Why Your Contest Didn’t Work
- 6 Comment
I was very excited about my week of contests. I had originally planned for doing 7 separate days of contests. However, only the first day got enough entries to be worthwhile (22). The other two days ended with 0 and 2.
Why My Contests Didn’t Work
Well it was obvious that this format didn’t work. Doing 7 separate days is a little difficult unless the prizes are awesome (multiple) and the entry is easy.
As I mentioned the entry to the contest has to be easy. Enough people decided to subscribe to our RSS feed for the T-shirts, but no one wanted to join Copeac for $100. Even though the prize was $100, it didn’t draw enough people to decide to enter.
The last reason has to be the time. The contest time wasn’t long enough to get sufficient entries. I did promote it, a little late, but that shouldn’t of mattered.
Contests are becoming increasingly more difficult to successfully conduct, due to the large volume of bloggers holding contests. Why join yours, when there are 100’s of others going on?
Why Your Contest Didn’t Work
Your contest probably didn’t work for any of the reasons that I wrote which are:
- Bad contest format
- Not enough prizes
- Entry wasn’t easy enough
- Too short or too long
- No promotion
When used right contests can be a great promotional tool. We are planning a big writing project for next month with great prizes to follow. It’s blog themed so there is something for everyone.
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6 Comments on this post
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Deborah said:
I don’t mind signing up for newsletters and such…once…but when the host asks for this to be done every time they have a contest…forget it. I think the sign ups should be a one time thing and worth it for those entering.
Keep it simple is best. I find that when I hold a contest or for the contests I enter the most myself, simply asking entrants to leave a comment and a way to contact them if they win is received well.
As you said, there are many, many more contests to enter, and we would like to enter yours and all the others. So, in making the most of our time, please keep it simple. In fact, I don’t mind being asked to create a post and link back to you (I’m using the general you…not you specifically). Less is definitely more when it comes to blog contests.
In fact, it seems that more entries come from Blog Giveaway Carnivals. Where there is one central location for linking up (Mr. Linky) and then visiting the hundreds, sometimes thousands of blogs through two weeks or more. These contest carnivals are a great way to create traffic as well as accumulate entrants in a giveaway or contest.
I encourage you…don’t give up on the contests. Keep going! You’ve got a lot to offer to the blogosphere!
May 12th, 2008 at 4:01 pm -
Matthew Henrickson said:
great comment! I definitely want to try some different contests, each time you do that though you need a different way to market and get more entries.
The blogosphere is always changing
May 12th, 2008 at 4:13 pm -
Carol said:
No authority here, I haven’t yet done a contest. I have noticed though that holidays are a distraction to some people. Since we had one just this last weekend it is possible some people were busy planning Mother’s Day things and not entering contests.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:07 pm -
ludo said:
Mattew, my little opinion: To get more entries, try to make your contest as simple as possibly. Subscribe or writing a post is ok. When you ask someone to join a particular service people are skeptical, I think.
But don’t worry, next ones will be better!
All the bestMay 13th, 2008 at 4:45 am -
Bryan said:
I was going to enter the contest; however, when I saw that you had to join Copeac as part of the entry I chose not to. I think if you’re going to ask for people to join an affiliate program or something similar the prize has to be worth a bit more.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:53 pm -
Matthew Henrickson said:
Ill keep that in mind for the next time. Thanks for your guys feedback 🙂
May 13th, 2008 at 1:16 pm