How to run a Facebook photo contest that drives results

• What are we promoting? Is it a new product, brand, or service? • What information am I looking to collect from participants? • How can we repurpose this data? • How will we encourage users to participate? • How long will the contest run? • How can we engage new fans after the contest?

Once the contest stops, create a detailed marketing plan for targeting the new consumers acquired during the campaign. It can transform new fans into customers for life. Make entering easy. A key element in a successful Facebook photo contest is determining the signup experience for participants. Lengthy forms that require too much information will drive users away. Outline the minimum number of required fields for entries, and allow one-click submissions that pull from users’ Facebook information. Also, don’t forget to map out what happens after a user enters. Including incentives such as discount codes in auto-generated replies is a simple way to encourage sales. Promote it. Everywhere. Ensure your contest receives maximum reach by marketing the campaign across all of your audiences. Custom hashtags unite your social networks by enabling users to submit across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Include this same tag in promotional emails, advertisements, and your website. Nexxus’ selfie campaign illustrates how to cross-promote a campaign with a branded hashtag. The company collected submissions from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with its #PrimeColor tag and promoted it across various channels. The campaign was promoted prominently to fans with a custom Facebook banner: Followers are presented with the hashtag through branded Twitter page: Learn the rules. Within its terms, Facebook outlines its official rules for running promotions: