Voting On Social Media: How to Run a Vote Contest in 2022

The key to success with social media marketing is creating engaging, interactive content.

A simple way to boost interaction on your website, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest sites is to run an online contest. Regardless if you are a large company or a small business, social vote contests are easy to make and can be used by all.

Online vote contests are also some of the simplest contests for an interested consumer to enter.

In this article, we will give you tips on how to run a vote contest, and how to make it successful.

9 tips for vote contest success:

set goals for your online vote contest
get creative with your content
follow the rules for a social vote contest
post vote contests frequently, and consistently
give a brand related prize
give no prize
cross-promote your social vote contest
create long-term customer connections
measure results of your online vote contest

1. Set Goals For Your Online Vote Contest

As in any good marketing strategy, setting goals is the first part of any successful social media marketing campaign.

Determining what outcomes you need will help to determine the type of contest campaign you will run. It will also show the successes you have achieved, once you have completed your social vote contest.

Your goals might include increasing followers on Twitter, collecting emails, or increasing engagement on Facebook.

With a vote contest, you might also want to achieve simple market research from your consumer, or even input into product development.

2. Get Creative With Your Content

To increase engagement, make sure your content is connecting with your consumer. Don’t just talk about your company or products.

Make vote contests that:

relate to consumer lifestyles or interests
relate to your product, but are not solely about your product
are fun, and conducive to share

For example:

This photo studio wanted to promote their new online photo products. They set up a vote contest to ask followers their favourite:

Check out these free contest templates to help you get started.

3. Follow the Rules for a Social Vote Contest

As in any contest you run, be sure that you are following the rules for each social site.

For example, on Facebook, you must use a 3rd party app to run contests. I am biased, but Wishpond makes great, easy to use 3rd party apps for your Facebook contests.

Additionally, be clear about the rules you have for your vote contest. If, for example, your contest is targeting an international market, and you will be mailing out a prize – be sure to include any needed information about shipping costs, currency values, or other details which might be relevant for your entrant.

4. Post Vote Contests Frequently, and Consistently

Like most social media marketing campaigns, the more interactive opportunities you provide your market, the more likely they will engage with your social media contest.

If you were a marketer before the age of social, think of vote contest frequency as touchpoints. the more touchpoints a consumer has with your brand, the more likely they will purchase from you.

You can post vote contests as often as every day, to every month. Keep it consistent to keep your followers coming back.

5. Give a Brand Related Prize

Prizes are often great motivators to entice entrants. If you are giving out prizes for vote contest participants, make choose the right contest prize idea that is related to your brand.

A gift card is a great prize. This not only promotes your business with the contest, it also ensures a more targeted list of entrants – as they are likely entering to get your gift card.

For example:

In this example, a kids toy shop is getting in a new shipment of Lego. To promote the new gear, and to encourage engagement, they put on a vote contest, asking their customers which Lego set they would most like. The prize is a Lego set of their choice.

Or, for example, If you are in the floral business, you might run a vote contest to ask Facebook Fans what their favourite flower is. You could, for example, randomly choose the contest winners, with the prize being a weekly bouquet of those flowers for a year.

6. Give No Prize

On the other hand, in a vote contest, you don’t have to give away a prize. Add a vote contest as a regular part of your Facebook updates, or your Tweets.

Make the contest engaging to your market, and post them frequently. This can boost your interaction on its own.

This tactic is particularly true for niche markets, with a tight group of followers. Or, if you are a very small business owner who is just getting started.

7. Cross-Promote your Social Vote Contest

To make your vote contest reach further, cross-promote it. If one of your goals is to increase Facebook fans, host the vote contest on your Facebook page.

Market it to your followers on Twitter, with links back to your Facebook page.

Write a blog post about it on your website. Create a link from your website to your Facebook page, to develop more traffic.

Email your customers to tell them about your Facebook contest.

If you have a physical store, promote your Facebook contest with a QR code created using a Facebook QR Code generator.

8. Create Long-Term Customer Connections

Through social vote contests, you can create longer-term customer relationships.

Collect customer emails when they enter, and keep in touch through direct, personalized follow-up letters.

9. Measure Results of your Online Vote Contest

For any social media marketing campaign, you need to measure your results.

An online vote contest is no different. Measure your results based on the goals you set.

If your objective was to reach a certain number of new Likes on your Facebook page, measure this.

If you are using a 3rd party app, like Wishpond, use our comprehensive data and analytics in our easy-to-use dashboard.

Vote contests are a simple way to engage your market. Try one out, and let us know about your contest success!

Related Reading

Wishpond’s Facebook Contest Apps make it easy to create sweepstakes, photo contests, Instagram hashtag contests & more.

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Voting On Social Media: How to Run a Vote Contest