How I Use Viral Contests To Build My Email List, Brand + Revenue :)
Have you ever heard the saying: “The money is in the list?” I am sure you have, but not sure if you realise that this is 100% true. I have taken part in several affiliate marketing contests with massive prizes to be won and one thing that I always found super perplexing is the fact that a lot of the times those that win these massive affiliate contests – you don’t see them doing any marketing whatsoever. There is no blog article, no marketing video, nothing. So how do they win these contests if they do no marketing, write no blog articles, create no videos?
The answer to this perplexing question is that these winners built massive email lists throughout the years and all they do whilst everyone is spending hours on hours creating promotional videos, blog articles etc. is to sip on their cup of coffee while sending out email after email within minutes to their massive subscriber lists. All that is left for them to do is to count the massive amounts of money they made through these targeted emails and to collect their huge affiliate prizes at the end of the affiliate competitions.
The problem however is that you first need to build these big email lists and it can take a very long time to do so. So what is a smart way to build email lists, your brand and revenue quickly?
One quick way to do this is through viral social sharing contests in conjunction with giveaways. I have seen proof of one such contest generating 251,472 page views, 124,493 followers and 62,354 email leads within one single contest.
The secret to be super successful with this strategy, especially seems to be, when collaborating with other companies/marketers and to also collaborate when it comes to the prizes that will be given away during the social sharing contest.
As you all know that there is massive power in numbers. So what if you can get an army of people that will happily and willingly share your brand on their social media, day after day. Can you imagine how viral your brand/business can go in quick succession ... and the more your contest is shared with others the more subscribers you will gain as everyone that signs up to the contest automatically subscribes to you in order to access the social sharing actions and to be notified when the winners are announced.
There are several options here as these social sharing contests does not necessarily only have to be in the form of social sharing contest/leaderboards etc. but alongside such a contest you can also run a lucky draw contest should you wish or even apart from all this a loyalty/reward program. You can also in the process get your fans/followers to build your brand by creating user generated content of how they use your product/software etc.
PS. These are just some thoughts that I thought some of you as marketers may find interesting. Some food for thought. Should you wish to have more details on exactly how this work or any recommendations, feel free to comment below or to send me a PM.
Oh just another random thought. I just thought about a massive gym clothing company "Gymshark" that started out here in the UK some years ago and today it is a billion dollar company. Guess how they grew their brand? By sending models, sport stars and celebrities gym clothes for free and asking them to wear it while doing posts of them wearing it on Instagram etc. Social media can be a incredibly powerful tool if you know how to use it correctly.
Wishing you the very best of success with your online business!
Best wishes!
Schalk
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I have no idea what I did but when I started going through FB settings, I accidentally changed something because it says I have a "Professional Dashboard" now.
Also, I don't know with all the rules, but I created a group within my profile on FB and ask people to follow that group! I won't share too much to my news feeds about our website. 90% of our stuff from here goes into the group posts.
Kevin and Son
Kevin and Son
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Schalk, this would not be recommended for newbies or beginners. As you stated, it has to be done in the right way. Some people are deft at using email marketing strategy only by doing contests, running polls, and quizzes. It's not a game I am interested in or have time to focus on. Eventually, those massive lists do die out. I have seen this over time. People will unsubscribe if there is no continuity. Those marketers have to devise many different ways to do it often. Sooner or later, they get burned out fast, as if the fire is quenched. Yes, I agree that sports brand sell things. That is also expected. They pay a lot for sponsorships and advertising at sports game events. This viral contest can be great for those in a specific niche where it is possible to run this from time to time.
Brenda I think you first need to see it in action and read the case studies to really understand how it works.
In these case studies you will see how brands utilise such to add a tremendous amount of subscribers and followers to their social media. .
It is proven by many businesses, including big players to be super effective with extraordinary results, but each to its own. Whether some like it or not is irrelevant. Like with everything else it is up to each individual to decide whether it is for them or not.
Also WA is not just for newbies. It is a platform for the discussion of online marketing strategies as a whole for everyone, including the more experienced.
Yes it does depend on the niche you in. I just ran a contest myself and yes I have had a handful that unsubscribed after the contest but the rest were added to my regular newsletters scheduled to go out on a calendar.
The prizes I had on offer was brand/software specific so obviously the people that signed up are interested in the brand/products, so no reason for them to want to unsubscribe.
You are correct that I keep my emails going, keep it relevant and give subscribers a reason to stay subscribed of course by providing valuable content and offers from time to time like e.g. Black Friday specials.
And yes you are correct that it is a good idea to run more contests with more prizes to be given away e.g. new release of software coming out in January 2023. Besides getting existing users to upgrade by emailing them there may be several interested to win the newly released software and by running another contest I stand the chance to expand more on my current subscriber list, social media following and sales.
It all depends how you use the software whether it will work or not of course. Also there is much more to it than you may realise. There are 8 different types of templates with 8 different types of strategies that can be followed and you can combine strategies of the various templates too. What you can do is pretty much limited to your imagination.
I do take your point on board though that this may not work for everyone and I get your point that if you don't keep adding value for your subscribers of course the interest will die out.
These were just some ideas/strategies to consider.
Well said! You Rock! You gave us ideas! We’re new here in WA Community but not in digital marketing platform 😊 Keep goin’ and thanks a bunch 😊
-Gina and Erik
You are certainly most welcome. Should you wish to have deeper insight into exactly how this strategy works, including case studies, do let me know as I do have an article on this. Wishing you the very best of success!