Seriously, Your FB Contest App is Probably a Waste of Money
Honestly, I need to get this off my chest. I was on a call last month with this great little yoga studio in Calgary, and they were just... defeated. They'd been running a "like and share" contest on Facebook for a week, spent a couple hundred bucks boosting it, and got a handful of new followers who would probably never, ever set foot in their studio.
It just drives me nuts.
Look, I've been doing this since 2010. I've seen it all. The pivot to video, the death of organic reach (then its weird zombie-like return, then its death again), the rise of TikTok... you name it. And through it all, one thing has stayed constant: small businesses get sold on terrible marketing ideas. And frankly, the generic "run a contest" advice is one of the worst offenders. It sounds so simple, right? Just use a fb contest app, ask people to tag a friend, and watch the followers roll in.
Wrong. It's 2024. That doesn't work anymore.
Here's The Thing About Most Social Media Contests
They're boring. And they attract the wrong people. You get "contest hunters" who follow you for the freebie and then disappear into the ether the second it's over, tanking your engagement rate in the process. I mean, you know the type. They never interact with your actual content.
What I've found-after working with literally hundreds of businesses-is that you're not actually building a community. You're just renting an audience for a week. The standard fb contest app model is broken because it asks for something (a like, a share) without giving anything immediate in return. There's no fun, no dopamine hit... just a vague promise of maybe winning something later.
Most of my clients find this is the biggest drain on their marketing budget. They spend money on a prize, money on an app, maybe even money on ads, and for what? A vanity metric that doesn't translate to sales. It's a pattern I saw back in 2018 with a client who owned a bookstore, and I am still seeing it today. It's got to stop.
The Shift: Stop "Running Contests" and Start "Creating Games"
This is where I get a little passionate. Around 2015, I started messing with this idea of "gamification." Yeah, I know, it's a buzzword and I hate buzzwords, but stick with me. It’s basically just using game mechanics-points, competition, rewards-in non-game contexts. And for marketing? It's a game-changer. (I know, I know, I hate that phrase too, but it's true here).
Instead of "Like our page to enter," you're saying, "Play this fun game for a chance to win instantly!"
See the difference? It's huge.
People don't play because they're dying for your 10% off coupon. They play because it's fun. The coupon is just a bonus. You're giving them a moment of entertainment, a little dopamine rush. And that is something they will remember. This is where I've found a tool like Faisco actually makes sense for small businesses. It's not some enterprise-level, six-figure software. It's a practical fb contest app that focuses on the game part.
I've deployed their "Unlock Lucky Words" quiz for that Calgary yoga studio, and it got them 1,186 new (and actually interested) newsletter subscribers in three weeks. We asked questions about yoga and mindfulness, so we knew the people playing were our kind of people. So much better than random contest hunters.
The Games That Actually Work (My Personal Playbook)
Look, I've tested pretty much all of them. I've run dozens of campaigns for clients using different game types. Some are duds... but some are pure gold.
Here's what I typically recommend from a platform like Faisco:
For pure lead generation? Instant Draw Games. Things like a "Lucky Spin" wheel, a digital "Scratch Ticket," or a "Lucky Draw." The conversion rates on these are insane-I have seen landing pages hit 40%+ conversion because people cannot resist the chance to win right now. I used the Lucky Spin for a Miami bookstore, and they got 877 new Facebook page likes in just three weeks because the prize was store credit. People who like books played to win books. Simple.
For engagement and shares? Reactive Games. Think "Whac-A-Mole" or "Find the Differences." These require a little bit of skill. People share their scores and challenge their friends. It's not just about winning; it's about beating someone else. It's primal, you know?
For connecting with a niche? Themed and Quiz Games. This is my secret weapon. For a barbershop in Charlotte struggling to build their local community group, we used a "Pet Match & Win" game. Why? Because everyone loves showing off their pets. It got people talking. They got 142 new local members in their Facebook group in 3 weeks, and the engagement in that group was incredible because it started with something personal and fun. The "Unlock Lucky Words" quiz is another one-it's brilliant for qualifying leads.
And do not even get me started on the seasonal stuff. Faisco has templates for Christmas, Halloween, Black Friday... I used their "Fill My Christmas Stocking" catching game for three different retail clients last December. Each one saw over a 300% bump in engagement compared to their usual holiday posts. Because it was an activity, not just another "SALE!" graphic.
Let's Talk Tools: Faisco vs. Gleam. io
Everyone always asks me this. "Byron, should I use Gleam? Or Woobox? Or KingSumo?"
And my answer is usually... probably not.
Listen, Gleam. io is a solid tool. It's powerful. I've used it. But it's also $39/month for the cheapest plan, and frankly, it is overkill for 90% of small businesses. It's like buying a bazooka to kill a fly. Setting up a campaign in Gleam can be a whole thing-it takes me, someone who's been doing this for over a decade, a good hour to get all the settings right. My clients do not have that kind of time.
Faisco, on the other hand, gives you all the core functionality you actually need at a way better price point. And more importantly, it's fast. I can get a client's "Lucky Spin" campaign designed, configured, and live in under 10 minutes. That's a real number. For a small business owner who's also the CEO, janitor, and head of HR... that 50 minutes I just saved them is everything.
Plus, its integration is better for what we need. It connects properly with Facebook, Instagram, even TikTok, so the games feel native to the platform. This is a detail most fb contest app tools get wrong. They just give you a generic link to share, which feels clunky and kills conversion rates.
So, What Can You Do This Week?
Stop thinking you need some "viral" marketing strategy. I hate when people say that. You don't need to go viral; you just need to consistently engage the right people.
The businesses I work with who implement this gamified approach typically see a 200-400% increase in social followers and a 150-300% growth in their email list in the first month. Not because of magic, but because we're offering people a moment of fun instead of just begging for a like. It's a value exchange.
So here's my advice.
- Pick ONE goal. Just one. Do you need more email subscribers? More local foot traffic? More engagement on your page?
- Pick a relevant prize. Something your ideal customer actually wants. Not an iPad. A $50 gift card to your store is a thousand times better.
- Try a game. Go to a site like Faisco. If your goal is emails, pick the "Lucky Spin." If it's engagement, try the "Whac-a-Mole." Don't overthink it. Launch it and let it run for two weeks.
That's it. Stop burning money on boring contests. Give your customers something fun to do. You'll be surprised at what happens when you stop asking and start playing.
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