Planning a Contest to Get the Buzz Going - Part 4 of AnAudLife dot Com
In the previous post Planning Our Subscriber Traffic Strategy I talked about planning out our strategy for growing subscribers and today I want to talk about a fantastic method that works very well for not only growing subscribers but also getting lots of buzz and activity going about your blog.
Before I get into this however, I want to bring up an important point that I really want to set straight. Your job with your blog is not about trying to sell things to your visitors and you need to remember that. No one likes being sold to and what you need to do is look at it like a Doctor or Teacher. The good doctors and the good teachers are the ones that truly care about helping other people, they genuinely care about the people they interact with. Yes many of them… well in fact I am sure 99% of them would not be there if it was not for money but the point is they do not look at their patients and students as money. Focus on being a trustworthy resource to your site visitors that truly wants to provide value and they will trust you and come back again and again.
A Contest or Giveaway?
Contests and giveaways are very different from one another, a contest is a competition where a winner will be chosen because they have acheived the best results. Giveaways on the other hand are open to anyone that wants the participate and everyone has an equal chance of winning.
Contests (competitions) are great but I do not recommend them for a blog that is just starting out and the reason is it can limit the amount of people that may participate based on feeling unqualified to participate… but this of course is just my opinion.
What Does Your Audience Want?
I feel like I am beating this to death but this is another reason blogging about something you are passionate about it so much easier. If you do not really understand the market, if you do not understand the needs and wants and desires of the market then it is hard to understand what types of things would be of most interest to them. When having a contest/giveaway on your site you want to offer something that your audience would appreciate and you would be surpirsed to know that money is not the usual #1 choice.
Funny thing about money is that we all want it but it is not as big of an incentive as you would think. Offering $150 in cash will 90% of the time be less effective compared to a physical product of equal value. I am by know means certain as to why but my best guess is getting money is usually put directly to paying a bill or an expense of some sort and getting a prize… well that is different. For example, I would never buy a MacBook Air… yes they are cool and fun but they are just not very functional and practical but I would absolutely love to win one.
So the very first part is to understand what you are going to give away. You will need to come up with the initial prize because for a new blog the chances are you are not going to have people jumping at the opportunity to sponsor your site.
Remember that you look at the investment it is costing for the contest as advertising and you could blast through $100+ pretty darn quick with adwords, sponsored banners and numerous other strategies that would disappear as soon as the money stopped. The cool thing with contests is if you do it right the initial expense will be paid back over and over again for the long term through backlinks and subscribers.
This is why i mentioned in a previous post about understanding your resources available and you will want to be able to budget money towards this. What you need to do is figure out what you can afford and be careful not to stretch yourself thin… do not think that going into debt for a super prize will be much more effective then a less expensive prize.
Target Your Audience!
Over the past few months I have recieved a lot of sponsor requests and what I have found absolutely surprising is the markets some of these sites are in. Having a blog on gardening that is giving away a banner ad on a “make money online” blog is not what I would call ‘Targeting Your Audience’.
I think part of the problem is that people see what appears to be working on JohnCow.com and try to mimic it but fail because they are net stepping back and focusing on providing value to their readers, instead they are focused on marketing. You need to be sure that the prizes you are giving are prizes that your target audience is interested in.
The other reason for this is return on investment. Lets say you have a gardening blog that offers a grandprize of a sponsor ad on Johncow. This may be attractive to some gardeners that run a website but I would guess that 95% of the gardenign market does not own a website or need advertising.
Summary:
- 1. Decide if you want to do a contest or a giveaway
- 2. Understand what types of things your audience want (for example with An Aud Life, “Pain Relief” is what the majority of people in this market desire, so our prizes will focus on that).
- 3. Know how much you can afford to invest.
- 4. Put together a package that targets your market.
In the next post on this series I am going to talk about how to plan the criteria of your contest/giveaway so that it encourages people to spread the word and also helps promote your blog to various locations. It wil be a couple more posts about the contest side of things and then I will move on to the search engine part of promotions.
