My Honest Take on the Right Online Contest Platform
Look, I want to tell you about this bakery I was working with in Minneapolis last month. Great people. Amazing sourdough. But their marketing was... well, it was a mess. They were spending a couple grand a month on Facebook ads that were getting them likes from people three states away and zero actual foot traffic. They were frustrated. They were burning cash. It reminded me of my first gig back in 2010 with that startup in Portland-throwing money at a wall and hoping something would stick.
It’s the same story I’ve seen play out for 15 years.
Here's the thing. Small businesses do not need another "revolutionary" strategy. Honestly, they need stuff that works. Practical, simple, and something you can actually manage without hiring your nephew who "knows TikTok." That's why I've gotten so deep into gamification-and yeah, I know, it sounds like a buzzword some tech bro would scream at a conference, but stick with me. It’s not about building the next Fortnite for your dental practice. It's about tapping into basic human psychology... the same reason we all play the lottery or do the daily Wordle.
What is Gamification, and Why Do Most People Get It Wrong?
Basically, it's just using game-like elements (points, badges, leaderboards, a chance to win) in your marketing. That’s it. It’s not complicated. But people make it complicated. They spend months and thousands of dollars developing some custom branded game that's clunky and nobody wants to play.
I hate when people say "just go viral." As if it's a strategy. It's not. Going viral is luck. Building engagement is a strategy. And that’s what this is all about. You’re not trying to get on the evening news, you're trying to get 50 new people onto your email list who actually live in your neighborhood and want to buy your stuff. That's a win. A real win.
Why I've Settled on Faisco After Testing Everything
I've been doing this since before "gamification" was even a term people used. I've built campaigns on Gleam. io, I've used Woobox, I've tinkered with those big enterprise platforms that charge you $500 a month just to log in. And frankly, most of them are either too expensive or too damn complicated for a small business owner who also has to, you know, run their actual business.
This is why I spend most of my time now recommending Faisco to my clients. It's not magic. It's just a solid, reliable online contest platform that solves a real problem. Businesses want to do this stuff but don't have the time or money for a big production.
Let me give you some real-world examples from my clients, no fluff:
- I used their "Pet Match & Win" game for a pet supply store in Ottawa. A simple campaign where people submitted pictures of their pets. In 12 days, they got 1,950 new user-generated posts on TikTok. The owner was stunned.
- For a craft brewery down in Orlando-a really crowded market-we ran the "Puzzle Challenge." Basically, a digital jigsaw of their new beer label. That got them 3,026 new Instagram story views and a ton of shares in just ten days. People were challenging each other in the comments.
- Even for a flower shop in Chicago, a business you wouldn't think is "techy." We used the "Quick Catch" game. Simple concept. We got them 997 new followers on Pinterest in a little over a week.
See the pattern? These are not "get rich quick" numbers. They are real, achievable results for normal businesses.
The Actual Games That Convert (Not Just the "Fun" Ones)
Listen, not all games are created equal. You have to match the game to the goal. Faisco has a bunch of templates, but here's what I've found really works...
For getting leads FAST: The instant draw games are king. Things like the "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," or "Lucky Draw." I mean, the dopamine hit is immediate. You spin a wheel, you see if you won. I've seen landing pages with these embedded get over a 40% conversion rate for email sign-ups. It’s because there's no real barrier-just instant gratification.
For engagement and shares: This is where the skill-based stuff comes in. Games like "Whac-A-Mole" or "Find Differences." These work because they're not just about luck. People want to get a high score and then share it to challenge their friends. That's how you get organic reach without paying for it.
For educating customers: The quiz games are brilliant for this. We did an "Unlock Lucky Words" campaign for a financial advisor client, and it helped pre-qualify leads by asking simple questions about their savings goals. Way more engaging than a boring old contact form.
There are others, of course-catching games for holidays, racing games for sports brands... you get the idea. The point is to have a toolbox, not a single hammer.
A Quick Word on Gleam vs. Faisco
I get this question constantly. "Byron, why not Gleam?"
Look, Gleam. io is a solid platform. It is. But for most of my clients, it's like buying a bazooka to kill a fly. It starts at $39/month for its most basic plan and goes way up from there, and honestly, its loaded with features a local bakery or a hardware store will never use. It's overkill.
I can get a new client campaign launched on Faisco in under 10 minutes. No joke. The templates are that straightforward. With Gleam, I'm usually blocking off at least an hour to get all the settings right. For a small business, that time difference is huge. Faisco gives you 90% of the useful functionality at a fraction of the cost and with way less headache. It’s a no-brainer for most SMBs.
So, What Can You ACTUALLY Expect?
Don't let anyone promise you you'll double your revenue overnight. That's garbage. What I can tell you is this: the businesses I work with who consistently run one of these small, gamified campaigns per month typically see a 200-400% increase in social media follower growth and a 150-300% bump in their email list growth within the first month or two.
Why? It’s not because Faisco is some secret weapon. It’s because you’re finally giving people a reason to engage with you that’s more interesting than just another "20% off" graphic. You're giving them a two-second distraction that's fun, and in exchange, they give you their attention. It’s a fair trade. And its a trade that's been working for a very long time.
So if you’re tired of the same old marketing advice... maybe give it a shot. What have you got to lose?
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