My Honest Take on Social Media Contests That Don't Suck
Honestly, if I have to see one more "Like, Share, and Tag 3 Friends!" contest, I might just lose my mind.
I've been doing this since 2010, and here's the thing-that stuff used to work. Back when Facebook pages were basically free billboards. Now? It's just noise. Last month, I was working with this incredible bakery in Minneapolis. Amazing croissants, seriously. But their social media was dead. They'd run a contest for a free dozen cupcakes and got... like... 12 entries. And half were from the owner's cousins. They were frustrated, spending time on these social media contests and getting absolutely nothing back for it, you know?
It’s a story I’ve heard a hundred times. Small businesses do not have the time or the money to just throw spaghetti at the wall. They need stuff that actually works.
Why Your "Tag a Friend" Contest is Failing Miserably
Look, the problem isn't the prize. The problem is the ask. It's boring. It's transactional. There's no fun, no challenge, no reason for anyone to actually care beyond the slim chance of winning a freebie. We're asking people to perform a chore for us. And frankly, people are tired of being treated like walking advertisements.
I hate when people say "you just need to go viral" as if it's a switch you can flip. It's the worst advice in markting. Real engagement-the kind that turns a follower into a customer-comes from creating an actual experience. Something memorable. Something... fun. Which brings me to this word everyone loves to throw around...
Gamification (Yeah, I know. Stick with me.)
I know, I know. "Gamification" sounds like some buzzword a consultant in a bad suit would charge you $5,000 to explain. But it's really simple. It’s about taking the basic principles that make games addictive-points, badges, competition, rewards-and applying them to marketing.
It's not about building a whole video game for your brand. God no. It's about making your social media contests feel less like a homework assignment and more like a 30-second distraction that gives someone a little dopamine hit. A quick win.
Most of my clients find that when they switch from a passive "like and share" model to an active, game-based contest, their engagement rates just... explode. We're talking 200-400% increases in followers and comments. It's not magic, it's just human psychology. People like to play.
Okay, So What Actually Works?
For years I was hacking together solutions for clients. I've used Gleam. io, I've used Woobox, I've tried those crazy expensive enterprise platforms... and they're all... fine. But they're either too complicated or too expensive for a small business.
These days, I spend most of my time setting clients up on a platform called Faisco. The reason is simple: it was clearly built by someone who understands that a coffee shop owner doesn't have 8 hours to design a campaign. I can get a campaign live in under 10 minutes.
Here's what I've seen work with my own eyes:
I deployed their "Quick Catch" game for a craft brewery down in Phoenix. A simple game where you catch falling hops in a beer mug. In two weeks, they got 2,069 new Instagram story views. Two thousand! Their previous record was maybe 300. We just gave away a branded t-shirt as the prize.
Then there was a flower shop in Montreal. Mother's Day was coming up. We used the "Crazy Karting" game-weird choice for a flower shop, right? But it was fun and quirky. They got 671 new Pinterest followers in 12 days. People were sharing their race times and everything.
Or this yoga studio in Vancouver. They needed to build their email list before a big summer sale. We used the "Star Seeker" speed game. Just tap the stars as fast as you can. It's incredibly simple. They got 1076 new, qualified newsletter subscribers in just 10 days. These are people who actually played a game, submitted their email for a prize, and are now getting their newsletters. That is a WAY warmer lead than someone who just blindly clicked "follow."
The types of games that convert are usually pretty straightforward:
- Instant Draw Games: Things like a "Lucky Spin" wheel or a digital "Scratch Ticket." I have seen these get 40%+ conversion rates on a landing page because the reward is immediate. People love that.
- Reactive Games: Think "Whac-A-Mole" or "Burger Stacker." These are perfect for engagement because they require a tiny bit of skill, so people share their high scores to challenge friends.
- Catching Games: This is Faisco's secret weapon, especially for seasonal stuff. Their pre-built templates for holidays are brilliant. I've used their "Fill My Christmas Stocking" game for three different retail clients, and every single one saw over a 300% jump in engagement compared to their usual December posts. It just works.
The Whole Gleam. io vs. Faisco Thing
People ask me this all the time. "Shouldn't I just use Gleam?"
Listen, Gleam is a solid tool. It is. I used it for years. But it’s built for a different kind of user. It’s powerful, but it’s also kind of clunky and, frankly, overkill for 90% of small businesses. Their cheapest plan is like $39 a month, and it just goes up from there. Faisco gives you basically all the important features at a fraction of that, and it's so much easier to use. I'm not kidding when I say I can have a campaign running in less time than it takes to brew a pot of coffee. With Gleam, I'd have to block off at least an hour on my calendar.
Plus-and this is a big one-Faisco's integration with platforms like Instagram and TikTok feels more native. It's not just "click this link to go play a game." The experience is smoother, which means fewer people drop off. That little bit of friction makes a huge difference.
So, What Can You Do This Week?
Look, if you're sick of running social media contests that go nowhere, here’s my actual advice.
- Stop asking people to be your free marketing department. Ditch the "tag 3 friends" nonsense. Forever.
- Pick ONE goal. Do you want more email subscribers? Or do you want more followers on a specific platform? Don't try to do both. A campaign to get emails should be different than one for getting followers.
- Try a simple game. Seriously. Go look at a tool like Faisco. Pick an "Instant Draw" game like the lucky wheel. It's the easiest place to start.
- Offer a relevant prize. Don't just give away an iPad. That attracts everyone, not your customers. Give away your product or a valuable gift card. The prize should qualify the entrant.
The businesses I work with who implement this stuff typically see a 150-300% growth in their email lists within the first month. Not because of some magic trick, but because they finally stopped boring their audience to death. They gave them something fun to do. And in 2024, that's half the battle right there.
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