4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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1. Learn about Facebook contest rules 2. Define your Facebook goals 3. Create a visual contest that fits your goals4. Publicize your contest

Overview

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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Gone are the days when you could just ask your students to upload pictures on your wall and vote for the best picture. Facebook recently reviewed its contest rules and not respecting them could result in the shutting down of your page.

You can no longer:

Use Facebook features such as Likes, comments, uploads and messages to determine a winner.

Run a contest without making clear that it is in no way endorsed by Facebook.

Notify winners directly on Facebook. You can only contact them directly through emails or through your college’s website.

1. Learn about Facebook contest rules

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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Facebook now encourages you to use 3rd-party applications to create a special contest tab on your Facebook page.

This change has both a positive and a negative side.

These applications allow you to create a Friend gate, which means they make Liking your page a condition to being a participant. But Like Gating the contest entry form cannot be sufficient to enter the contest. You will need to add a call to action such   as “Click the Like button to reveal the entry form and run the chance to win a -----!”

Also, 3rd-party applications make it easy to create calls to action and to generate leads to your website.

Running several contests using applications can be quite pricey. Also, Facebook does not support tabs in their mobile applications yet, so it is hard

to engage mobile students.

1. Learn about Facebook contest rules

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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What will be your Facebook goals?

Get more “Likes”? Increase engagement on the platform? Attract your students’ friends?

What will be your goals for your website?

Increase visits to a certain program? Subscriptions to your newsletter?

2. Define your Facebook goals

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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Also define how you will track and quantify success.

What parameters you will use to track your contest’s success through Google Analytics or Facebook Insights?

For instance, if you use a 3rd-party application, and your goal is to generate leads to your website, you will be able to track leads on Google Analytics.

But if your goal is to gain brand awareness, you may ask students to share the content of your contest with friends and see how your reach increases during the time of the contest.

2. Define your Facebook goals

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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Make sure your contest is based on visual content that will be easily shared by your students.

In order to create this contest, you will need to: Pinpoint what you want participants to do on your page and your college’s website Choose one visual that conveys the emotions you want to associate with your

contest Decide how you want to pick a winner Define powerful calls to action Draft rules including participation, dates and contact info It is also important to think of a relevant prize for your students. iPads have been

very popular, but tuition reductions, gift certificates from the bookstore, or entertainment (tickets to the movies, restaurant, etc.) are also sure to resonate with them

3. Create a visual contest that fits your goals

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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4. Publicize your contest

Have a precise idea of how you will create the buzz around your contest.

It could be relaying it on other platforms such as Twitter, or LinkedIn, or directly on campus.

You can consider running Facebook Ads to increase your reach.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure you pick tools that will allow you to track your results. This will help you learn from each of your contests and continuously improve them.

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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What have you tried that you found work for your Facebook contests?

Source: Higher Education Marketing – 4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

4 Steps To A Successful Facebook Contest

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Questions?1.514.312.3968 info@higher-education-marketing.com

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