So you have a website up and running. But you won’t be selling anything if the crowds don’t come. How do you get the crowd to visit your website without paid advertising?

Try running a contest!

In addition to helping you promote your business, running a contest allows you to collect details about your prospects! After all, those who enter the contest in some way must be interested in your prizes, right?

Hosting a contest is an indirect way to get more information about your prospects. Once you have their emails at hand, you can contact them when you have promotions, discounts, giveaways, giveaways, and giveaways directly.

Yes, hosting a contest is one of the many ways you can attract the crowd, especially if you offer your products as contest prizes.
But what if you don’t have any product to offer as a prize? No problem! If you run a consultancy, offer your services as a prize. However, if you feel like you need to offer something tangible, you can try teaming up with other companies to offer rewards related to your business.

To run a successful contest, here are five important things to remember.

1. What’s in it for me?

Those who join your online contest do so for one thing: self-interest. What benefit will they get from joining your contest? Give them a reason that cannot be said. This means offering them a contest prize that they simply can’t refuse. The key is: never give them a product that is mediocre or worthless. People aren’t stupid, so don’t take them for a ride by offering them something you wouldn’t wear or buy yourself. Think like your customer: will I be thrilled with this award if I win? If you can’t even get excited about the prize, it’s time to rethink.

2. How long does it work?

Next, determine the duration of the contest. Some last a month, others last three. The disadvantages of running a contest for more than a month is that the attention of the participants will fail and soon, your contest may be forgotten. A shorter duration can be a good bet at times. Again, this depends on how confident you are in your prize and how much attention you expect it to attract.

3. Brainstorm for ideas

Now that you have defined the prize and the duration, think about how to present your contest. What type are you looking at? Now is a good time to brainstorm and decide how simple or complicated you want it to be. Do you want your participants to write a slogan? Do you want your participants to search for information on your website? Again, as the organizer, it is your decision. Based on our experience, offer something in between: not too complex to throw them off and put them off, and not too easy to insult their intelligence.

4. Design the contest

Finally, it’s time to get the contest up and running by designing the necessary web pages and forms (if applicable). How do you want participants to submit their entries? Via email? Or do you need them to fill out a form on your website? Before your contest is posted online, ask your family or friends to test the contest and remove any issues, if any.

Another important tip is to also include a page that lays out the contest rules and regulations (you don’t want unhappy entrants, do you?). Be sure to let them know when the online contest results will be posted on your website. Most contest organizers will post the contest results on their website and email the winners to let them know.

5. Promote it everywhere

Once the contest is ready, it’s time to promote it to everyone you know. Naturally, the first place to do this would be on your website. Then promote it on other websites, in newsgroups, wherever you can post the contest announcement.

Don’t just think in terms of online promotion. You’d be surprised if offline promotion works too.

At the same time, don’t neglect your existing customers either. Send them an email announcing the contest. Tell them to send or recommend the contest to friends and family, especially since you know they’ve bought from you and know your products well (that is, if you’re offering your own product).

The key to any successful online contest is to keep promoting it, even until the deadline.

Now that you know how to host a contest, go ahead and host one! It takes some work and some creative thinking, but it’s fun and helps you market your business in the most innovative way!