Competitions are a great way to increase your business’s exposure. Generally speaking, when it comes to your business people are thinking about themselves, not about how they can help your business. That is why competitions are so ingenious.

Business Competition

Not only will people be in it to win it for themselves, but they will become increasingly involved and interested in your business’s activity. What’s more, all you have to do is give one thing away for a great deal of exposure.

If you have ever run a Facebook competition, then you have probably found that it is much harder, and more complicated, than you originally thought. Many people believe that you can run one directly through Facebook, but that is not the case. It actually interferes with their policy. That brings us to the first tip: developing your application.

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Facebook Applications

Applications are how you get entrant’s information, and it is through the application that you will be able to begin the competition process. One way to create your application is through already established builders that let users customize themes and widgets according to their needs.

If you’re a little techy, this can be a great and affordable option. Your other option is to hire someone else who specializes in competition application creation and have him or her do it for you. This can be much more expensive, but probably more effective in the long run.

The second tip is to make sure that your application looks professional, and is creative. In this day and age, nobody wants to look at something that doesn’t look nice. It’s an instant turn-off; so make yours interesting and full of pizazz. Remember not to go too overboard, though, as cluttering your application can be just as bad as having it look unprofessional.

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Competition Prize

Now that your application is looking great you should figure out what your prize is going to be. These can vary, but the better your prize is, the more interested people are going to be and the more your competition is going to spread online. Also, make sure that your prize is something that people are really going to want, especially people in the demographic you’re trying to target for your business.

If applicable, another tip is to try and partner with a more established brand that is related to yours. It shouldn’t be the exact same, but they should be related. Offer some of their products, which will give them advertising through your competition, and help you because more people could be interested. This is a great win-win situation.

Seize the Moment

The final tip for running a successful Facebook competition is to make sure that you seize the moment. Running a competition can get you a lot of new followers, so once you’re done, don’t just sit around feeling good for yourself. If you don’t stay active after a competition, then you could lose followers just as fast as you get them.

While these are a few of the most popular ideas for running a Facebook competition, new schools of thought are always on the rise. If you have any other tips or advice, don’t hesitate to post below.

Josephine Girard is a tech reviewer and blogger who covers modern entertainment, social media, and more. She is also a content developer for Direct TV in San Diego.