Social

Facebook Contests

By Jorge Chávez

October 02, 2012

To celebrate World Tourism Day, the Puerto Vallarta Official Fan Page launched a trivia contest complete with great prizes for winners.

Puerto Vallarta community managers posted seven questions (including some trick ones) on September 27, 2012, with the clue that the answers could be found on the Puerto Vallarta official website (http://visitpuertovallarta.com).

There were 9 fabulous prizes ranging from hotel stays for two to luxurious spa packages in the beautiful beach resort destination of Puerto Vallarta.

But beyond just commemorating World Tourism Day, the objective behind this social media contest was to increase the visibility and viral capability of the Puerto Vallarta official website and social networks.

The benefit of running Facebook contests can be measured by the number of “Likes” achieved by a Fan Page and a noticeable increase in website hits.

End result? According to Rodney Mason, Director of Marketing and Promotions for the Moosylvania Agency, running contests, deals and promotions on Facebook has many advantages because you are able to immediately connect with your target market at no cost.

During the trivia contest, the Puerto Vallarta Fan Page logged more than 200 “Likes” and the website generated more than 17,000 visits, indicating the great success of the campaign.

It’s important when designing these types of contests that the duration is kept short, usually less than a week, because a clear winner will often be determined in the early days of the promotion.

In short, provide a simple contest and great prizes and then let Facebook handle the rest.

Jorge Chavez is Senior Editor at Mijo! Brands of Mexico.

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