As community managers, we are always looking for new ways to keep our audience informed, engaged and entertained — and keep them coming back. Facebook group contests are a clever way to do just that.
We’re all familiar with the classic approaches to achieving great engagement: providing great content, replying to comments, going live regularly, and posting thought-provoking questions. But Facebook group contests are an under-utilized way to gamify and really engage your community.
Today, I am going to give you a bunch of ideas to make your Facebook group contests the talk of the ‘town.’ As you read, think about your own group, what your own members want and how you can translate this into your own Facebook group.
Time Limit?
I also encourage you to think about using the ability to lock comments on a post to heighten the sense of urgency. As you evaluate the options below, think about whether or not your contest would work better with an artificial time limit.
Here is an example:
By the end of the day you must …
And then you lock the thread;
In the next hour, you must do X and put a screen shot here …
And then you lock the thread.
Challenges with a time limit create a sense of urgency and get a lot of engagement on one thread. The goal is to get engagement and create happy experiences, right? This is a sure-fire way to accomplish this! 🙂
Similarly, think about how you can have your community members leverage their own time limits. In his Facebook group, SocialWithStrub.com, Chris Strub asks his community to respond to a weekly video challenge with a twist: each video reply must adhere to a specific time limit, usually between 60 and 120 seconds. This helps Chris’s community not only get more comfortable with video, but helps them focus on sharpening their storytelling skills.
A short burst of exercise is another fun idea. How many squats can you do, on camera, in one minute? This might sound silly, or that it is only good for workout groups — but you’d be surprised how inspiring it can be to see your colleagues exercising — it is a great way to get the blood flowing. Not to mention they get the endorphins flying with a memory of what your group/brand is doing for them! 🙂
Measurement of Results
Who can get the most video views in a week on their business page?
Who can get the most new website visitors or lowest bounce rate?
These are examples of things that you could challenge your group to go out and focus on getting better results with something and then report back. Or one challenge can be to find that data, and the next challenge could be to see how much you can improve on it.
Pushes You Outside Your Comfort Zone.
This is one of my most favorite challenges as your group/brand gets to be the motivator in someone’s life, encouraging them to do something they normally wouldn’t. When they do it and feel that feeling of success, your group, again, gets to have those happy feelings attributed to it! How cool is that?
For example:
Go live on your Page and post a link here
Raise your rates by $X to the next person who inquires.
Say yes to the next thing in your life that you normally would have said no to.
All of these and so much more could be meant to be inspiring to your members for personal growth and development. Do you remember someone who pushed you outside of your comfort zone in your life or business?
Often times you develop a love or attraction to this person or brand that inspired you.
Long-term tracking
Examples of longer term tracking include weight loss groups, business growth groups, or simply tracking a goal for a week.
Example:
On Saturday: Post a big project you want to complete next week and list out M-F exactly what you are going to accomplish it. Then, each day I will post a thread where you need to affirm that you accomplished your daily goal to lead to your weekly goal.
These are very effective because it helps people with creating new habits or giving them small wins in their life. Again, something super awesome to be attributed to your group/brand.
Reflection of past experiences
Tell us about a time when you…
Reflection posts are super because you get to learn from both your past, and the experiences of others. It is a great conversation starter and if you challenge people to think of a time when they ______, it can be really enlightening for all who read and participate.
Perform an action
This is a great challenge that you see all over the internet. Perform the ice-bucket challenge, the Kiki challenge, planting on objects. You can do this in your group. You need to consider what your brand stands for and what your group is made for, but you can find something that would tie in.
It could be something silly or something to benefit you – Have you seen the “Baby Shark” Challenge?
(WARNING: If you press play, you will not stop singing it the rest of the day. Don’t say I didn’t warn you …)
Create something
Another challenge could be to create something. A recipe, a graphic, a video, a dance … anything really. This challenge is fun to do but also really fun to see what people come up with.
Things to keep in mind when doing contests:
- Start a thread and have people reply on the thread so you don’t flood your wall.
- Not everyone might participate.
- You need a deadline when entries end; when that happens, lock the thread so that no one else can post.
- Tally points using an online tracker https://www.keepscore.online/ https://keepthescore.co/ — or a simple Excel spreadsheet
- You can have it run weekly, monthly, or any time span that you decide, but think strategically about how your contests can flow and continue to build momentum.
What are you competing for?
Contests don’t always have to have a huge prize. It could be something as simple as bragging rights, free swag, or a gift card of choice. In my groups, I like to give out Amazon gift cards because I can email them to the winners.
In the end, it is important to keep our Facebook group participants engaged — and by planning at least two or three challenges a month, I am sure that you will see a lot of positive engagement, vibes, and feelings in your group.
If you want a vibrant speaker that can motivate, inspire and entertain your attendees, Book Bella to speak at your next conference or contact her at bella@jumpconsulting.net.
