Online Competitions & Giveaways

Running a competition or giveaway on social media can be a great way to encourage visitors to your page and increase brand awareness. It's also a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with local businesses and help support each other

As with many things, planning is key, and it's essential to identify your objective and how to achieve this

• Choose a prize that identifies with your business or brand, and make sure that it is of a high enough value to capture interest. This can be something you already supply or something provided in conjunction with a third party - so long as it's relevant and desirable to your target audience

• Clearly set out the terms of the giveaway with eye catching images, specific instructions on how to take part, how you plan to choose the winner(s), entry rules & requirements, a deadline for entries plus a date for the announcement. Make it clear that the competition is in no way connected to, administered or sponsored by Facebook

• Be sure to tag all relevant parties and make good use of emojis & hashtags

• Promote it - people can't enter if they don't know about it! Encourage comments, likes & shares, tag a friend. Share on your own timeline, local community pages & business groups (check their rules first). If you have a small budget, run it as a sponsored advert - £20 will find a lot of people, especially within a local area!

But most of all, make it fun!