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10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails

Growing up, Faith’s willpower was constantly tested by an overbearing family. She always had more responsibilities than she could handle.

Faith, now 35, used this willpower she developed during her childhood to venture out and start her own business. Faced with no starting capital, not a lot of time, and limited energy, Faith eagerly looked for ways to market her new business in a quick and easy way. Creating a website would cost her about $900, too expensive. Instead, she turned to creating a Facebook page because it was free and would allow her new business to have a home.

When Faith was in college, she interned at a marketing department where she learned the power of email marketing. She knew if she could collect 100 emails, she could create value for those 100 people and eventually sell products.

The “big” question was how to use her Facebook page to efficiently capture emails.

After much testing, Faith launched a Facebook contest that generated 1938 views and captured 918 emails – almost 10 times what she was hoping for. Faith used a unique contest layout that generated a 50% conversion rate (918/1938) with no ad spend.

The jeffbullas.com Fan Page uses Heyo for it’s contests and custom content. I’ve worked out a special deal for my readers to do the same. Because we use Heyo on our fan page, my readers can use this link to launch a Facebook contest for free using Heyo.

10 Facebook contests that captured 10,000 emails

Faith wasn’t alone, and her success wasn’t luck. Here are 10 smart marketers that span 10 different industries who all used this unique Facebook contest layout to capture emails.

1. Car Repair Service

Name: Jaime Christianson, Social Media Coordinator

Incentive Used: Free ticket to a local sporting event

Results: 4924 people viewed the Facebook Contest and 2066 entered their email for a 40% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 1800 (Note that Jaime captured more emails than her total number of fans. You don’t need a lot of likes to grow your list quickly.)

Facebook Page: AAA Minneapolis

2. Car Dealership

Name: Brian Ortega, Marketing Manager

Incentive Used: Used Car

Results: 2240 people viewed the Facebook Contest and 1154 entered their email for a 50% conversion rate.

Likes at time of content: 3000

Facebook page: Valley Hi Toyota

3. Industry: Antique Shop

Name: Kayla Slager, Founder and CEO

Incentive Used: Free Antique

Results: 1414 people viewed the Facebook Contest and 597 entered their email for a 42% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 3400

Facebook Page: TadameBoutique

4. Authors and Speakers

Name: Chad Abbott, Social Media Consultant

Incentive Used: Free Book

Results: 4501 people viewed the Facebook Contest and 2282 entered their email for a 50% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 139k

Facebook Page: Dinesh D’Souza

5. Family Owned Motorcycle Shop

Name: Support Sons of Arthritis

Incentive Used: Sons of Arthritis T-Shirt

Results: 1974 people viewed the campaign and 544 entered their email for a 38% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 67k

Facebook Page: SonsofArthritisGear

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails 1

6. Chip Company

Name: Dylan Patel, Social Media Manager

Incentive Used: Bag of Chips and Salt

Results: 4309 people viewed the campaign and 2709 entered their email for a 64% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 16k

Facebook page: Burts Potato Chips

7. Tools

Name: Amanda, Social Media Consultant

Incentive Used: Free Laser Level

Results: 1840 people viewed the campaign and 1064 entered their emails for a 55% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 35k

Facebook page: Johnson Level

The jeffbullas.com Fan Page uses Heyo for it’s contests and custom content. I’ve worked out a special deal for my readers to do the same. Because we use Heyo on our fan page, my readers can use this link to launch a Facebook contest for free using Heyo.

8. Nursery

Name: Scott Bardash, Marketing Manager

Incentive Used: Free Plant

Results: 396 people viewed the campaign and 168 entered their email for a 42% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 1200

Facebook page: Allisonville Home & Garden

9. Bed Linens

Name: Marina Guirey, Social Media Manager

Incentive Used: Bamboo Linen Bedlinen

Results: 1871 people viewed the Facebook Contest and 814 entered their email for a 43% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 3100

Facebook page: The Linen Works

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails 2

10. Brick and Mortar

Name: Milena Regos, Founder of own consulting practice

Incentive Used: Free pair of ski’s

Results: 17000 people viewed the campaign and 4500 entered their email for a 27% conversion rate.

