#8: Run a Facebook contest

#8: Run a Facebook contest

Andrea Vahl

“Everyone loves a contest and a chance to win. If you need a little excitement on your Facebook page, a contest will spur your community to action. Hopefully you will also get the benefit of people sharing your contest with their friends,” says Andrea Vahl , co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies.

“There are several different types of contests you can run: a photo contest, a video contest or a sweepstakes where people just enter their name and email to win.

“To run a Facebook Contest, you’ll need to use a third-party app such as Wildfire ,Strutta , North Social , Easypromos  or Shortstack . You can also create your own iFrame app to accept the entries, but that will require programming. Facebook has many rules about how a contest or promotion can be run that you should read here:http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php . The main thing to consider is that you cannot automatically enter people who Like your page or post a comment on your wall.

“Your prize does not have to be expensive to garner a lot of entries and good buzz. Social Media Examiner’s Michael Stelzner ran a very successful contest using the Strutta application and gave away a business launch package including one-on-one coaching. He received 80 photo entries, took his fan base to over 1,500 Likes and got fantastic publicity for his new book, Launch.

“If you give away something your audience is interested in, you will create great buzz for you and your Facebook page,” says Vahl.

Recently, the Facebook page Chocolate for Breakfast ran a contest giving away a box of truffles and had over 700 entries and over 400 new Likes in one week using the Wildfire application.