When you start an online contest, you may think that your work is done after creating an outstanding entry, and you can sit back and wait for voters to pick a winner–but think again.
Even if the time it takes to vote online is brief, you have to work hard to get people to take part and cast their votes–building excitement and suspense is the key to successful giveaways and online contests. To generate buzz and encourage people to vote in an online competition, you’ll need to take advantage of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. These social media networks will enable you to reach a wide range of potential voters and encourage them to engage with your organization.
Twitter can help you connect with many people who share your interests, making it a perfect platform for asking for votes. If you put time and effort into creating a network of friends on Twitter, you’ll have many people with whom you can discuss your online competition and ask to vote.
To succeed on Twitter, avoid being too pushy with your requests for votes. Instead, take your time and follow people you think are interesting and who like the same things as you.
There are many ways to create a network to help you get more people to vote in your online competitions. For instance, you can join vote exchange groups, though some contests discourage participants from using such groups. On your wall, you can remind your colleagues and friends to cast their votes, or you can create a private voting group and educate members on the importance of voting in your online contests.
If you participate in online forums, including those related to sweepstakes, ensure you change your signature to your contest's voting link to get more people to vote for you. You can also change your email signature to invite more people to vote in your online competition–this makes every email you send an ad for your online competition.
This is an excellent way to encourage people who love giveaways to participate in online contests: you can increase voter participation in online competitions by giving your voters a chance to win prizes.
Alternatively, you can host giveaways to get people to spread the word about your online competition, which is legal. Be careful with these options, however, because some contests discourage the use of giveaways to increase voter participation, and you might be disqualified.
YouTube is an effective channel for reaching a broad audience, and with a bit of practice, you can get that audience to vote in your online contests. For instance, you can make a video explaining why people should participate in your competition or why they should vote for you, which you can link to from social media and online forums. You can also try to create a viral video and request for votes in the annotations.
Viral YouTube videos can reach thousands–or even millions–of people. If your video takes off, having even a tiny percentage of those viewers vote in your online competition can make a significant difference in helping you win.
Design some cute, funny, and eye-catching flyers to promote your online competition. Ensure you add a tear-away area for the competition’s site, so people know where to vote once they get home. You can also add a QR code that potential voters can scan with their phones. Put the flyers up anywhere people meet and brochures are allowed, including community notice boards in grocery stores and coffee shops.
There are many ways to attract participants and votes in online competitions. With a little effort, you can get the information out there and get people excited to participate. ElectionBuddy is here to help–take advantage of our easy-to-use voting tools for your online competition and we’ll make the tallying process a breeze.
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