Contests for Running to Advertise Your Membership Website
If you're searching for an opportunity to market your membership website and grow your audience, then running a competition could be the solution. There are many ways to grow the number of people who visit your site, but contests and giveaways could be very effective.
Contents Toggle
- Benefits of Using Competitions and Contests
- Reach a Wider Audience
- Boost Social Media Following
- Increase Website Traffic
- Grow Your Email List
- Encourage Discussion
- Promote Your Membership Product
- Key Points to Consider Before Running a Competition
- How to Run a Competition for Your Website
- Contests & Giveaways by Fatcat Apps
- Comment Contest
- No Frills Prize Draw Competitions
- Final Thoughts
In this post we'll discuss the advantages having a contest to increase traffic to your site in addition to giving tips on how to get started.
The benefits of using competitions and Contests
Before we get to the software that could help you run a competition through your membership site Let us look at some benefits to making an event.
Expand your reach to a wider audience
If the entry into your contest is contingent on the participants sharing your site on social media or other platforms, then reaching a wider public could be the primary reason to run a contest.
A lot of contest management companies offer the option to accept entries from contest participants on social media. This includes the sharing of tweets or shares of your posts giving guests the possibility to win.
Each share on social media could be putting your website and your membership products in the hands of new potential visitors or members. In this case it's beneficial to have some sort of social media component to your contests.
Boost Social Media Following
Growing your social media following is a worthwhile aim in and of its own. If you do use social media activity to let people know about the competition, having them follow your profile in order to participate is a sure way to increase your followers.
To increase website traffic
The right contest can be certain to boost website traffic. You can, for instance, invite people to participate in your contest and be a form of advertising by those who participate. Secondly, a great contest that has a prize could become an exciting occasion in and of itself. The idea of a contest that is generous gives you a good opportunity to reach out to relevant blogs, influencers, as well as other important people in your industry and give them something interesting to promote that their readers might be interested in.
This increased exposure can increase web traffic and give you more chances to convert the new users into subscribers or members.
Expand Your List of Emails
Once those visitors have joined your email list in order to participate in the contest, you can start putting the email program to work and start sending out great content to your new subscribers. After your leads have been warm, you are able to send them a link to your membership program. your new leads.
Encourage Discussion
A different method of running an event is to select one winner out of everyone who has left a comment to your website. Because comments can lead to discussions about your site and its products for membership and membership products, it is worthwhile making the effort encourage your visitors to contribute their thoughts.
Promote Your Member Products
The last but not least is having a contest can help you promote the benefits of your membership. If you create a competition that's newsworthy that others in your niche are likely to want to share with their audience, or having a competition entry procedure that involves promotions on social media in order to spread the word about your membership service.
The most important things to consider prior to Conducting a competition
Before you begin to begin your first contest there are certain things you should consider. First, it's a good idea to take some time thinking about what prize you're going to award.
Are you planning to give one major prize, or provide runners up prizes as well? Access to your contest for free or at a reduced cost your membership program is an obvious choice. But, if you're looking to make your contest known to your existing members, then you'll have to think outside of the box.
Make sure that the prize you choose to award is appropriate for your target audience, while also being something they're happy to promote on social media and make their own name known. Be sure to ensure that the budget for prize money is in line with your expectations realistically of the competition and its results.
It is hoped that your competition is going to bring more traffic to your site. If this happens, then you'll need to be sure that you've put in place systems to not only handle that extra traffic but also get the most value from it.
Don't forget to set up website analytics to keep track of the outcome of the competition. An absolutely free tool like Google Analytics will allow you to see if your site has experienced an increase in visitors and where they came from, and the activities you've seen them doing to your site.
How do you run a competition on Your Website
If you're making use of WordPress for your membership site It's much simpler than you'd expect to conduct the competition. There are a number of premium and free plugins specifically designed specifically for this purpose All you need to do is select the right tool for your needs. Here's a quick overview of some popular WordPress contest and competition plugins.
Contests & Giveaways by Fatcat Apps
The free Contests & Giveaways plugin can be used to create and run a contest which requires that your participants submit their email to enter. Once the competition end date has arrived and the plugin has completed its task, it will pick a winner at random. Because of IP tracking as well as the use of cookies, this contest plugin can fight against contest fraud.
If you want a quick and easy way to try out contests on your WordPress site the plugin you choose is an excellent choice.
Comment Contest
The cost-free Comment Contest plugin is a great tool to help you generate discussion on your blog posts. Once enabled, this plugin will allow you to select which of your comments will be included as part of the contest before picking the winner. Since leaving a comment is enough for entry into the contest, it's likely to get a lot of participation by your readers.
No Frills Prize Draw Competitions
The freemium plugin will let you start hosting contests on your WordPress website at no cost but you have the option of upgrading to the paid version and unlocking additional features.
By setting the options, you have the option of deciding what contestants must do to enter the competition, including typing in a message, answering the multiple choice questions or simply hitting the enter button. The winner will be selected automatically by the plugin. This leaves the winner to reach out to the winner and present the prize.
If you're really looking to get into the bottom of the pool with contests and competitions, the KingSumo Giveaways plugin will cost you a lot, however it is packed with features.
Final Thoughts
If all goes to plan however, the contest may result in increased website visitors and more publicity on social media, and the addition of new participants to your organization.
Do you have any questions regarding running a contest for your site's membership? Please let us know via the comments below.