Our Very First Contest

For the company I work for, CarFinance.com, we wanted to run a contest to build up fans, followers, and application submissions at a faster rate. From all my research, contests are very popular on the social realm. In fact, if you just retweet or post a contest you can receive a lot of traffic; meaning, you do not spend a dime, but get some much needed attention. That is a great idea for some who are looking to save money when it comes to social media.

Our first contest's goal was to build up the number of Twitter followers. I was prewarned before this contest that you should never measure success on social media through number of followers, fans, likes, etc. Instead the focus should be on how much exposure or money social media is generating. Since this was our first contest, I decided to overlook this fact and worry about getting followers.

To prepare for the contest, I wrote my guidelines (to be featured on our website), created a graphic element (like an advertisement to put on photo-centric sites like Flickr), and wrote any copy I would need to complete the task, such as standard emails. I had everything ready to go.

In regards to the prize, instead of the traditional raffle of a large prize where only one person wins, I decided to do smaller prizes and award everyone. 99 cent music downloads sounded like a great idea! Everyone loves music from hip hop to country to classic rock. Amazon.com was a great source to purchase 99 cent gift cards (they allow you to email gift cards and write in your amount).

In order for a person to receive a prize, he or she must follow CarFinanceCom on Twitter. After that, he or she will tweet @CarFinanceCom with a one word description of their last car buying experience-- this part of the contest was my favorite part. It may be the writer in me, but hearing what creative and imaginative language people would come up with tickled my curiosity.

Our contest started on the 16th of August, and unfortunately is not gaining the support I had hoped. We have two more weeks, and I am still working on countless ways to promote the contest. Hopefully, it will get people going, and excited to participate.