Do you notice that the reach of your Facebook page could use a boost? Would you like people to comment more under your posts, but have no idea how you could activate people? Are you looking for a way to promote your products without actually selling them? In all of these cases, the best thing you can do is post a contest on your Facebook page.
A contest on your Facebook page always gets a lot of comments. And that’s why it’s a good idea to run a contest on your Facebook page regularly. If there are more responses to a post, it means that there is more engagement with the post. Facebook shows posts with which people are involved to even more fans. So you can reach a lot of people with a contest.
By raffling off or giving away a prize related to your company (e.g. a product or service) in sweepstakes, there is immediate attention for your paid offer. If someone does not win the prize, this person might buy your product or service after the end of the contest. This way you actually promote your paid offer without people really seeing it as selling.
There are lots of different types of contests you can run on your Facebook page. I’ve compiled a list of 65 ideas for contests. I hope I can inspire you with it! Let’s go!
1. Like a post and win a prize
A post where people have to like the post to get a chance to win a prize that you are raffling off is one of the simplest of win actions. You can also come up with all kinds of different types of posts for people to respond to. I’ll give you two examples
Tell about an event you are hosting soon. Among all the people who like the post with the event, you raffle off a ticket to the event.
Do a Facebook Live broadcast where you call on people to like the video. They win a prize that you tell them about in the broadcast.
2. Come up with a caption for an image
Create a Facebook post with a funny image. Call on your page’s fans to come up with a fun caption for the image. The best caption wins the prize.
3. Refer people to your Facebook group
One of my clients, Elisabeth from slimming studio Change, has a nice approach. She sends people to a Facebook group where they have a chance to win a prize.
4. Motivation Monday
Monday is a new day of the week and many people could use some extra motivation. Instead of you trying to motivate people yourself, you can also make a call for your fans to motivate each other. The most motivating quote wins a nice prize.
5. Ask for feedback
Ask people what they think of your latest product. The person who gives the most useful feedback will have a chance to win the prize you are giving away.
6. Redeem a prize when you have reached a certain number of fans of your page
You cannot make it a condition of a contest that people must like your Facebook page. But of course you can start a contest when you have a certain number of fans. Say you have 5,000 fans, it’s okay to celebrate with a win!
7. A team member in the spotlight
This competition is fun if you have several people in your team. Let the fans of your page indicate which team member always helps them so much. Not only will the team member be put in the spotlight, you can also raffle off a prize among the people who are satisfied!
8. With one word make a chance for a nice discount
You give away ten discount codes to people who respond to your Facebook post with a certain word. Very simple, but very effective.
9. ‘My favorite song by this artist is…’.
If people make a nice suggestion for a song, they have a chance to win a prize.
10. How would people use your product?
Do you want to know how people would use one of your products or services if they owned it? What results would they like to achieve with your product or online program? By participating in the contest they have a chance to actually use your product or service.
11. Win by supporting a good cause
Put people in action for a good cause. The person who raises the most money, for example, wins a nice prize. It is important that you also do something for that charity.
12. Memories to keep
What great memories do people have of last year’s holiday season? Or from a vacation? Ask your fans which memory they cherish forever. The best memory wins the prize.
13. Guess the picture
I once did a contest where I made several screen captures on Facebook. I showed only a small part of the screen in a Facebook message and people had to guess which function on Facebook the screen was from. In the series, I had 10 different Facebook messages. The person who guessed the most pictures correctly won the “365 Days of Facebook Success” program.
Because it was a series where people had to respond to multiple Facebook posts, they kept a close eye on my page during the week.
14. A coloring page
You can create a contest where your fans’ kids get to go all out on a coloring page of yours. But this contest doesn’t have to be just for your fans’ kids. You have plenty of coloring pages for adults these days as well. Then, have the participants post a picture of the colored-in coloring page in a comment.
15. Nominate someone else
Think of a contest where not only someone has a chance to win the prize, but where he/she can nominate someone else to win your prize. This competition is ideal if you want your posts to be seen by people other than your page’s fans.
16. Photo Contest
Very simple, the person who shares the most beautiful, original, best, crazy or funniest photo in and comment, wins.
17. A poll
Place a poll on your Facebook page so people can vote. You can raffle off a prize among those who vote. In a group you have more options with a poll, you can give more answer options for people to choose from.
18. Have images edited
Find a boring image that people can spice up themselves, for example with PicMonkey or Canva. Or other editing programs that are familiar to your fans. The person who creates the most original image wins.
Tip: Don’t make it too difficult for them, because then the threshold is too high.
19. Your fans’ tips
Tips on your page don’t have to come from you alone. Ask your fans if they have any good tips for the people who like your page. The best tip wins.
