I wanted to jump back to the discussion of Facebook for today’s blog simply because we are about to launch a huge Facebook Contest for one of our clients, and I have to say that I’m pretty excited. Facebook Contests are an innovative way to engage your target audience while increasing Fans and developing relationships and leads. Let’s walk through the greatest and most effective Facebook Contests that I’ve been a part of.
Facebook Photo Demographics
Everyone loves a good photo. Whether it’s silly and fun, serious, beautiful, emotional, or adorable, photos are the most Shared, Liked and Commented on pieces of content on Facebook. Though the exact numbers aren’t in yet for the summer of 2011, it’s estimated that 100 billion photos have been posted to Facebook so far. At the end of 2010, there were 60 billion photos Shared on Facebook, around 6 billion uploaded each month. At the end of the summer, that number is expected to reach 100 billion photos uploaded.
Knowing that amazing statistic, let’s take a look at the demographics of who is sharing photos. When implementing a Facebook Marketing Campaign of any kind, especially a Facebook Contest, it’s crucial that you understand not only your target audience online, but the audience that your Facebook Contest will attract. According to Pixable.com, women surpass men in terms of photo uploads, Shares and Tags. Twice as many women take part in photo sharing then men!
As far as segmenting age groups within the Facebook Photo Sharing demographic, there is a peak between the ages of 24 and 26. Overall, statistics show a steady demographic of Photo Sharing for everyone between the ages of 24 to 48.
With all of that said, consider how you can use this amazing resource to your advantage with a Facebook Photo Contest. Let me explain to you how it works, and why it’s so successful.
The Contest
If you’ve been an engaged user of Facebook, odds are pretty good that you’ve seen a post from a friend that says something like “I just entered my pic in a contest. Go vote for me!” This is the genius of the entire contest, but we’ll get to that in a second. The contest revolves around Fans posting pictures of themselves to a Facebook Business Page. The contest can be about the cutest baby, the funniest facial expressions, the perfect sunset, pretty much anything.
• Fan posts photo to Facebook Business Page
• Fan must Tag themselves in the photo in order to begin the contest
• Facebook Business Page must approve photo and add it to the contest photo album
• Fan is responsible for telling everyone he knows to vote for his picture
• Fan’s Facebook Friends must “Like” the Business Page in order to vote. A vote, in this case, is a “Like” on the photo.
• At the end of the allotted time frame, the photo with the most “Likes” wins the prize, which should be something beneficial.
The Genuis
The best part of this entire contest is that if you have targeted the right demographic (females in their mid-20’s), have set the rules, and have promoted the contest through your business locations, you can sit back and watch your Fan base increase overnight. Everyone who enters the contest does the marketing for you. Once they enter the contest, it’s up to them to tell everyone to vote for them. And, here’s the genius part, in order for people to vote for their favorite photo by “Liking” it, they must first “Like” the Business Page.
Every time your Business Page gets a new “Like,” that’s one more News Feed that you will show up on and hundreds more Fans to build brand relationships with. This Facebook Contest is not only effective in building your Fan base, it creates lasting memories for everyone involved helping to develop a unique brand experience and hopefully future brand advocate.