Most small businesses will have multiple online marketing outlets from their Nashville web design to social media. And we all know that Facebook is a frontrunner when it comes to reaching your ideal customers and growing your business. However, it’s also the most competitive form of social media when you’re trying to grab people’s attention and get those likes and shares that generate leads. A sweepstakes or contest is an excellent way to catch your ideal customer’s eyes and create a buzz about your brand. Here are a few tips to help you get moving in the right direction when creating a social media contest that gets attention.

#1: Choose a prize your customers would want

Don’t just get a Yeti cooler to give away because it’s a trendy gift right now. Consider the audience that visits your website design in Nashville – will they truly value the cooler? Or is it something that might not be worth the shares and filling out the contest form for your customers. If you sell outdoor gear and services, then you’ll probably find this to be a successful prize. However, if you run a quilting store, then you may not get too many people signing up for the Yeti.

#2: Decide if you want to collaborate with another local business

While you don’t want to collaborate with a competitor, you’ll find that you can really get some value if you find a local business that will be part of your contest. This will give you reach into the followers of another business, and you’ll, in turn, promote them on your Facebook feed. For example, if you run a dentist’s office, perhaps you want to give tickets away for the theater. You can reach out to a local restaurant for a gift card for dinner to pair with the play, and then both you and the restaurant would promote it.

#3: Design social content and create a posting schedule

Once you have all of the details hammered out, you can start developing the content you want to use such as the images to the copy. Get these finalized before you launch so that you can collect data for your next contest. Make sure your posting schedule is consistent, and you have clearly written out rules, contest timeframe, how the winner is chosen, and other bits of information that will ensure everything runs smoothly. You should also put the contest information on your Nashville website design so that people visiting you there will have a chance to enter.

#4: Announce the winner and launch a new contest

Once the sweepstakes are over, announce the winner on Facebook and your Nashville website design. Now, you can use the data you’ve gathered to launch a new and improved contest so that you can see continual growth from these over the course of the year. Many small businesses in Nashville find success by doing a few Facebook contests a year, and the more data you collect, the more leads you’ll get!