Contests

Do you run contests on your forum? If so how did you find a format that will return good results, and get people interested and active?

 

Lol not on my current forum but on my old forum it was pick a number between 1 and 100 and used a random number generator to select a winner then i gave up cause it was a crap idea lol.

It does the job but it doesn't get people too interested as all they do is pick a number haha

 

I do run contests.

Usually, I try to find a very catchy title for the contest, make the content persuasive and reward users with prizes that will make them compete. Usually, people get interested and the contest brings decent activity.

 

I've run a few photo/art contests with small prizes, but that's really just a fun thing for existing members and not a big draw for new ones.

 

you could invest a little cash and buy some amazon gift cards (if you buy bulk they discount) - there is always some sort of book or dvd or something out there that people want.

I recently brought a couple $100 ones and along with other prizes and gift cards donated once my forum revamptation (no I didn't think it was a word either) is finished I am about to relaunch my new referral competition which has built up to over $800 worth of prizes by buying a couple gift cards every couple of weeks.

 

I personally do not hold contest. What I do do, is I provide a portal for people who want to hold a contest - such as a reseller who wants to drive traffic to their store.

Through my forum I can provide resellers with targeted traffic. They put up the prizes, I provide the traffic and mass emails. The last email I sent out to my members about the contest went to over 15,000 people. So far everything is working out very well. The merchants get traffic and entries they can make a mailing list from, and my members get prizes. In the end, I think everyone is happy.

 

I like the sound of that - sounds like a good thing you have there how much does it cost for "resellers" to get their contest on your portal? Or is it free? If it is free what do you get from it?

 

I can not disclose that kind of information. That would violate the professional agreement between my merchants and I.

 

Sounds like a good idea, but I gotta get to the 15k members first

 

Are you able to disclose what site it is so i can go and check it all out?

 

My forum has 20,969 members. About 5,000 of them do not want to receive admin emails. So the emails are only sent to members who opt in. That way its not considered spam. When I send a mass email out, I make sure to include instructions on how to get off the email list.

My site - Survivalist Forum Survival Gear Reviews and Self Sufficiency Articles

After you look at the contest thread, be sure to pay attention to the banner at the top of the site.

Contest thread, which is also a sticky for the duration of the contest- Win some free maxpedition gear! - Survivalist Forum

I also made a sticky on the home page of my blog about the contest. And here is my blog Survival Gear Reviews and Forum

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But on my sons gaming forum, I am holding a contest for 2 games next month. Those I am paying for myself.

When you are looking at holding a contest, and would like to invite a reseller in to have a contest, you have to be able to offer them something. Whether its banner space, mas email,,, you have to be able to provide them with something to make it worth their time.

My sons forum is too small for anyone to be interested in sponsoring a contest. And with forums, size is everything.

 

I do, from time to time, run them. Not sure what I'll run next. Since it's going back to TV time, I might just have to get creative this time. We'll see.

In the past I've run membershp drives (they don't work, at leats for me), post drives (they work). Thinking maybe a community voted "best of" show review, not sure yet.

 

Are you able to write off the expenses of the prizes?

 

That is a very good question. I would think so, but it would have to be done as a business purchase, maybe?

Personally, I don't care about writing off small prizes, I do it just to keep things unique and promote a bit of a competitive spirit as it were

 

I do, mainly top posters and avatar of the month, have had membership drives.
I make jewellery for children, so i make those my prizes.
Next year im considering doing a year long top poster competition with a subscription to a magazine relevant to my forum for a year.

 

I do contests. Some I've tried to help promote a site. Others I have run for fun. In the end, the money trying to promote would be better spent on advertising I feel. But they are fun, and members like them. I will run various types of contests in the future.

 

I suppose in the long run it depends what type of site it is and what goals you have set up in your mind for the community.

Either:
A) You run a contest like what this site do to get people registered and posting, reffering with the hope to win a good prize.

B) You run small monthly competitions once your site is established to ensure the productivity continues.

C) The site does well without contests so you don't need to look into them at all.