This article was co-authored by Anar Kazimov. Anar Kazimov is a Digital Marketing Expert based in Vancouver, Canada. He is the Owner and Marketing Director of Pixel Prodigies, a company created to help business owners achieve more sales by revamping their digital portfolio. He has helped the NIH, IBM, Canadian film studios, Rolex dealerships, and many other firms in their marketing campaigns. He previously had a career in the IT industry and worked at Freelancer.com. He received a BS in Computer Science from the University of Victoria.
There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Facebook raffles are great ways to help promote your business and give back to your fans or customers. Luckily, setting up a Facebook raffle is easy as long as you follow the right techniques and have a solid gameplan going in.
Steps
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Make sure that your raffle meets Facebook's guidelines. You can't create a promotion or raffle on a personal Facebook Timeline, so you'll need to create an official Page on Facebook. Also, you'll have to write a disclaimer that explains that Facebook is not associated with the promotion. Raffles must also have their own eligibility requirements and rules and cannot give away firearms, alcohol, tobacco, or adult products.[1]
- To get the full list of restrictions and guidelines on Facebook promotions, visit https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php#promotionsguidelines.
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Figure out the desired target market. Think of the type of people who you think would want the prize offered in the raffle. If you have a diverse market of people who buy your products or services, choose a subset of specific people within your customer base. Targeting specific age groups or people with particular interests will increase the number of individuals who feel compelled to enter.
- For example, if you are running a raffle for a new toy, you'll want to adjust the advertising to children or the parents that will purchase the toy for their children.
- Look at the analytics for past advertising campaigns to get an understanding for the type of people who previously clicked similar ads.[2]
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Determine the goal of your raffle. The raffle should have a positive outcome for your business. This could include increased exposure for a new product or service you're launching, growing your email list, or getting new customers through word of mouth. Figure out what you want the goal of the raffle to be so that you can incorporate it into your raffle as you create it.[3]
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Choose a prize that's relevant to your brand. You don't want to choose just anything for your prize. Good prizes include a free product or service from your company, a gift card for your products or services, or a partner company's product or service. People are usually more interested in the prize rather than the company running the raffle, so choosing a relevant prize will remind entrants of your company and increase your exposure.
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Create the rules for the raffle. You must have the rules of the raffle posted somewhere that's accessible to the entrants. Rules for promotional Facebook raffles typically include eligibility restrictions, the duration of the raffle, the prize that the winner will receive, terms and conditions, and any restrictions that exist.[4]
- In the text of the raffle post itself, make sure to leave a link to the full rules and regulations.
- If you are running a raffle for a company, make sure to refer to your manager or the legal department before trying to formulate the rules and regulations yourself.
- If you are having trouble writing up your own rules and regulations, find another raffles rules and regulations and use it as a template to fill out all of the information.
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Determine the entry methods for the raffle. Common entry methods for promotions on Facebook include liking the post, sharing the post, tagging a friend, commenting, filling out a form on an external website, or submitting a photograph. Determine which way you'd like contestants to be able to enter. Keep in mind that the harder it is to register for the raffle, the fewer people will likely sign up.[5]
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Choose a third party app to run your raffle. There are a variety of third-party applications on Facebook that are capable of creating a raffle in a post. Do a search online and find the raffle app that best suits your needs. Consider things like website integration, price, and the level of customization that's available within the app.[6]
- Popular Facebook raffle apps include WishPond, Heyo, ShortStack, AgoraPulse, and WooBox.[7]
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Come up with a clever header for your raffle. The headline of the raffle post should be clear and results-oriented. Make sure to let people know that you are holding a raffle and what the prize is. If people are interested in the header of your raffle, they will be more likely to read the rest of the post and enter.
- Your header could read "Enter to Win a Free Optical Headset from Superb Optical."
- Or it could say something like "Share a Photo with your Favorite Penclub Pen for the Chance to Win 5,000 Free Penclub Pens!"
