I just finished reading a new report on Facebook for Business. Facebook is changing so fast but these tips for local business I thought were great reminders of how to build engagement in your Facebook strategy.  For more information Sign up for a Free report in the side bar.

5 Recommendations for Facebook Contests & Competitions

1. Establish Broad Appeal

Make sure to offer prizes that many prospects would be interesting in winning.

Don’t restrict the contest by promoting an obscure item or service that might only interest a small segment of the audience.

2. Be creative

Originality, creativeness and nerve are going to help the promotion stand out. A boring promotion will probably have boring results. Put yourself in the mindset of your target market while they are using Facebook. What potential reward would get them to sit up and take notice?

3. Strive for simplicity

Keep the promotion both clean and simple. Extravagant visuals and complicated contest rules will overwhelm your audience, possibly losing you potential applicants. Entering a contest online should be easy, quick and fun. Keep this in mind throughout the implementation of your promotion.

4. Go multi channel

Cross promote your contest through other platforms available to your brand. Share it on your website, through email marketing, print ads, word of mouth, on TV, on the radio, on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other platform you deem appropriate, including Facebook ads themselves.

5. Be timely

Seasonality and timing are important aspects of Facebook

promotions. Try to anticipate what is on the minds of your

target market right now and don’t drag things out. If the

contest is too short it may never reach enough leverage among

interested audiences and fail, yet if it goes on too long fans will

lose interest and forget what they have entered. Determine a

balanced time frame for your campaign, giving it enough time

to attract buzz while also maintaining its relevance.

Related Articles

• Tips to Running a Killer Facebook Contest (newspapergrl.com)
• YouTube Launches a Contest to Get More Subscribers for Celebrity Channels (labnol.org)
• Facebook Advertising 101 (rimmkaufman.com)
• Branding 2.0: Top 10 Facebook Contests by Airlines (simpliflying.com)