Everybody loves free stuff. Everybody also loves a good contest – bonus points if that contest is for an enticing prize, like a lifetime’s worth of burritos or a 30-second Super Bowl ad (see Chipotle’s recent “Adventurrito” contest and Intuit’s ad sponsorship). Thus “gamification” was born, or a new trend in marketing that has marketers (and let’s face it, if you own your own business, you’re a part-time marketer) making inbound marketing and lead generation into a game that gives your audience prizes in return for engaging with your business.
At its simplest, gamification could be encouraging your fans to retweet a post of yours for a shot at a free product or service – their retweets get you noticed by more potential prospects and they, of course, get the free stuff all of us consumers crave. And this marketing strategy (already venerable, but gaining more and more traction) is already in use by the big guys – 70% of large companies will use gamification in marketing by 2013.
Whether you’re a multi-million dollar company or the mom-and-pop down the road, a good contest or special promotion through social media is a great way to boost advertising and drive customers through your doors. If you’ve been thinking about running some type of promotional campaign for your small business, and you probably should considering the possible benefits, take a quick look at this infographic from our friends at Kontest, with all the information you need to run a winning contest, from best duration of a contest to the best prizes to offer.