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Create the design for your raffle post. One of the best ways to advertise your raffle is to post a visually appealing photograph that has the raffle information right on the photo. Use image editing software, like Photoshop, to create an image that contains your raffle header and some details about the raffle. The raffle post should be vibrant and contain the rules, eligibility to enter, ways to enter, and the prize within the post.[8]
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Format your raffle post. Make sure that the image will fit within the post. If you're using a raffle app, they will have an intuitive layout and process behind creating the raffle. Continue through the raffle app software and fill in all the fields. Once you're done, follow the instructions to post it to your page.[9]
- If you don't use a raffle app, you'll have to select the winner manually.
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Ensure that all links in your raffle work. Visit your Facebook page to make sure that everything has been formatted correctly. Enter the raffle yourself to test that all the hyperlinks work and that entering is intuitive. If you find yourself stuck or unable to register, you know that other people are likely to have similar issues. Identify where the process is going wrong and take the right steps to edit the post to fix it.
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Select a winner. If you're using a raffle app, there will be an automated button that you can press to randomly select the winner of the raffle.[10] Otherwise, you'll have to manually select a winner. If the raffle involved posting a picture, select a photo that best represents your brand.
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Look at how many people enter the raffle. Monitor the number of people who are entering the raffle each day. If registration for the raffle is low, you know you have to do more promotion in order to raise the number of people entering.
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Monitor how the raffle is affecting your page and company. As the raffle goes on, evaluate the metrics of your Facebook page, sales, or whatever goal you initially set out on accomplishing for the raffle. If you see a big boost in these numbers, the raffle is achieving your goal. If you see little to no change in the things you wanted to promote, you know your raffle isn't working as intended.[11]
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Reach out to influencers to promote your raffle. Popular vloggers, bloggers, or social media accounts will have a large audience that regularly listens to them. First, reach out to your partners to see if they can promote your page. Then, reach out to internet personalities who you know have used your products in the past and ask them if they can help promote your raffle.[12]
- You may have to set up a payment arrangement to some influencers.
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Use Facebook advertisements to promote the raffle. Facebook advertisements are also another great way to promote your raffle. Go to your page and scroll down to the raffle posting. On the bottom of the post, there should be a button that says "Boost Post." Click the button and fill out the information for your target demographic to launch your advertising campaign.
- You can later click "Ads Manager" on the left-side of your homepage to track the success of your ad.[13]
- The more money you spend on the post, the greater the engagement will be.
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Notify the winner of the raffle via email. Most raffle apps will have an automated function that will choose a winner for you. Email is the most effective way to reach someone and will create a record of correspondence with the winner if there's a problem or conflict that occurs. Include the way that the winner will redeem their prize. Typically this requires you getting their mailing address or sending them a link that allows them to redeem it.[14]
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Post an announcement for the winner of the raffle. Once the raffle is completed, create a post announcing the winner. Contact the winner of the raffle and ask if you can get a photograph of them with their prize. This will notify other entrants that the raffle is over and can be used as additional promotion for your company.[15]
- If customers see a happy raffle winner, they will be more likely to partake in future raffles and promotions.
Expert Q&A
Tips
References
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php#promotionsguidelines
- ↑ https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2580282?hl=en
- ↑ https://thrivehive.com/how-to-run-a-facebook-contest/
- ↑ https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675437297/facebook-raffle-rules
- ↑ https://thrivehive.com/how-to-run-a-facebook-contest/
- ↑ https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-contests/
- ↑ https://www.guavabox.com/blog/top-apps-for-managing-your-facebook-contest-2
- ↑ https://thrivehive.com/how-to-run-a-facebook-contest/
- ↑ https://kb.rafflecopter.com/hc/en-us/articles/204521649-How-do-I-choose-contact-winners-for-my-giveaway-
- ↑ https://kb.rafflecopter.com/hc/en-us/articles/204521649-How-do-I-choose-contact-winners-for-my-giveaway-
- ↑ https://www.jeffbullas.com/social-media-giveaway-contest/
- ↑ https://www.jeffbullas.com/social-media-giveaway-contest/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/engagement/photo
- ↑ https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/small-business/top-5-tips-to-keep-raffles-contests-legal/
- ↑ https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675435998/5-best-ways-to-announce-notify-contest-winners-with-examples