So what are your thoughts on this post… got anything to add?
- Part 1 - Planning Your Promotion Strategy
- Part 2 - Understanting the How and Where of Your Promotion Strategy
- Part 3 - Planning the Subscriber Traffic Strategy
- Part 4 - Planning a Contest to Get the Buzz Going
- Part 5 - Planning the Contest Criteria
- Part 6 - Protect Yourself Before You Start a Contest
- Part 7 - Rule of the Contest Prize Delivery
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
[...] Part 4 - Planning a Contest to Get the Buzz Going [...]
[...] Part 4 - Planning a Contest to Get the Buzz Going [...]
Great post, John. I also hate being sold to.
[...] about this topic, but this morning I came across an excellent post by John Cow on the topic of how to promote your blog using giveaways and contests. Have a read to learn the difference between and also how to strategize on what type of promotion [...]
Another solid post John.
Ultimate Blogging Experiments last blog post..Why Being the First Commenter Matters
I’ve actually been thinking about a contest, so this post is neat. But I’m clueless when it comes to the technical side, so I’d like to know about that, particularly about picking a winner– let’s say you give something away if people correctly answer a question. Or maybe they just have to email you. Then what? Is there some sort of random generator tool that picks an email addy?
One drawback to marketing to other marketers is that you know the hoops and you don’t want to jump thru them. Contest are a bit more inviting and engaging.
Nice post. I run little competitions on my craftshapes.co.uk website. I give away, yep, craft shapes. It really does increase the number of sign ups I get and to be honest I don’t push it as much as I could. I would recommend using a competition, it’s easy to set up and really helps with the trickle of traffic.
Steve
Steves last blog post..TIP 2. SET YOUR CRAFT PRICES RIGHT - AND USE TAGS TO INCREASE SALES
I am doing a weekly raffle of Free HTC shirts and the only thing they need to do is subscribe by email, and I’ve only had 2 email subscribers so far.
I guess there’s one factor that isn’t mentioned, “YOU NEED TRAFFIC”!!!!
hahah, This post came in at the right time! Take cares. Mr. Cow
Many thanks for the great tips JC. Today I launched a contest instead of a giveaway to get new commentators on my home improvement blog. We’ll see how well it works out.
You are so right about needing a plan though; this really takes research and thought in order to come up with something unique and compelling to your own audience!
One thing I’d love to see you post is more detail on your contest promotion thoughts and ideas. I’m finding good results on my subscriber giveaway prize already, which was picked up on a couple of sweepstakes sites and spiked traffic by a third. In less than a week I have 500 opt ins already, thanks to the Cow’s Great Tips!
domainpubbers last blog post..Cordless Comments Challenge Launches!
comprehensive information about planning and implementing a contest, you’re really great!
kabonfootprints last blog post..Violence on the Net, Kabonfootprint Probe
I agree with you that getting personal with your readers and help them to succeed is the key to success.
Believe me, you have put up such nice information that not only applies to Blogging but it’s the lifeblood of every business online and offline.
Traffic is where I fail!!! I have some decent sites, better than others, but not the best. Just cant seem to catch visitors! just missing something which i can’t pinpoint!
Fajjas last blog post..Does Xpango really work?
Great post and some very good points
[...] Part 4 - Planning a Contest to Get the Buzz Going [...]
I guess it is easy to bring in traffic but it is not so easy to get subscribers, rankings, etc.
Ganeshs last blog post..Contest Winners Announced!
i am hearing that some of you are getting traffic , but seem to be having trouble converting that traffic to subscribers. it seems to me(and john here is the expert) correct me here if i’m wrong, but it seems to me, if your having troubles converting to subscribers, it could be your content is weak, or not relevant to the traffic your getting.you might want to check into changing your content . even hiring someone who is a better writer to help you out in this area.