subject: How to Promote your Business with a Photo Contest that Utilizes Viral Marketing [print this page] How to Promote your Business with a Photo Contest that Utilizes Viral Marketing
These days coming up with unique ways to promote your business can be a major challenge. On top of that, with all of the viral marketing going on through social media platforms like Face Book and Twitter, you're choice better be compatiable with these digital age defining phenomenons and have a way to get existing and potential customers engaged.Enter PhotoScramble; ifI've caughtyour attention, read on.
At PhotoScramble, we allow companies & organizations to host photo contests on our platform to promote & spread your brand. There is a "viral" voting process as entrants recruit voters from their personal social networks with our sharing tools.
If you decide this is a good promotional fit to try out, here's steps on things to consider in planning your contest and making sure it is a success.
Your PhotoScramble photo contest can be a great way to engage your audience & promote your business to new potential clients. The most important things are to be clear about your theme which will be described in the contest description, your contest rules & regulations, and your contest prizes. For help with your theme, please refer to the category list for potential ideas, and consider matching the theme with some part of your organization so to have a better chance at engaging your audience. Before you get started on setting up your contest online, you will want to have ready a company logo in jpg format, as well as a photo that matches the theme of your contest. Below please find some tips on effectively creating each section of the contest.
TITLE: The title should briefly describe the general theme of the contest. A tip for better search results is to include your company name the title as well. This provides brand recognition as well as increased placements on search engine results. An example would be, MorePhotos Pet Photography Contest. In this case the host company is MorePhotos, and they are hosting a Pet Photography Contest. This will help people searching for MorePhotos find the contest, as well as folks who are searching for a Pet Photography Contest find MorePhotos.
CATEGORY: Select the category that best fits the theme of your contest.
SPONSOR: This is the company who is going to donate the prize for your contest. In many cases the sponsor is the same business as the host, but it is possible to get a sponsor to donate the prizes for another company's contest. An example would be if MorePhotos hosted a contest and Nikon donated a camera for the prize. Nikon in this example would be the sponsor, and MorePhotos the host.
DESCRIPTION: Here is where you can describe the theme of your contest. It is a good practice to include a very brief description of what your company or organization does, and a nudge to remind folks to SHARE the contest since they win by votes. Here is an example of great description: "Michelle's Miracle is hosting a Show Us Your "Best Summer Vacation" Photo Contest. Michelle's Miracle is a supplement company that specializes in the health benefits of Tart Cherries. Michelle's Miracle products promote healthy joints, support sleep patterns, and support inflammatory response and best of all they taste great! So send us in your best summer vacation photos for a chance to win the great prizes listed below! Remember, winners are chosen by highest vote count, so SHARE this with your personal social networks to get those votes!"
RULES: Here is where you can let entrants know the rules of your contest. If it is open to international residents or U.S. residents only. If it is localized to a specific city or county, because your product or service makes this limitation necessary, make sure to let entrants know. No illicit content is a good rule to always include, as well as the fact that your organization has the right to remove any photos they deem inappropriate. If you are concerned about any particular liability check with your local and state laws or consult your lawyer. Always remind people to have fun!
PRIZES: You can choose how many prizes you would like to offer. Remember, these cannot be changed once you move past this step. Be clear about the exact prizes for each place. You can also place links to the prize products or particular pages from your website to increase entrant interest in your product or service. We are finding that the more appealing the prize, the more engagement you are likely to have from existing or potential new clients. Put yourself in the consumer role and ask yourself, "What would it take for me to upload a photo for this contest". It is also a wise choice to make 1 or more of your products a promotional item from your organization to increase brand awareness.
VIEWING & VOTING: Here simply choose your viewing & voting options. For best exposure choose public viewing & voting. The voting type is up to you. Enabling comments is optional but it can be a fun way to further engage customers.
TIMELINES: You can choose a timeline of your preference up to 3 months. Longer contests might generate more entrants, while shorter timelines might encourage more excitement. As your relationship with PhotoScramble develops, you can try using different timelines and measuring the results. The voting end date must be after the upload end date.
Congratulations, your contest is complete. Now, quickly log in and go to "manage profile" under the dashboard drop-down. Upload your company logo%u2026this is the logo that will appear on your contest page and click back to your company website. At any time, you can login to change the title and description of your contest. You may not however, change the prizes or rules & regulations.
So, was this information helpful? Feedback is always appreciated. Email support@photoscramble.com.
