Overview

This article offers insights into the effective management of user engagement through contests, detailing the advantages and disadvantages, as well as providing a comprehensive guide on best practices for competition execution. It emphasizes the importance of having clear goals, assigning leaders, regular updates, offering appealing prizes, and frequent recognition to ensure successful contests. A case study of a real estate media company's "Game of Shares" competition illustrates these practices in action, and the article concludes with the strategic use of Team Leaderboards for contest efficiency.

Information

Best Practices for Running Contests

Learn best practices for engaging your users with contests. Contests and competitions continue to be one of the best ways to keep your champions engaged and excited.

In this article, you will learn:

Pros & Cons to Running Contests
Best Practices for Competitions
Use Case Example: Game of Shares
How to Utilize Team Leaderboards for Contest Efficiency

Pros & Cons to Running Contests

Pros:

A fun way to recognize best practices.
Easy to run.
Great for establishing habits for champions to use the platform.

Cons:

Might involve a bit of an investment in prizes or incentives (but can be scaled depending on the budget).

Best Practices for Competitions

When launching a competition, it is crucial to clearly identify several key aspects to ensure participants are well-informed and engaged. These aspects include:

What the competition entails
Instructions on how to participate
Criteria for winning the competition
Where participants can seek help if needed
The start date and duration of the competition
The rewards or reasons to participate in the competition

2. Have a Clear, Measurable Goal

All competitions should have a clear and measurable goal. This is important for you as a Program Manager and for your team. Your goals may include:

An increase in shares
Enhanced engagement on posts
Growth in Earned Media Value
An increase in adoption (number of users on the platform)

3. Assign Competition Leaders

In larger teams, having sub-competition leaders can help maintain enthusiasm and engagement. Assigning team leads or particularly sociable team members as "team captains" can foster accountability and drive competition.

4. Send Out Updates on Competition Status

Depending on the frequency and length of your competition, it is best practice to send out regular updates throughout the event. These updates should:

Provide an update on who is leading
Remind participants of how the competition works
Inform participants about the prizes and incentives
Offer tips on how to improve their standings

5. Offer Fun and Desired Prizes

Prizes can vary based on your budget and what is appropriate for your team. Even modest rewards like internal trophies or small gift cards can be effective. Get creative and consider what might be a fun treat or incentive for your team.

6. Give Frequent Recognition

Consistent and frequent recognition is vitally important, even outside of competitions. Aim to recognize:

Top sharers
Most improved users
Top users suggesting content

Recognition can be informal, such as "shout outs" in newsletters, to acknowledge users who are demonstrating the desired behaviors.

Use Example: Game of Shares

A real estate media company ran a company-wide competition inspired by the popular TV show, Game of Thrones. Each department was divided into a "House," and they competed to take the "Throne" each month.

Each department had a coach, usually the team lead, to unite the team, and a captain responsible for keeping everyone informed and engaged. The challenge varied each month, focusing on different goals such as most shares, most engagement, or most suggested content.

To maintain enthusiasm and teamwork, the company offered individual prizes and team awards, encouraging both team collaboration and individual contributions.

Why it works:

The competition was engaging and timely, leveraging the popularity of Game of Thrones. The format was straightforward, with clear communication roles assigned to ensure the teams were motivated to win the monthly challenges. Newsletters were distributed through PostBeyond during the month to keep everyone updated on the team standings and to build excitement for the competition, reminding users to log on and share.

How to Utilize Team Leaderboards For Contest Efficiency

Admins have the ability to create and run multiple Leaderboards with Team Leaderboards. This feature allows for the segmentation of leaderboards into groups for various reasons, such as:

Segmentation of Team Leaderboards

Region (East, West, North, etc.)
Department (Sales, Marketing, HR)
Target Behaviors

Team Leaderboards are versatile in facilitating contests. Their utility in contest scenarios is vast:

Applications in Contests

Creating contest teams to encourage collective effort
Setting up duration-based contests (monthly, weekly, seasonally)
Designing platform-specific contests

Most importantly, Team Leaderboards are particularly beneficial when managing multiple contests simultaneously. The way you choose to utilize this feature is flexible, allowing for creative implementation to meet your specific needs.

Helpful Resources

FAQ

What are some best practices for running successful contests?

Best practices include setting clear and measurable goals, assigning competition leaders, sending out regular updates on competition status, offering fun and desired prizes, and giving frequent recognition to participants.

How can Team Leaderboards be utilized in contests?

Team Leaderboards can be segmented into groups for various reasons and are versatile in facilitating contests, allowing for creative implementation and efficient management of multiple contests simultaneously.

Why is it important to have a clear and measurable goal for a competition?

Having a clear and measurable goal is important for both the program manager and the team to ensure that the competition's objectives are understood and that progress can be effectively tracked and measured.

What kind of prizes are effective in contests?

Effective prizes can range from modest rewards like internal trophies or small gift cards to more significant incentives, depending on the budget and what is appropriate for the team. Creativity in prize selection can enhance motivation and participation.

Can you provide an example of a successful contest?

The "Game of Shares" competition run by a real estate media company is an example of a successful contest. It was engaging, leveraged the popularity of a TV show, had clear communication roles, and used newsletters to keep participants informed and motivated.