Facebook contests are a popular way for businesses and organizations to hold sweepstakes. Facebook contests have some great advantages for sweepstakes sponsors, including encouraging entrants to “Like” the company’s Facebook page and an easy way to create a robust sweepstakes page. Mediaura has quite a lot of success operating sweepstakes for our clients, handling everything from the customized Facebook application development, managing the day-to-day performance, as well as educating companies on the best way to leverage social media. As we’ve stated in the past, operating with a “Build It And They Will Come” mentality, does not work for social media. Consumers are being advertised to 24/7; through television, outdoors, radio, and online. If you want to stand out from the competition, a compelling Facebook sweepstakes (when managed correctly) is always a safe bet.
Long John Silver’s “Invite-A-Friend” Sweepstakes
For the Long John Silver’s sweepstakes, we once again worked closely with the incredible LJS team to come up with an idea that not only raised brand awareness throughout social media, but also incentivized repeated visits to the LJS Facebook page.
Here’s how it works:
Long John Silver’s wanted to highlight the affordable cost of their delicious seafood, so they came up with the “Invite-A-Friend” campaign. Consumers are immediately made aware of the competitive prices of LJS meals (2 meals for $10), and are encouraged to “Invite-A-Friend” out to lunch. Each week 10 lucky individuals will be randomnly selected to win a $15 Visa gift card, just for entering and sharing the contest with their Facebook friends.
After the Facebook user selects to “get started” they are then prompted to invite their friends, both out to lunch and to enter the sweepstakes as well.
The Mediaura team has developed the Facebook contest application in such a way that it seamlessly allows the user to select which friends they would like to invite within the Facebook environment. This prevents users from having to leave Facebook in order to enter the sweepstakes.
Once the user selects which friends they would prefer to invite out to lunch, the following messages are automatically posted on their walls by the application:
This is the message that is posted on the wall of the user who is inviting their friends out to lunch.
This is the message that is posted on the wall of any friend who receives the invitation.
One of the Facebook guidelines for contests is that you are not allowed to notify contest winners through the social media platform. This means that when you create a Facebook contest or Facebook sweepstakes application you must develop a way to notify winners “off-site.” On this page of the sweepstakes application, users are prompted to enter a valid username and email address in order to receive notification should they be selected as winners.
They must also review and acknowledge the legal agreement to the contest rules.
After the user has completed this process they are then notified whether or not their submission was a success. Once their entry has been successfully submitted, they are taken to the final page of the sweepstakes application.
However, we didn’t want the opportunity for Long John Silver’s branding to end there, so we included the option for users to learn more about coupons and other information available regarding the Long John Silver’s brand. Therefore, by selecting “Go” users are taken to the www.ljsilvers.com
Here they can read about Menu & Nutrition, find a store, and of course, register for the Long John Silver’s Fishbowl email club to receive coupons and other special offers.
Each week users can return to Long John Silver’s Facebook page for the opportunity to enter again!
Let us help you develop your own sweepstakes!
We have had a great time working on this project with the Long John Silver’s team. If you would like to learn more information about Facebook sweepstakes, social media management, or the various other ways that Mediaura can help you leverage social media – contact us today! We’re always happy to help!