You should be building an email list of prospects and customers. You constantly need to add new prospects to fill your sales funnel, and once someone buys a product from you, that person is more likely to buy something from you again in the future.
A great way to broaden your email list is to hold an online contest. Contests not only allow you to create something useful and beneficial for your audience on a particular topic, it also creates more engagement, usually daily with your target market.
You can create a contest or competition where everyone has to submit their email address to enter.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
If you don’t know who your target audience is, you can’t do anything – from creating content, to developing products, to holding a contest. Knowing your target audience lets you know when, what, why, where and how you’ll move forward. Everything you do is about your audience and what type of value you can provide them.
The Goals for Your Contest
One goal, in this case, is obviously to grow your email list. But are you wanting to promote a specific product to the list that you build? Do you want to launch a new product and make sales? Know the goals for your contest so that you can make sure that you’re doing what needs to be done to meet that goal.
The Right Tools for Your Contest
There are many tools that you can use for contests. Each social platform has its own approved contest software. If you want to run a contest on Instagram and Facebook, check out ShortStack.
Market Your Contest
Don’t have a contest without also adding the marketing element. Consider it just like you would with any product you want to launch. You’re going to want to run some online ads, and share widely on all social media platforms. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are absolutely perfect for marketing your contests and getting sign-ups.
Follow Up
When the contest is over follow up with everyone. Announce the winner and interview them. Also interview the top three entries. Send email messages that you’ve pre-planned to everyone who entered and everyone who signed up during the contest.
Holding a contest to grow your list is an excellent way to accomplish your list-growing goals. Treat the contest as you would another product so that you promote it, launch it, test it, and improve it for the next time.