20. Take a quiz in a Facebook Live broadcast
Go live where you bring someone else into the broadcast. That person has a chance to win a prize if ten questions are answered correctly. But if three questions are answered wrong, someone else has a chance to win the prize. Read how to do a broadcast with multiple people in the article “How to do a Facebook Live with multiple people.
21. The word of the year
Which word do your fans think is the word of the year? The best or nicest entry wins.
22. Search in your giveaway
Have you created an e-book as a giveaway? With a promotion in it, for example for a product, service or event? Hide an image or a number of separate letters in the e-book that people can combine to form one word. If they have guessed the code word correctly, they have a chance of winning what you are promoting in the giveaway.
23. Combine a win with activating a Facebook Messenger bot
If people react with a certain word under your Facebook message with the win campaign, they will activate a Facebook Messenger bot. In this Facebook Messenger bot you can ask the participants a number of questions which will enable you to find out more. Or you can ask an additional question that will help you determine who the winner will be.
24. A double win campaign
This idea is a variation on the photo contest, where only one person has a chance to win the prize. With the double variant you don’t choose the winner yourself, but you let your fans choose a winner. Then raffle the prize among the people who submitted a photo and a second prize among the people who thought about who the winner would be.
25 Guess the right number
Fill a vase with Easter eggs and have people guess how many Easter eggs are in the vase. Or have people guess the weight of a marzipan pig. The person with the correct answer or the answer that comes closest wins the vase with contents or the marzipan pig. Try converting this win to something related to your business.
26. Writing Contest
Have people participate in a writing contest, for example by having people write a poem or fairy tale. Do specify a maximum number of lines; you don’t want to spend hours reading all the responses to determine the winner.
27. Win your wish list
Let people put together a wish list of products from your shop that they would really like to have. The winner wins (one of the) products on the wishlist.
28. Download a giveaway
The people who download your giveaway have a chance to win a prize. It’s especially nice if you can manage to put a golden ticket in one of the giveaways.
29. Develop a questionnaire
Create a questionnaire that you can distribute to your target audience to find out more about your fans. Redeem a prize among all the people who complete the questionnaire. This motivates people to fill out the questionnaire completely and you will learn a lot about your target audience.
30. A winning recipe
Let people share their favorite recipe under your Facebook post. The best recipe wins a prize (it is a disadvantage that you have to make everything yourself to be able to taste it 🙂 ).
31. The person with the most thumbs up
This idea for a win is really fun. And it might still be hard to pick a winner. Post a Facebook message announcing what time you will pick a winner. People should comment below the post and give each other thumbs up. The person with the most thumbs wins. I’m sure it’s going to add a fun competitive element to your Facebook page.
32. Puzzle away
Think up a crossword puzzle or a word search. There are very handy tools for this on the internet. For example, use puzzle.org to create a crossword or word search. Let people solve the puzzle and share the correct answer under your Facebook post.
33. A win related to a special day
Is it Nutella day? Then raffle off a jar of Nutella among your fans who also love Nutella. It may not be related to your business, but it’s a lot of fun!
34. Share a message
Let people share a post from their own page in a comment. They then post the link to the post or a screenshot in a comment. And be sure to ask if people are thinking of a good text and nice image. The post with the most likes wins.
35. The most delicious dish on the menu
This idea is especially interesting if you have a menu. Ask people which dish they like the most if they only get to choose one dish from the menu. You can also do this win if you offer different types of treatments.
36. Tell a joke
Make Friday a ‘Funny Friday’. Laughter always works well! The joke that makes you laugh the hardest wins a fun prize.
37. Get people to sign up for your newsletter
Let people sign up for your newsletter for a chance to win a great prize. It’s great if you create a special landing page for that.
38. A new name for a product or service
Sometimes your fans come up with the best ideas. That’s because they know exactly what they are attracted to. And you sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees. So let your fans help you think of a new name for a product or service. I’m sure you’ll come up with a good new name in no time. And you can reward all the people who have thought about it by raffling off a nice prize.
39. Come up with a new product
The more elaborate version of idea 38, is that you ask people to come up with a new product or service. What would people need? The prize you’re giving away? That, of course, would be the new product or service you developed in response to the ideas.
40. Predict
How good are your fans at predicting the temperature for the next day? Or in predicting a result of a sports match? The person who manages to give the correct prediction wins a prize.
41. Your own bingo
Make your own bingo cards and send them to the participants in a personal Facebook message. Make sure you have lots of different cards (maybe with pictures instead of numbers) and play a game of bingo in the morning during a Facebook Live broadcast. It doesn’t necessarily have to be during a Facebook Live broadcast, as long as you get the person with a fake bingo to sing a song 😉 .
42. Have people seen your promotional materials?
Have you distributed any promotional materials? So for example, did you have a poster made for a bus shelter or put flyers somewhere? Let people tell you where they have seen the promotional material, giving them a chance to win one of your products or services.