Likes at time of contest: 100k

Facebook page: Squaw Valley

You’ll notice in the screenshots above that each of these campaigns followed the unique Facebook Contest layout. Keep reading to learn why the layout works. If you’re a go-getter and want to get started now, I highly recommend that you try Heyo’s Free Contest Builder by clicking here.

If you’re wondering why these campaigns worked so well, continue reading. I’ll breakdown each element and explain why you can double your email list using a Facebook contest even if you’re starting with less than 100 likes and have no budget to spend on advertising.

The jeffbullas.com Fan Page uses Heyo for it’s contests and custom content. I’ve worked out a special deal for my readers to do the same. Because we use Heyo on our fan page, my readers can use this link to launch a Facebook contest for free using Heyo.

The 6 Parts of The Unique Contest Layout

 You met Dylan earlier in the article. He is the Social Media Manager for Burt’s chips. I’ll breakdown the 6 elements in his campaign that enabled him to capture 2709 emails.

1. Strong Incentive: Give away something that is directly aligned with what your potential customers and followers are interested in. In Burt’s Facebook Contest, the incentive was a free bag of chips and a cup of Burt’s signature chip salt. Total cost? Maybe $10.

What you should do: Come up with a strong incentive. Old inventory, digital products, or tickets are always good choices.

2.  Brand recognition: By positioning the Burts logo in the upper left of the campaign, Dylan made sure Burt’s brand was highly visible. This branding is critical to quickly build trust with potential contest entrants.

What you should do: Put your logo in the upper left of your campaign.

3. Countdown for urgency: At any point in time a Facebook user could get distracted by a new notification. Dylan was smart to include a countdown in his Facebook Contest to drive the user to take immediate action. This was critical to getting a 64% conversion rate.

What you should do: Put a countdown on your contest that has less than 7 days on it.  If fans see “45 days” left, they’ll leave the contest and may never come back.

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails 3

4. Easy to follow opt in form: Most folks screw this up. Making sure your email form is highly visible and easy to enter is key. Using Heyo’s Facebook Sweepstakes Template, you can link up the opt in form with ConstantContact, Mailchimp, Aweber, or other email marketing platform to easily manage Facebook Contest opt ins.

What you should do: Set up Aweber if you don’t already have an email marketing tool and then integrate your contest with Aweber to put contest entrants in a drip campaign to build a deep, long lasting relationship!

5. Clear Facebook Contest entry steps: Dylan made it crystal clear how to enter the Burt’s Facebook Contest. He clearly told people that in order to enter they needed to follow steps 1-4 on the left side of the Facebook Contest. These steps are what enable fans to become a marketing force for you so you can get free traffic to your Facebook contest.

What you should do: Make sure you make it simple and clear what people need to do to enter your contest.

6. Smart URL: Heyo automatically created a Smart URL for Dylan so that when Burt’s fans saw his update about the Facebook Contest in their Facebook mobile app, they could easily click and enter.  You’re likely missing out on at least half of your total potential conversions if you don’t launch a mobile version of your campaign.

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails 4

Bonus tip

By asking fans to “like” “share” and “tweet” you’ll get free traffic to your Facebook Contest from your fans social networks.  Dylan got 4309 views with no advertising spend. Below, you’ll see 5 out of the 100’s of fans that tweeted the contest, driving free exposure and new emails for Burt’s.

10 Facebook Contests that Captured 10,000 Emails 5th

If you want to double your email list with a Facebook contest, click here to try Heyo for free.

Conclusion

Leveraging Facebook as a key part of your marketing plan doesn’t have to be a mystery. Following the 6 step system above, you’ll be well positioned to double your email list in a short amount of time without spending money on advertising.

Your Turn: Your Facebook Page

If you found this article valuable, please like, share, and tweet it. Please post a link to your Facebook page in the comments if you’d like contest ideas for your specific page. I’ll reply quickly!

Author Bio: Nathan Latka is the CEO and Founder of Heyo. He’s worked with over 200,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs on launching social campaigns that capture emails and drive sales. You can find Nathan on Twitter 

 The jeffbullas.com Fan Page uses Heyo for it’s contests and custom content. I’ve worked out a special deal for my readers to do the same. Because we use Heyo on our fan page, my readers can use this link to launch a Facebook contest for free using Heyo.

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