Tips for Hosting a Successful Online Contest

Is your company interested in running an online contest? omniCONTESTS has streamlined the process and can help you host and manage a successful contest from start to finish. Here are a few general tips and guidelines:

How to Run a Successful Online Contest

No matter what kind of contest you are planning to run, omniCONTESTS can help you effectively manage it every step of the way. General tips and guidelines for running an online contest include:

Identify Goals and Track Results
Establish realistic and measurable goals. omniCONTESTS offers real-time reports on entrants, entries, payments, scores, awards and much more.  Data can be conveniently sorted and exported to Excel.

Target Audience of Your Online Contest
Determining your target audience is crucial to helping you brand and target the proper channels. The prize or award should appeal to your audience and create the proper buzz. Multiple prizes, such as a second or third place may also generate interest. The online contest can be a doorway promoting your company and services.

With omniCONTESTS online contest software, you can brand and personalize the appearance and process of your contests with over 400 settings. The entrant and judge sites are built with a “total content management” philosophy; you can manage any visible text on either site.

Keep Form and Rules Simple
Attempt to keep the rules and entry process as simple as possible – the more fields a user has to submit may affect the number of entries you receive, and having fewer entries means less exposure and revenue.  With omniCONTESTS, configuring your online contest is a breeze.  Set up the entrant, entry and credit forms with the questions you want in the format you want (check box, drop down, radio button or text).  Quickly add your rules, FAQ and help information.

Timing of Your Online Contest
There are a number of critical dates for your online competition. A few dates include call of entries, deadlines, on-site and online judging and announcing the winners. You'll notice many of your entries will come in the weeks preceding the deadline, so it’s important to keep the contest open for the appropriate amount of time. It’s also a good idea to send periodic updates to entrants and prospective entrants and to consider holidays and other industry events that may be happening at the same time.

Promote Your Online Contest
Use different marketing channels including social media sites to promote your online contest. In all marketing materials, direct entrants to your website and make sure the link to enter the contests is prominent and easy to find. Send date-sensitive updates and notices to entrants and prospective entrants like call of entries and early or late deadlines. In omniCONTESTS online contest software, email communication tools are available to easily notify entrants and recruit judges.

Announce Winners of Your Online Contest
Make a big deal about the winners and share the news to promote and brand your online contest – it will encourage future participation!. There are other revenue generating opportunities such as online gallery, sponsorship, advertising, award ordering and event registration. omniCONTESTS can be your one-stop online awards program solution, from your call to entries to your show production.

Visit our online contest resources page or contact us today for more information about how to run a successful online contest!