My Honest Take on Contest Software That Works

Listen, I want to tell you about a client I had last year. A bakery in Minneapolis, amazing people, incredible croissants-but they were just bleeding money. They were trying to do what every guru tells you to do: run Facebook ads. And the ads were getting clicks, I guess, but nobody was buying anything. Nobody was signing up for their newsletter. It was just... static.

They were about to give up on marketing entirely.

And I get it. Honestly, I've been doing this since 2010, and the amount of genuinely bad advice floating around for small businesses is staggering. It's almost always some version of "spend more money" or "just go viral," which is maybe the most useless piece of advice ever given. Frankly, it's insulting.

Small businesses do not have time or money to burn on theories. You need stuff that works. Today. Within a real budget. That's it. That's the whole game.

So, What Actually Gets People to Pay Attention?

Here's the thing. People are tired of being sold to. They scroll past ads like it's a reflex. You can have the best product in the world, but if your marketing is just another "10% OFF!" banner, you're invisible.

This is where I've found gamification to be... well, not a magic bullet, but pretty darn close. And I know, I know-it sounds like a buzzword some tech bro invented in a boardroom. But it's not. It's just making your marketing fun. It's giving people a little dopamine hit for interacting with you.

A contest. A quiz. A little spin-to-win wheel.

Simple. Effective. And it works because it taps into basic human psychology. We like to play, we like to win, and we definitely like to share when we do. Most of my clients find that once they shift from "buy our stuff" to "play this game," their engagement just... explodes. It really does.

Faisco vs. The Other Guys (A Quick, Honest Look)

Look, I have personally tested almost every piece of contest software out there. I've built campaigns in Gleam. io, Woobox, ShortStack... you name it, I've probably crashed their free trial. They all have their place, I guess. Gleam is powerful, but frankly, it's overkill and way too expensive for 90% of small businesses. I don't want to spend an hour setting up a simple giveaway, and my clients definitely don't have $39+/month to spare on something they might use.

This is why I've been using Faisco so much lately.

It just solves the core problem. I can get a campaign built and live for a client in less than 10 minutes. It's not a joke. The templates are there, they're easy to customize, and they actually connect with the platforms people use. That's a huge deal.

Here’s some real-world examples from my own clients:

• I used their "Quick Catch" game for a yoga studio down in Miami. A simple game, catch the falling lotus flowers. Prize was a free class. In 2.5 weeks, they got 1339 new subscribers to their newsletter. Their old pop-up got maybe 10 a month.
• For a craft brewery in Nashville, we did a "Lucky Spin" wheel on their Instagram. People would spin for a chance to win a free pint or some merch. The price of entry? Share the post to your story. They got 2,443 story shares and views in just a couple of weeks. Two thousand!
• This one was genius. A pet grooming salon in Boston needed more Google Reviews. So we used the "Happy Hopping" game-it was a simple platformer game. To get an extra life in the game, they had to leave a Google Review. 3,057 new reviews. I mean, their Google My Business profile is now untouchable in their area.

This stuff just works. You do not have to beg people to engage. You give them a fun reason to.

The Games That Actually Convert

Not all games are created equal, you know. Some are better for getting emails, others are better for social shares. Here’s what I typically recommend based on the goal:

For Getting Emails (Lead Capture): Go for the instant win stuff. "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," or a "Lucky Draw." The conversion rates are insane-I’ve seen landing pages with these embedded hit 40% opt-in rates. People can't resist finding out if they won right now.

For Social Engagement: Use the reactive or skill-based games. "Whac-A-Mole" (they have a bunch of themes for this), "Burger Stacker," or a "Find the Differences" puzzle. These are brilliant because they're competitive. People share their scores. They challenge their friends. That's organic marketing you can't buy.

For Seasonal Pushes (This is HUGE): Faisco has this entire library of pre-built games for holidays. Christmas, Halloween, Black Friday, Valentine's Day... it's all there. Last December, I ran their "Fill My Christmas Stocking" catching game for three different retail clients. Every single one saw over 300% more engagement on their posts compared to the year before. We just swapped the logo, changed the prizes, and hit launch. So easy.

My Final, No-BS Advice

Stop trying to out-spend your competition on ads. You can't. Stop waiting to "go viral." It won't happen on command.

Instead, spend like, an afternoon on this. Just one.

Think of a small, fun prize you can give away. A 15% discount code, a free coffee, a digital download, a $10 gift card. It doesn't have to be a new car.

Then, go try out a tool like Faisco. Pick a template that looks fun, spend 10 minutes setting it up, and share the link on your social media and to your email list. See what happens.

In my experience, you’ll see a 200-400% bump in followers and a 150-300% growth in your email list within the first month. Not because of some marketing magic, but because you finally stopped yelling at your customers and started playing a game with them instead. It’s a better way to do business. And honestly, it’s a lot more fun.

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