vacation where would you be going?
  2. What movie would be the most fun to live in?
  3. If you got offered a reset button for your life would you push it?
  4. What movie have you watched more than five times?
  5. If you could only have one snack for the rest of your life what would you pick?
  6. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three items would you bring?
  7. What job would your pet have it was human?
  8. What would the title of your autobiography be?.
  9. What weird talent do you possess?
  10. What shows are you binging on Netflix right now?

Business-specific questions

Asking business-related questions is not only a great way to engage your customers, but also helps you get insights from your customers. 

  1. If we gave you $100 to spend in our shop, which products or services would you stock up on?
  2. Which do you prefer, [product A] or [product B]?
  3. What kind of [industry] content would you like to learn about?
  4. Do you prefer podcasts, videos, or blog posts?
  5. What’s the #1 thing you struggle with when it comes to [industry]?
  6. What’s one product/service you’d like us to start offering?
  7. What deal would you prefer to get? 15% off or free shipping?
  8. What’s the #1 thing you look for in a [your product or service]?
  9. Would you be sad if we discontinued [product]?
  10. What questions do you have about [product-related topic]?

Food-related questions

People love food. In fact, most people enjoy taking a snap of their food and posting them on social media. Asking food-related question will surely get them talking.

  1. What’s your favorite food?
  2. What’s your specialty dish?
  3. If you could only eat at one fast-food restaurant for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
  4. If you could cook with any celebrity chef, who would it be?
  5. What’s your favorite healthy snack/food?
  6. What’s the most adventurous meal you’ve ever eaten?
  7. What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten?
  8. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
  9. If you could buy any type of food right now, what would you buy?
  10. What was your favorite food as a kid?

Gratitude-related or motivation questions

More and more people are being drawn to the idea on reflecting on their lives. As such, people are more open to talking about what motivates them, what they’re grateful for, and other positive thoughts. Asking these types of questions are sure to boost your social media engagement.

  1. What’s one thoughtful thing someone did for you recently?
  2. What are you grateful for today?
  3. What’s a difficult lesson that you were grateful to learn?
  4. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you? (Tag that person)
  5. Who is someone that really listens when you talk? (Tag them below)
  6. What was the last thing you got really excited about?
  7. What’s one thing you hope to accomplish this week?
  8. What’s your #1 goal for this year?
  9. What kinds of things motivate you in life?
  10. When was the last time you felt truly motivated

Would you rather questions

Would you rather questions are fun. They’re great for long road trips and are equally as good on social media. You can post them as regular content or post them as stories to drive engagement.

  1. Would you rather be unable to use search engines or unable to use social media?
  2. Would you rather live alone in a beautiful countryside or work hard and live in the city around the people you love?
  3. Would you rather receive a free world tour opportunity or never have to pay for food at restaurants?
  4. Would you rather know all of someone’s darkest secrets or have the ability to read minds
  5. Would you rather travel to the past or travel to the future

45 Social Media Questions That Will Get Your Audience Talking

45 Social Media Questions That Will Get Your Audience Talking45 Social Media Questions That Will Get Your Audience Talking

 

/by
,

6 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement

6 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement

Social media remains to be one of the best ways to reach out and engage with your audience. You already know who your target market is and social media platform they’re using. Now, you just have to come up with interesting posts that can get their attention and join on the conversation.

Here are 6 social media content ideas for boosting engagement on your social media pages.

Video content

People love video content. In fact, videos get more shares than photos or plain text contents. It’s no surprise why Tiktok rose to popularity over the last few year.

Go ahead and try to be as creative as you can with your videos. You can share behind the scenes videos, do a product demo, create how-to videos, or host an AMA. The possibilities are endless.

Ask questions

Questions are a fun way to get to know your followers. Plus, it gives you a better understanding of what they want.

You can ask random questions about your industry just to get the conversation started. Or you can ask for your audience’s opinions about your products or services.

While asking questions is a powerful strategy, be sure to use it sparingly.

Fill-in-the-blanks

Fill-in-the-blanks posts is another fun way to get comments and responses from your audience.

Get creative with it, and see what you can come up with. Make sure, thought, that it’s something easy to answer. You can ask about random stuff or get people talking about your brand.

Here’s an example:

Fill in the blank: My favorite thing about [BRAND] is ________.

Trending topics

One of the easiest ways to boost your engagement rate is to post about trending topics. People are already talking about it, so try to join in on the conversation. While this can be a great strategy, be sure to only post about topics that are relevant to your niche.

Tease a new product

Everyone loves being the first to see new products. If you’re planning to launch a new product, try to consistently give your audience sneak peek of the product. Not only can it help generate buzz around the launch, but it also helps boost engagement.

Challenges

People love a challenge, especially when everyone else is doing it. Today, more and more brands are using challenges to engage with their audience and further grow their community.

Challenge your audience to do things, but make sure it runs for a short period only. 5 to 7-day challenges are ideal. Also, make sure that the challenge is easy enough for participants to complete. After all, the goal is to help them gain quick wins.

Final thoughts

Social media marketing can be challenging. It takes time. It requires a lot of effort. But once you find what works best for your audience, you’ll be able to grow your fanbase and build a relationship with them.

