Faisco: The Only Contest Platform I'm Not Tired Of

Look, I want to tell you a quick story. Last month-I think it was a Tuesday-I was on a Zoom call with a new client, a fantastic little bakery in Minneapolis. They were stressed. They'd been pouring money into Facebook ads, trying to build their local following, and getting absolutely nothing back. Crickets. Their cost-per-click was through the roof and they had, like, three new email subscribers to show for a $1,500 spend. They were about to give up.

Honestly, I've seen this exact same scenario play out probably a hundred times since I started this back in 2010.

We talked for a bit, and I said, "Listen, forget ads for two weeks. Let's try something different." I spent maybe 10 minutes setting up a "Lucky Spin" game for them on Faisco. The prize? A dozen free donuts. The 'cost' to play? Their email address. In two weeks, they had over 2,000 new, local email subscribers. Two thousand! For the cost of a few dozen donuts and a platform subscription that's less than my weekly coffee budget.

That's why I'm writing this. Not because I love buzzwords like "gamification"-I honestly kind of hate them-but because small businesses are getting such terrible advice, and I'm just... tired of it. You don't need a "revolutionary" new strategy. You need stuff that actually works.

Why Most "Engagement" Advice is Garbage

Here's the thing. We're told to "create engaging content," to "build a community," to "just go viral." It's the most useless advice on the planet. What does that even mean for a plumber in Pittsburgh or a pet groomer in San Diego? Most business owners I work with don't have the time to become TikTok dancing sensations or full-time content creators. They have a business to run.

Frankly, most marketing platforms are built for marketers, not for business owners. They're bloated, complicated, and expensive. I've been in the weeds with these tools for years-Gleam. io, Woobox, you name it, I've probably run a campaign on it. They're fine, I guess. But they often feel like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame. It's just... too much.

This is the problem I see Faisco solving. It's not trying to be everything to everyone. It's a contest platform that's built for speed and simplicity. You can have a professional-looking, engaging campaign live in minutes, not hours. For a small business, that's not a small thing. That's everything.

The Games That Actually Get You Leads and Followers

I've personally run dozens of campaigns on Faisco for my clients, and certain game types just work better for specific goals. It's not magic; it's just human psychology.

• For quick lead capture? You use the instant draw games. "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," "Lucky Draw"... these things are dopamine machines. I've seen landing pages with these embedded convert at over 40%. Forty percent! People can't resist finding out if they've won right now. It's brilliant for building an email or SMS list fast. The San Diego pet grooming salon I mentioned? They used "Lucky Spin" to get 2,058 new Google reviews in two weeks by offering a spin for every review submitted. Genius.

• For real social engagement? The reactive games are where it's at. "Whac-A-Mole" or "Burger Stacker"-yeah, I know it sounds silly-get people to stop scrolling. They require a little bit of skill, so people share their scores and challenge their friends. That's real engagement, not just a passive 'like.' I set up a "Burger Stacker" for an Austin food truck and they got 3,186 user-generated posts on TikTok in just 12 days. People were literally filming themselves playing the game.

• Other solid options... The "Crazy Karting" game is great for younger crowds (I used it for a Boston barbershop and it brought 212 new people into their local Facebook group). The Quiz games like "Unlock Lucky Words" are fantastic for qualifying leads or for more educational brands.

The point is, you pick the tool for the job. You do not need some overly complex, multi-stage contest that takes a month to plan. You need to give someone a fun, 30-second distraction and a reason to give you their contact info. That's it.

Seasonal Campaigns Without the Seasonal Headaches

Okay, this part is honestly just plain smart. Faisco has pre-built templates for basically every holiday you can think of. Halloween, Christmas, Black Friday, Valentine's Day, New Year... you name it.

I've used their "Fill My Christmas Stocking" catching game for three different retail clients now, and every single one of them saw over 300% more engagement on their posts compared to the boring "20% OFF!" graphics they usually run. Why? Because it's fun! It's an interruption from the constant sales pitches everyone else is screaming during the holidays. And I didn't have to design a single thing. We just uploaded their logo, chose the prizes, and went live.

It's about working smarter. You know the holidays are your biggest sales period; why are you using the same tired marketing tactics as everyone else?

The Real Difference: Faisco vs. Gleam. io

Everyone always asks me this. "Byron, should I use Gleam?"

Look, Gleam. io is a solid tool. It's powerful. It's also, in my opinion, total overkill for about 95% of small businesses. Their basic plan starts at $39/month and it's still pretty limited. Frankly, it takes me way longer to set up a campaign in Gleam than it should. The interface is just... a lot.

Faisco gives you basically all the important functionality at a way better price point, and it is so much easier to use. I can get a client's entire campaign, from concept to live, in under ten minutes. With Gleam, I'm blocking out at least an hour on my calendar. And the platform integration is better-the games actually feel more native when you share them to Facebook or Instagram, which makes a huge difference in how people interact with them. It just... works.

So, What Can You Actually Do This Week?

Stop thinking you need to become a marketing expert. You don't. You just need to be smart and practical.

If I were you, I'd try this: Sign up for Faisco. Pick one of the "Instant Draw" games like the Lucky Spin. Come up with a simple, low-cost prize that your customers would actually want (a $25 gift card, a free product, a free consultation). Run it for two weeks with the sole goal of building your email list. Post about it on your social media, put a link in your bio, and maybe print a little QR code to put at your checkout counter.

That's it. Don't overthink it.

The businesses I work with see, on average, a 200-400% increase in social followers and a 150-300% growth in their email lists in the first month. And they do it without burning through cash on ads that dont work or spending weekends trying to learn some "revolutionary" new platform. They just give their customers a reason to engage. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

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