Budget Promotion Part Two: Hold a Contest
Welcome to part two of the Budget Promotion Series. In this part we are going to look at how you can use a simple contest to gain major publicity.
Contests are great because they draw a crowd. Who doesn´t want to win something? You can capitalize on this interest in winning and use it to create a buzz about your business.
The first step is to decide what sort of contest you want to hold. You can have it based on random factors or talent. A draw is quite fair and people often enter draws because they feel they have an equal chance at winning. However, if you need something done, perhaps a new logo designed or a banner for your website, you can hold a talent contest where people would send you their banner designs and you choose the one you want to use.
Once you have decided on the type of contest, you will need some prizes. These don´t necessarily have to be your products, but if they are, all the better. People who win one of your products may like it so much that they come back to buy. Giving away several prizes will gain you more publicity, since people will feel that they have a better chance of winning.
Now, you need to decide on a duration for the contest. If it is an online contest, a couple of weeks is a good time period. Offline, give yourself time to promote and add two to four weeks for the contest length. All you need to do now is promote the contest . . . and thus your business!
There are several ways to do this.
Online:
- If you have a website (which you ought to if you have a business), you can set up an online contest to draw people to your site. Put up a notice on your site and set up a special contest page where people can enter. Submit your contest to contest websites (just Google “online contest”) and let your newsletter subscribers know.
- For a blog, you can submit your contest to An Island Review which keeps an up to date list of all contests running in the blogosphere. It´s a great way to get a LOT of publicity.
- Offer extra entries to anyone who writes about your contest on their website or blog, they´ll be more than happy to do so for free!
Offline:
- Put an ad in your local newspaper. A simple classified won´t cost much, but can still attract quite a few customers. Direct them to your website for more information, even if you are letting people place ballots for a draw in your store. Some people won´t be able to make it, but might buy a product right off the website.
- Write a press release and send it to the local paper as well as your local tv station. You might be lucky enough to get an interview for free, if they feel it is something that is interesting enough to feature.
Do you have any further ideas for contest promotion, online or off? Please leave your ideas and tips in the comments.
You can see the other articles in the Budget Promotion Series by clicking on the links below:
Part One: Make Your Own Business Cards
Part Four: Offering Coupons and Discounts
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[...] Contests. Setting up a contest can be a great way to draw people to your website. For example, Deb could offer a free blog makeover to one lucky entrant, with the rules being they had to link to her site from their blog. This gives you lots of one way backlinks, which is always good and also raises awareness. You can submit your contests to contest blogs, too, which is usually free and brings in quite a few visitors. Learn more about running a contest as promotion. [...]