How to organize a contest or giveaway on VK? Every day, numerous companies conduct contests on VKontakte. Some of them attract new followers and customers, while others, at best, give away gifts without any clear strategy, and at worst, face penalties ranging from a one-week ban on posting to complete community suspension.
The thing is, there are specific rules on the social network that regulate the organization of contests and giveaways on VK. Violating these rules can lead to sanctions, including a lifetime ban. Complaints about a contest can be submitted to the support service by users, including competitors. In this article, we will explain how to run a contest or giveaway on VKontakte that will help promote your VK group and avoid negative consequences.
The thing is, there are specific rules on the social network that regulate the organization of contests and giveaways on VK. Violating these rules can lead to sanctions, including a lifetime ban. Complaints about a contest can be submitted to the support service by users, including competitors. In this article, we will explain how to run a contest or giveaway on VKontakte that will help promote your VK group and avoid negative consequences.
How to organize a contest or giveaway on VKontakte Let's go through the main stages of conducting contests on VK. Source: trafficcardinal.com
Goals of conducting a contest
Start by defining the goals of conducting the contest. Don't organize a giveaway just because everyone else is doing it. Create and conduct a contest with a clear understanding of why you need it and how it will benefit you.
Here are some possible goals for conducting a contest:
Contests on VKontakte can be organized with one or multiple objectives from the list above.
Here are some possible goals for conducting a contest:
- Attract new followers to the group
- Increase sales
- Promote a new product/service
- Draw attention to a promotion/sale
- Enhance brand image and recognition
- Foster customer loyalty
Contests on VKontakte can be organized with one or multiple objectives from the list above.
Text with the conditions of the contest/giveaway:
Contests often come across where you want to participate, but the participation mechanism is so complex that you either scroll past it or postpone it for later. This leads to the main rule of creating contests: make the participation mechanism as simple as possible to attract more participants. Additionally, write a detailed and structured text for the contest, including the conditions, what needs to be done, the prize, and how and when the winners will be determined.
Here are the most common examples of contest conditions:
Here are the most common examples of contest conditions:
It is important to specify the duration of the contest and set a deadline to encourage immediate participation and avoid delays.
- "Repost Contest" (may attract a lot of freeloaders): Share this post on your timeline to enter the contest. The winner will be randomly selected from the participants.
- "Add Your Photo on the Theme": Submit your own photo related to the given theme to enter the contest. The winner will be chosen based on creativity/originality.
- "VK Beauty Contest": Submit your photo to participate in the VK beauty contest. The winner will be selected based on votes or a panel of judges.
- "Comment Contest": Leave a comment on the post to enter the contest. The winner will be chosen randomly or based on the best comment.
- "Creative Contest" (poetry, drawings, videos): Create and submit your own creative work (poem, drawing, video) to enter the contest. The winner will be chosen based on creativity and quality.
- "Store or Product Photo": Take a photo in the store or with the product and submit it to enter the contest. The winner will be chosen based on votes or by a panel of judges.
- "Photo Review Contest" (guaranteed prize): Submit a photo review to participate in the contest. Every participant receives a prize, and the best photo review wins an additional prize.
It is important to specify the duration of the contest and set a deadline to encourage immediate participation and avoid delays.
How to format a contest post
Formatting the text with the contest conditions and the attached image is also important.
The text should be divided into paragraphs, and each paragraph can be highlighted with relevant emojis to enhance the meaning. Such formatting of the contest post will make it easier for users to read and comprehend. Here's an example of a concise description:
[Text with contest conditions]
Along with the post, an attached image can be used to grab attention and provide a more condensed summary of the conditions, prizes, and result announcement date.
The text should be divided into paragraphs, and each paragraph can be highlighted with relevant emojis to enhance the meaning. Such formatting of the contest post will make it easier for users to read and comprehend. Here's an example of a concise description:
[Text with contest conditions]
Along with the post, an attached image can be used to grab attention and provide a more condensed summary of the conditions, prizes, and result announcement date.
Prizes for the contest
Most SMM specialists believe that the success of a contest largely depends on the value of the main prize (which is why everyone gives away the latest iPhone version). However, it's not always necessary to allocate a large budget for the contest. In fact, such contests often attract more "professional participants," while others may have doubts like "I won't participate because I won't win such a prize/it's a scam."
It's best to offer not just one prize, but several, and make them desirable primarily for your target audience. You can even consider giving away your own product or service as one of the prizes.
Additionally, according to the rules of VKontakte, when organizing a contest, you are required to determine the prize(s) right away. If there are multiple prizes, it is important to specify which prize corresponds to each place to avoid confusion and dissatisfaction later on.
It's best to offer not just one prize, but several, and make them desirable primarily for your target audience. You can even consider giving away your own product or service as one of the prizes.
Additionally, according to the rules of VKontakte, when organizing a contest, you are required to determine the prize(s) right away. If there are multiple prizes, it is important to specify which prize corresponds to each place to avoid confusion and dissatisfaction later on.
Participant engagement
If you have already promoted your contest on all your pages and even on your website, but still have a low number of participants, there are three excellent ways to gain more visibility:
Paid: Launch native advertising on VKontakte to reach a wider audience.
Free: Find all the contest groups in your city. Most of them will repost your contest for free.
Other resources: Utilize your website, email newsletter, and other platforms to promote your contest.
Paid: Launch native advertising on VKontakte to reach a wider audience.
Free: Find all the contest groups in your city. Most of them will repost your contest for free.
Other resources: Utilize your website, email newsletter, and other platforms to promote your contest.
Determining the winner of the contest or giveaway.
Depending on the contest conditions, there are several main ways to determine the winners:
If you want to avoid accusations of rigged results, provide evidence that everything was fair. For example, live-stream the giveaway or at least make a video recording. Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the service page that determined the winner.
Once the winner is determined, write a post where the winner's name is linked to their profile. This way, they will receive a notification, and other community members will see that everything was fair. Additionally, publish a link to the results post below the contest post.
Note: Please note that the phrase "опасайтесь накруток" translates to "beware of fraudulent votes" and may be relevant in the context of voting-based contests.
- Using specialized services and applications, random number generators, and other tools.
- Based on viewer voting (beware of fraudulent votes).
- Expert jury - for this method of selecting winners, it is important to provide a detailed description of the jury members and the criteria for selecting the winner.
If you want to avoid accusations of rigged results, provide evidence that everything was fair. For example, live-stream the giveaway or at least make a video recording. Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the service page that determined the winner.
Once the winner is determined, write a post where the winner's name is linked to their profile. This way, they will receive a notification, and other community members will see that everything was fair. Additionally, publish a link to the results post below the contest post.
Note: Please note that the phrase "опасайтесь накруток" translates to "beware of fraudulent votes" and may be relevant in the context of voting-based contests.
Successful examples of contests on VKontakte
(VK):
Repost contest with product purchase.
To participate in the contest, you need not only to repost the post but also to purchase the company's products. This type of contest helps stimulate demand for a specific product.
Photo contest
In the following example of a contest, the main goal is to attract new visitors. The solution is a contest where participants need to take a photo next to a cafe with a bike and share the picture on social media.
Ticket Giveaway
Closing the compilation with an example of a giveaway where active participation in comments is required. This positively impacts engagement and increases the reach of future posts.
Conclusion
So, let's summarize. To organize and conduct a contest on VKontakte, you need to determine the purpose, specify the contest conditions and prizes, create and publish the contest post, attract participants, select a winner, and award the prize.