Stores and malls may be slowly giving way to eCommerce and internet shopping, but human nature remains the same. People will always seek out the opinions and referrals of other people when choosing which businesses to trust, and which products and services are likely to provide the best value for their money.
In fact, it could be said that the opinions of other consumers have taken on greater importance in the realm of internet-based commerce. If a business wants to succeed and grow in today’s marketplace, customer reviews and testimonials are crucial.
So, how do you get the customer reviews and testimonials you need to boost your brand when you are just getting started? The answer: You will need to do a bit of clever incentivizing to encourage your new customers to provide those valuable testimonials you need to grow your business.
Giveaway contests offer a fun tool that encourages customers to share their experiences in return for fun prizes.
What You Need To Know Before You Get Started
Before diving head first into planning your next giveaway contest you will want to make sure that you understand the ground rules for the platform or platforms you will be launching your contest.
Nobody likes slogging through the legal jargon of a platform’s user policies and community guidelines but we promise that a little bit of research now will keep your contest from being banned as soon as it starts. We will give you a head start by going over some of the most common rules governing the running of contests and the gathering of reviews on the top social media platforms.
Contest Requirements for Youtube, Facebook, & Twitter
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all require that contests feature a disclaimer that clearly discloses that the company is in no way affiliated with the contest, and all platforms require official contest rules in alignment with community guidelines.
In addition to all of the typical contest rules discussed above, Twitter also requires that contest hosts take active steps to discourage contest entrants from creating additional Twitter accounts to gain more entries, and asks hosts to ensure that contest entrants are not reposting the same tweet multiple times to avoid spamming.
When it comes to running contests on social platforms you will need to walk a fine line when it comes to incentivizing likes, and asking entrants to follow or subscribe. These tasks cannot be required as a condition of entry, but there are no restrictions against awarding extra contest entries or points for these tasks, or soliciting voluntary reviews or video testimonials.
Take the guesswork out of campaign set-up by using a KickoffLabs template, curated to the most popular social platforms. Our social platform campaigns make it easier than ever to encourage leads to visit, follow, reshare and more!.
Giveaway Contest Examples
There are several fun options when it comes to using giveaway contests to incentivize reviews and testimonials. Choose the contest style that will appeal to your unique audience base most, add some high-value prizes, and watch the glowing reviews start pouring in.
Best Testimonial Contest
The Best Testimonial Contest is beautiful in its simplicity. Create a catchy announcement letting customers know that you will be giving out a fantastic prize to the client who writes the best testimonial. Set a deadline and ask clients to submit their best writing.
You may need to spend a little extra to ensure the prize is valuable enough to motivate your clients to take the time to sit down and craft an awesome testimonial. The expense will be well worth it though as this type of contest is guaranteed to generate strong, well-written, engaging reviews as customers will be writing to impress in the hopes of winning the big prize.
When the deadline hits, choose your winner, or your top picks, award the prizes, and create a social media campaign highlighting your winners and other top entries. This lets you show your customers some appreciation while getting more exposure for all those awesome reviews at the same time.
Selfie Testimonial Contest
Who doesn’t love a chance to take a selfie? This contest is perfect for brands that tend to cater to a younger audience or those who are promoting a product or service that is just made for close-ups.
Much like the Best Testimonial Contest, you will need to create an announcement encouraging clients to take their best selfie featuring your product or service. This could be a selfie in front of your storefront or a selfie that showcases your brand or product in a fun way. Participants earn entries by posting their selfies to your social media platforms, or their own social networks, and the best submissions win fun prizes.
Video Testimonial Contest
Video testimonials are the gold standard of testimonials. Videos are entertaining and pack a lot of information into an easy-to-watch engaging package. Businesses pay top dollar for professionally produced video testimonials promoting their brand. You can get the same valuable reviews for far less by running a video testimonial contest.
You will need to provide a valuable, or highly-coveted prize package to incentivize creators to put in the effort to create a video testimonial but the results should be well worth the expense. There are few testimonials that can compete with the power of a video testimonial. That means even if you only receive a few entrants every entry will be a major boon for your brand.
Promoting Your Giveaway Contest
The purpose of your giveaway contest is to generate as much buzz for your brand as possible. You are trying to draw in as many high-quality testimonials as possible. That means that you need to make sure that all of your customers get the news about your contest launch. Check out some of our top best practices for driving traffic to your campaign here.
You are looking for reviews from those who have actually tried your products or services so you are going to need to target your promotions to speak directly to customers.
Ideally, you will want to reach your customers while their purchase is still fresh in their minds. Thank you emails and messages are awesome tools for showing customer appreciation, and they can easily do double-duty as a giveaway contest announcement as well.
You can cast a broader net, and advertise your brand at the same time, by posting contest announcements on the social media platforms themselves. Be sure to personalize your posts for each platform, and target your customer base in the forums, and groups where they tend to congregate.
Launch Your Giveaway Contest Today!
It is never too early to start building your word-of-mouth marketing campaign. If you’re looking to run a successful testimonial giveaway for your business, KickoffLabs should be at the top of your list. With its powerful features and user-friendly interface,
KickoffLabs provides everything you need to engage your audience and generate valuable testimonials. One of the key advantages of KickoffLabs is its ability to create beautiful and customizable landing pages that capture attention and drive conversions. Launch your next social testimonial giveaway free today. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to leverage the power of KickoffLabs for your next testimonial giveaway! Get started for free today or email our support team at support@kickofflabs.com.