You might be doing a lot in the YouTube marketing strategy, with the aim to increase the number of actual YouTube subscribers that you already have and free YouTube likes and views, in addition to accelerating business growth. One approach to reach this objective is to hold YouTube contests.
On YouTube, you can join contests in a variety of ways:
- You can leave a comment on your video. Leave a comment on your
- You can vote on your uploaded video content
- Through the posting of a video using the products and services of your business
- In becoming YouTube subscribers to your YouTube channel.
Why Would You Want to Host a YouTube Contest?
If you run a YouTube contest, you’ll be able to:
- Reach out to a larger public
Submissions to YouTube contests will increase the engagement levels of your channels. People can share comments and information about the contest with other people, who are encouraged to join in. This increases channel engagement and allows you to get noticed more quickly in the results of the search engines, which will enable you to reach an even larger audience.
- Get more traffic to your website and other social media channels
By using YouTube contests, they can drive traffic to your site and other media platforms. You can also encourage your followers to follow your company’s page through other platforms if they’d like to gain more entries to your YouTube contest and have an increased chance of winning.
- You can access user-generated content
In requiring that people participate in your YouTube contest through user-generated content, you’ll gain access to lots of content that you can use in the future. Users trust the content created by users content significantly better than corporate marketing. Through the help of users who create content, you will be able to get more genuine YouTube subscribers and establish confidence and trust in your business.
Apart from these benefits, A contest can let you showcase the fun aspect of your business and create some excitement around it. It’s an excellent opportunity to develop your brand’s reputation and reward a loyal audience.
The success of a YouTube contest requires meticulous planning. We’ll walk you through the steps to create and manage an efficient YouTube contest from beginning to end.
Tips for Running an Effective YouTube Contest
- Set goals
YouTube contests can be used to achieve many goals; however, you have to know precisely the goal you’re trying to achieve. Set specific goals. Make clear what you’re trying to accomplish:
- Additional YouTube views, comments, and likes
- More YouTube subscribers
- Conversions and sales increase
- More traffic to websites
The goals should be quantifiable so that you can monitor the most important performance indicators. The ability to measure the success of a contest can be measured through YouTube Analytics and tools for contest reporting and Google Analytics.
While you must aim for the top but it is important to set achievable goals, so be realistic about the goals you wish to accomplish. It is also important to ensure that your contest is appropriate to your target audience and determine the timeframe for the duration you’ll be hosting your contest.
- Be sure to follow YouTube contest rules and policies
It’s crucial to adhere to YouTube’s contest rules and guidelines that apply to your platform. There are some general rules and Official contest guidelines for YouTube, which you can read here.
Particularly, you must keep an eye on the following points:
- Use YouTube’s community guidelines and Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
- Don’t infringe copyrights or rights of users.
- The contest you are entering must be completely free for entry.
- It is imperative to state that YouTube doesn’t sponsor your contest.
- Modification of YouTube metrics related to the number of YouTube subscribers, likes, YouTube views, and comments is not permitted.
- You must include a privacy policy that clearly defines what you will do with the personal information that you collect in the contest.
In addition to the general rules and official rules of the contest. You must also pay attention to these:
- YouTube False Engagement Policy- As per this policy, you aren’t allowed to use content that contains links to third parties that artificially increase YouTube’s channel’s performance metrics.
- YouTube Developer Policy- This policy applies if you’re using a third application for your marketing. This means that API clients aren’t allowed to offer rewards in any way, either in direct or indirect ways, to the users in exchange for their engagement through YouTube apps.
Also, you must ensure that you adhere to the local laws when you run a YouTube contest.
- Select a prize worth the money
You must carefully decide the prize you’ll give to your contest winners. It should be something your viewers will value, which will encourage more participation. It must be relevant to your brand’s image and be precise enough to ensure that the contest is open to people who could become genuine YouTube subscribers. Offering money in exchange for a prize can be an exciting experience for any person who stumbles across your content, even if they’ve not been exposed to your brand before. Select a prize specific enough to draw participants who are genuinely fascinated by your specific area of expertise. This can make lead generation more effective and allow you to build long-lasting relationships with customers after the contest is over.
- Decide on the type of contest to be entered
Contests can be of various types. You need to select the kind of contest to use in relation to your objective. Contest participants can participate in a variety of ways. We’ve covered the various ways to participate in the beginning article. You must decide what you would like your contest participants to accomplish and set clearly defined guidelines for contest entry.
You can also partner with a different brand or team up on a contest. This will allow access to a greater audience of YouTube subscribers and help you gain more YouTube views to your content. Combining prizes will boost the value of your contest and encourage more people to take part.
It is important to make clear your contest’s rules. Your participants must be aware:
- Who can be eligible to take part in the contest?
- Video length requirements
- Per person
- It doesn’t matter if it’s a local or international competition
- The winners will be selected and then announced
- It’s also essential to clarify any sponsorships you have in your contest.
- Pick a location to host your contest.
You can run your competition on YouTube and invite entries from those who have to follow the steps, or you could host the contest through your website. The second option offers numerous advantages:
- Visitors can be directed to your online store
- Increase traffic
- Get detailed analyses
- Maintain and develop a branded landing page
- Enhance brand awareness and increase consumer confidence in your business
- Pick the hashtag for your contest. hashtag
Making an event hashtag can allow you to monitor every content uploaded to your contest and generate excitement about it. By using the help of a contest hashtag, you can invite users to post their content and have the content accessible to you. Contest hashtags can allow you to gauge the popularity of your contest and will enable you to access an array of content.
- Advertise your YouTube contest
Promotion of your contest is essential to build excitement around the event. A variety of methods can accomplish this:
- Create a general announcement video detailing everything about the contest and the steps to participate. Be sure to include clearly stated your call to action.
- Cross-promote your contest on different Social media sites. This can help you gain followers across all platforms and draw their focus towards your competition.
- Use cards from older videos that have generated significant traffic. You can also inform your viewers of the contest you’re having.
- Send an email to your list of contacts about the contest.
- You can send updates on your contest even after the contest has begun. Participants can be thanked for participating and keep them updated with updates as the contest progresses so that the fun keeps going.
- Select and announce the winners
Pick a winner with an objective method like a random draw or a random number generator. You may also decide the number of votes received or the most popular video. Whatever method you choose, the decision should be made during the planning phase of the contest. It is also essential to make announcements about the prize winners with creativity across your social media channels.
- Analyze the results from your YouTube contest
It is crucial to examine the outcomes of your competition to determine whether you’ve succeeded in achieving the goals you set to. After you have tracked the most important performance indicators you decided on, you can select what was successful and not. This will make your contests more successful and successful in the coming years.
Conclusion
YouTube contests are an excellent opportunity to reach out to an even larger audience and increase the popularity of your business. The prospect of winning something thrilling will likely draw participants from many different participants. Although running a successful contest takes some effort, the ROI is well worthwhile.