If you need help writing social media posts that will capture the attention of your target audience and boost your engagement rate, we’re here to help. Schedule a free 30-minute call with us and we’ll help you fill your social media content calendar with quality posts.

6 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement

6 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement6 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement

/by
,

5 Reasons Why Social Media Contests Should be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

5 Reasons Why Social Media Contests Should be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

With the digital space getting saturated by different brands trying to capture the attention of their target audience, social media contests provide an excellent way to generate buzz around their brand and re-engage their audience. When done properly and effectively, social media contests can bring a number of benefits to your brand. In fact, businesses, both big and small, are using this tactic to generate more leads,  promote their products and services, and increase brand awareness?

While your brand might not garner the same level of enthusiasm that game shows get, you can certainly benefit from hosting a contest or a giveaway on social media.

Here are 5 reasons why contests should be a part of your
marketing strategy.

Give people a reason to follow your brand

Most brands would share interesting and informative content in the hopes of capturing the attention of their audience. But despite their efforts, many of them are having a hard time standing out from the competition. If you want to have more followers and expand your reach, consider hosting a contest on social media.

When running a contest, most brands would ask people to like their social media accounts and share their content. Knowing that they’ll get an opportunity to win something, most people would gladly do as they are asked. This is a win-win for both the brand and consumers. You get the opportunity to reach more people while they get the chance to win something – a gift, a discount voucher, a gift certificate or a free period of service.

If you’re looking to grow your fan base, contests and giveaways are a great way to do it. We’ve seen brands grow their following from 100 to 1,ooo or 10,000 to 25,000 in a matter of days or weeks. While some may argue that follower count is just a vanity metric, having more followers will certainly be beneficial for you if you can keep your engagement rate high. So don’t just stop at running a contest. Make sure that you keep your audience engaged and you’ll reap all the benefits soon enough.

Improve brand awareness

Most people aren’t aware that your business exists until they hear it from their family and friends. Social media contests allows you to get the word out about your business without directly promoting it.

Regardless of how well established your brand is, contests can be a simple yet effective way to improve brand awareness. If your contest includes a voting component, people would tag their family and friends for support. This strategy helps generate buzz around your brand. People are already talking about your brand and promoting your business on your behalf. People get to join in on the fun. Some even walks away with a prize, and you get to reach a wider audience. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Collect data

Often, people are hesitant to share their information for the fear of identity theft. Social media contests provide an easy way to grow your email list and collect data. People will be more willing to provide you with their personal information, knowing that they get something in return.

You can ask people to leave their name, contact number, and email address to enter the contest. Also, think of the type of information you need for your future marketing campaigns. Want to know how many of them went to the local university? How many of them have kids? Now is your chance to find out.

Increase engagement

Contests are one of the best ways to boost your engagement. When you host a social media contest, your post is likely to get a lot of likes, shares, and comments. It’s a fun and interactive way to get people to interact with your brand.

More than the number of fans and followers, engagement is the most important element in social media. The engagement rate represents the number of people who are talking about your brand. The higher the engagement rate is, the higher the reach rate. That means, your content will be viewed by a wider audience. In addition to that, hosting a contest gives you more opportunity to interact with your audience and deepen the connection as well.

Collect user-generated content

Let’s face it. Most customers won’t leave  a review unless you ask them to. And if you’re looking for a way get tons of reviews and user-generated content fast, contests are the way to do it. Simply ask your audience to provide their photos to enter, and you’ll be flooded with user-generated content in no time.

Not only will you have lots of photos to use for your future marketing campaigns, but it will also give your target audience the perception that people love your brand. After all, those who submitted their photos are already invested in your brand.

 

Why social media contests are a good idea

Holding contests and campaigns

on social media is more popular than ever, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. Any company can give out free gift cards or electronics, so that really is not enough to hold the attention of social media users anymore. What is taking your contest to the next level? If you are running a contest, you must make sure your contest stands out from the rest.

As we know, consumers are constantly interacting with social media on their mobile phones. This means it is vital to take advantage of location. Urge users to check-in on social media when they are interacting with your company’s physical location. Offer some sort of incentive such as a discount, a charitable donation, a few points in a contest, etc. Getting social media users to check in not only allows you to generate more traffic but also creates a deeper user interaction (physical and digital).

Do your users have a reason to keep coming back to your page? Include your fans and contest participants in every possible step of the contest. Brands often do this by allowing the fans to vote on a winner, respond to a question, or answer a poll. Get creative here and choose what seems most relevant to your brand and product.

Although your contest is Facebook based, ask yourself if other social media platforms would enhance your contest. For example, say you are the marketer for a line of gluten-free butter and your Facebook contest asked users to post pictures and recipes of things they made with your butter. In this case, it would make sense to start a Pinterest board, displaying the recipes.  Using more than one social media platform can allow you to reach a larger audience. The key here is to make sure your second social media platform is relevant to your contest.

The general goal of Facebook contests is to allow users to interact with your brand. Anybody can make a Facebook contest, but your goal is to expand that user interaction as far as possible. Think of ways to take your contests to other social media platforms, physical locations, and beyond.

5 Reasons Why Social Media Contests Should be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

5 Reasons Why Social Media Contests Should be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy5 Reasons Why Social Media Contests Should be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

/by