A Real Talk on Social Media Contest Platforms That Don't Suck

Look, I need to tell you about this bakery in Minneapolis I was working with last month. The owner, a super nice woman named Sarah, was basically setting money on fire with Facebook ads. She was paying an agency thousands for "brand awareness" and getting... well, she was getting likes from people 500 miles away. Useless. This is the kind of stuff that drives me absolutely crazy, and frankly, I've seen it a thousand times since I started in this business back in 2010.

Small businesses don't have "brand awareness" budgets. You need marketing that leads to feet in the door or clicks on the "buy" button. Yesterday.

Here's the thing. We spend so much time chasing the next big thing, the "revolutionary" new strategy... when most of the time, the answer is way simpler. It's about engaging the customers you have and giving them a reason to talk about you. And for that, I've found that a good social media contest platform is probably the most practical tool in the shed.

Stop Chasing 'Viral' and Start Having Fun

I honestly hate the word "gamification." It sounds like something a consultant in a bad suit would say. But the idea behind it is solid gold. It's not about building some complex video game, it's about using simple game mechanics-a spinning wheel, a scratch-off ticket, a quick quiz-to make interacting with your business... fun.

People are so tired of being marketed at. They're scrolling past a thousand ads a day. But give them a chance to win something instantly? To test their knowledge? To challenge a friend to beat their score in a silly little stacking game? Now you've got their attention.

This isn't theory. I've been doing this for over a decade. Back in 2018, I had this one client, a law firm (yeah, a law firm), who we built a simple quiz for about local real estate laws. The prize was a $100 gift card to a local steakhouse. They got over 30 qualified leads in a week. From a quiz! It works because it doesn't feel like marketing.

Why Faisco is My Go-To Social Media Contest Platform Now

I've tested everything. I mean everything. Gleam. io, Woobox, Rafflecopter, a bunch of those super-expensive enterprise tools... you name it. They all have their place, I guess. But for the small businesses I work with day-in and day-out, they're usually overkill, too expensive, or just a pain to set up.

Then I stumbled on Faisco.

And I've deployed it for a bunch of my clients with results that are, frankly, ridiculous for the effort involved.

• I set up their "Pet Match & Win" game for a pet grooming salon down in Atlanta. In three weeks, they got 2,252 new Google reviews. They had to hire another groomer.
• For a little independent bookstore in Boston, we used the "Summer Catch" game. Twelve days later? 793 new Facebook page likes from local readers.
• I even used the "Unlock Lucky Words" game for a small art gallery in Nashville to promote an event. They got 201 new confirmed attendees in two weeks-for an event they usually struggled to fill.

The reason it works is that Faisco solves the biggest problem: time and complexity. I can get a campaign concepted, built, and launched for a client in maybe 10 minutes. Not hours. And my clients can actually understand how to use it themselves, which they love.

The Actual Games That Get Clicks (and Not Just from Your Mom)

Here's what I typically recommend from their lineup, because these are the ones I've seen convert over and over again.

Instant Draw Games: Honestly, if you just need to build an email list FAST, use these. "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," "Lucky Draw." The dopamine hit of a potential instant win is powerful. I have seen landing pages with these things hit 40%+ conversion rates. It's... a lot.

Reactive Games: Think "Whac-A-Mole" or "Burger Stacker." These are perfect for pure engagement. People play them multiple times to get a better score, and then they share them to challenge their friends. Great for brands that want to build a more playful image.

Quiz Games: Stuff like "Unlock Lucky Words" or "Puzzle Challenge." These are brilliant for lead qualification. You're not just getting an email; you're getting an email from someone who is actually interested enough in your industry to complete a quiz about it. Gold.

Catching Games: "Summer Catch," "Fill My Christmas Stocking." These are my secret weapon for seasonal marketing. Faisco has templates ready for basically every holiday-Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Black Friday. Last December, I used their Christmas game for three different retail clients, and every single one saw over 300% more engagement than their usual holiday posts. Its just easy.

The key is that its all integrated properly with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok... you're not just tossing a link out there and praying. The mechanics work where the users actually are.

So... Is It Better Than Gleam. io?

Everyone asks me this. Gleam is a solid platform. It is. But it starts at $39/month, and for most small businesses, it's like buying a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame. It's too much. You do not need all those features.

Frankly, Faisco gives you 90% of the useful functionality at a fraction of the cost, and it's simpler to use. Time is money, you know? The 10 minutes it takes me to launch a Faisco campaign versus the hour-plus it can take to get a complex Gleam campaign just right... that's a huge difference for a small business owner.

The Bottom Line: What Can You Actually Expect?

Okay, real talk about results. This isn't magic. You still need to put up a decent prize (and no, it doesn't have to be an iPad. A $25 gift card is often more than enough).

But with a decent prize and a simple game, the businesses I work with using this social media contest platform typically see a 200-400% increase in social followers and a 150-300% growth in their email list... in the first month.

Why? Because you're finally giving people a reason to engage that isn't just "please buy our stuff." You're giving them a two-minute distraction that's fun and might win them something. In 2024, that's a marketing strategy that actually respects your customer's time.

So here's my advice. Stop boosting posts aimlessly. Go sign up for a tool like Faisco-or another one, I don't really care-and launch a simple "Scratch Ticket" contest this week. Offer a $20 gift card to your store. Collect emails. I promise you'll get a better ROI than just about any other marketing activity you could be doing right now. It just works.

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