How do you leverage your network and referrals to boost your contest entries?

1 Create a compelling offer

The first step to attract more entries is to create a contest or sweepstakes that offers a valuable and relevant prize for your target audience. Whether it's a product, service, gift card, or cash, make sure it aligns with your brand and your goals. You also want to make the entry process easy and fun, with clear rules and instructions. Use catchy headlines, images, and videos to capture attention and entice people to participate.

2 Share it with your existing network

The next step is to share your contest or sweepstakes with your existing network of customers, followers, subscribers, and contacts. You can use email, social media, blogs, podcasts, or any other channel that you have access to. The key is to communicate the benefits of entering, the urgency of the deadline, and the call to action. You can also create some incentives for sharing, such as bonus entries, discounts, or rewards.

3 Encourage referrals and word-of-mouth

The third step is to encourage your entrants to refer their friends, family, and colleagues to your contest or sweepstakes. This is where you can leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing, which is one of the most trusted and effective forms of promotion. You can use tools like referral software, widgets, or plugins to track and reward referrals. You can also create a referral contest within your main contest, where the person who refers the most entries wins a separate prize.

4 Collaborate with influencers and partners

The fourth step is to collaborate with influencers and partners who can help you reach a wider and more relevant audience for your contest or sweepstakes. Influencers are people who have a large and engaged following on social media, blogs, podcasts, or other platforms. Partners are other brands or businesses that share a similar target market or niche as you. You can work with them to cross-promote your contest or sweepstakes, offer co-branded prizes, or create joint campaigns.

5 Optimize your landing page and forms

The fifth step is to optimize your landing page and forms for your contest or sweepstakes. Your landing page is the first impression that your potential entrants will have of your offer, so you want to make it appealing, clear, and persuasive. Your forms are the means by which you collect information from your entrants, so you want to make them simple, secure, and compliant. You can use tools like landing page builders, form generators, or analytics software to improve your conversion rates.

6 Follow up and nurture your leads

The final step is to follow up and nurture your leads after they enter your contest or sweepstakes. You don't want to lose touch with them or let them forget about you. You want to keep them engaged, interested, and excited until the end of the contest or sweepstakes, and beyond. You can use email, social media, or SMS to send them updates, reminders, confirmations, thank-you messages, and invitations to other offers or opportunities. You can also use tools like CRM, segmentation, or automation to personalize and streamline your communication.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?