43. Do something different with the product
A perfect example is a win campaign from Coolblue. They ship products in large orange/blue boxes. Coolblue calls on customers to turn this box into a beautiful creation. You could do something similar and give away a win, such as a voucher, as a prize.
44. Fill in on the dotted line
Come up with a sentence that ends with a dotted line, where people can make suggestions for what should be on the dotted line. The nicest entry wins the prize.
45. Riddle
Come up with a good riddle (not too complicated). The person who solves the riddle wins the prize.
46. Refer people to a win on your website
Create a Facebook message for a contest on your website. The advantage is that on your website you set the rules on what is allowed and what is not.
47. Slogan
How much creativity do your fans have? Let them think up a new slogan for your company. The prize? Eternal fame because you will actually use the slogan.
48. Selfie action
Have people take a fun selfie and share it under your Facebook post.
49. Love for your product
Invite your fans to show their love for your product. They can share this with a photo or video. Maybe even live while using your product or service.
50. Reward for a review
Redeem a prize among the people who have left a review on your page. It can give people who have not yet left a review that extra push to post a review on your page.
51. Enter a contest every day
Place a contest on your Facebook page where people can respond every day to have a chance to win the prize. So you raffle off a prize among the participants seven times. This way the post gets a lot of engagement and reach.
52. Foot photo
This is great for a pedicure or nail salon. You know the ones, pictures of people sitting with their feet in the sand and sharing that with a picture of their feet on their Facebook profile. Raffle a prize among the people who share a photo of their feet (or hands) in a comment.
Come up with a variation if you are not a pedicurist or manicurist.
53. An Anniversary
How long has your business existed? Every year that your company exists is, as far as I’m concerned, cause for celebration. Make it a party. And who has a birthday, has a treat, right?
54. Checking in
Can people check-in at your company’s location? Redeem a prize among the people who have checked in at your location.
55. Promote an offline win campaign
Do you have a contest that people can only participate in if they stop by your place? For example, at your restaurant or salon? Share more information about the contest in a Facebook post. In the message you tell how people can participate in the contest.
56. Hashtags
Have people use a certain hashtag in their status update on Facebook. You can look up the posts with the hashtag on Facebook and give a prize to the funniest status update.
57. Who is cracking the Facebook Messenger bot?
Can someone crack your Facebook Messenger bot? So, can you answer all the questions in the Facebook Messenger bot and decipher a discount code? It’s great fun to promote this as a contest on your Facebook page.
58. Give something away with a colleague
Do you work a lot with another company because you complement each other so well? Discuss whether you can give something away together. Because you both place the giveaway on your page, the reach of your giveaway is even greater.
59. Place the sweepstakes in the cover photo of your page
No matter what the contest is, place it in a cover photo. The cover photo is like a signboard for your business. Your fans see the cover photo first when they come to your page. This makes the contest stand out even more.
60. Share a video
Let people make a video. Give some instructions on what the video should contain. You can ask your fans if they want to tell something about working with you. Or maybe you challenge people to break a record, as Coolblue does below.
61. Vote for a product that really needs to go on sale
Your fans get to vote which product will go on sale this month. The winning product will actually be discounted, causing your fans to buy it.
62. Create a contest for a specific audience
Create a Facebook post in which you raffle off a prize among all the mothers who respond. Or to couples, where the friend tags his partner. This way you target a specific audience with the contest.
63. Choose your most favorite product
Do you have multiple products? Have people indicate under a Facebook post what their most favorite product is. They have a chance to win that product.
64. We’ll share everything fairly
Facebook is not entirely clear about whether you can have people tag you as a condition of a chance to win a prize. You don’t have to use tagging as a condition. You can also ask your fans who they would share your prize with.
65. DIY win
DIY stands for Do It Yourself. Ask your fans what creative ideas they have for a DIY job. The best idea wins the prize.
Additional tips
I have a few additional tips for when you are going to post a contest on your page.
Keep it simple: The easier it is to enter your contest, the more likely it is that many people will enter. A contest where people can already win the prize by clicking the “like” button works best. Also, a post where people only have to respond with a number or letter (which equals a correct answer), often works well. As soon as people have to think more about the answer to your question, they are more likely not to respond. They then only participate if they really want to win the prize.
Use contests for market research: In the list of ideas, you will find some ideas where you ask your fans to tell something about themselves or your product. Or you ask them to come up with new ideas. This is very valuable information. You can learn a lot about who your fans are and what they need. Use the feedback you get to improve your paid offer or to develop new products or services.
Come up with prizes that are related to your business: A contest in which you give away an iPad will get a lot of people responding. Everyone wants to win an iPad. But the people who will participate in your contest, are by far not all people who would actually buy something from you. You would much rather have people who participate in a contest because they want to win a product or service from you. These are the people who are interested in your offer.
Also pay attention to what rules Facebook applies to a contest: https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/pages_groups_events
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