One of the best ways to garner more interest for your business and your products is by holding contests through the various social media sites. One of the very best options for running contests today in the social media realm is actually Pinterest, the photo sharing and pinning site. If you’ve had an account for a while, and you are trying to get more engagement from followers, and to find new followers, then having a contest really can be a great way to do it. Here are some tips on putting together a fun and relatively simple contest on the site.
Create the Rules
You need to have a clear set of rules and parameters for the contest so people know what they have to do. Instead of trying to put the rules in the photo description, you should put them on your blog, or on your Facebook page. Having the instructions on a blog is a better option though, since it does not require users to go to another social network for the rules.
What Type of Contest Should You Create?
You have quite a few options when it comes to the style of contest you create for Pinterest, and as long as you adhere to the site’s terms and conditions, you should be able to come up with some of your own ideas. Here are a couple of good ones that you might want to consider.
- Send Your Photos – You can ask people to send in their own photos of them using your product. You could actually have them send in any type of photo that you choose. For example, you could have a cutest pet contest and let people vote on the winner. It does not always have to deal directly with your products, but it should always promote your brand.
- Caption the Photo – Another good option is to have a contest for captioning a photo you put up with the cleverest or funniest sayings. You could choose the winner, or you would put it up for a vote.
Make sure you tell people to spread the word about the contest. Ask them to re-pin the photos, as well. Since you can connect to Facebook and Twitter, spread the word about the contest to your other followers and fans, even if they do not have a Pinterest account. This helps to get more people involved.
The Right Prize
Of course, every contest needs to have a prize, and you need to make sure that your prize is actually something that people will want. However, it should be something that has to do with your brand, one of your own products or a service you offer. This ensures that the people who enter the contest actually have an interest in the items that you are offering. Don’t make the mistake of giving away iPads, Kindles and other devices. This attracts more contestants, but they have real interest in what you sell. You want to find people who might become your customers even if they don’t win.
One other thing that you should keep in mind is that Pinterest, along with other social networks, has a tendency to update and change their rules and policies. Always look at the latest information when it comes to running contests through them, so you can be sure that you do not run afoul of their terms. For example, the contests people are allowed to run on the site today have to be more involved than the old “pin it to win it” contests that only requires someone to pin your photo.
Resource: http://www.socialmediasass.com/blog/15-blog/social-media/20-how-do-i-run-a-pinterest-contest