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As a WordPress expert with over 15 years of experience creating websites, I‘ve seen firsthand how powerful Facebook giveaways can be for engaging new users and growing your audience.
Done right, contests and giveaways can attract hundreds or even thousands of new, highly-targeted followers to your Facebook page through viral sharing. You just need the right strategy and tools.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my proven tips and expertise to help you add a successful Facebook giveaway in WordPress.
Contents
Why Facebook Giveaways Are So Effective
Let‘s start by looking at some hard data that reveals how effective Facebook giveaways can be:
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One study found that 87% of marketers say contests help them generate more leads compared to other tactics.
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Another report showed that contest landing pages have a conversion rate of up to 30%, much higher than average.
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Giveaways also boost engagement. One survey found they grow likes by 850% and comments by 670% on average.
It makes sense when you consider how giveaways work. You offer an appealing prize that people really want to win, but require they engage with your content in some way to enter.
This captures their attention, brings them into your funnel, and gets them actively involved with your brand.
Plus, the viral nature means their friends and followers also get exposed to your contest and page.
Now let‘s look at the key benefits of Facebook giveaways specifically:
Attract Targeted Followers
The chance to win a great prize will entice more people to start following your page. You can target the people most likely to convert to loyal followers by strategic prize selection and promotion.
Increase Engagement
Users have to visit your page, like or comment on posts, watch videos, tag friends, and share the contest to maximize entries. This leads to higher engagement rates, organic reach, and more page followers.
Promote Content
Highlight an existing piece of content or promote something new like a product launch by making it part of the giveaway entry. This builds exposure and buzz around your content.
Collect Leads
Collect email addresses and other contact info through contest registration to build your email list and marketing database.
Generate Buzz
A compelling prize, smart targeting, and viral sharing of your contest can create major buzz on Facebook and across other channels.
Boost SEO
All the new links, likes, shares, and engagement signals will improve your page‘s SEO as well.
As you can see, when executed correctly a Facebook giveaway ticks all the boxes for expanding your reach and engaging your target audience.
Now let‘s look at how to add one properly in WordPress.
Step-by-Step Guide: Adding a Facebook Giveaway in WordPress
While you can run a basic contest manually, using a WordPress giveaway plugin streamlines the entire process while giving you far more customization options.
I recommend using a premium plugin like RafflePress based on my experience. Their deep Facebook integration, detailed analytics, smart anti-fraud detection, email notifications, and other advanced features are worth the small investment.
Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up your contest campaign using RafflePress:
Step 1 – Create a New Giveaway
First, install and activate RafflePress if you haven‘t already.
Then navigate to RafflePress > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
Give your giveaway a descriptive name like "Spring Cleaning Facebook Giveaway" so it‘s easy to identify.
Next, select a template that matches the type of contest you‘re running. For Facebook giveaways, the classic or video templates work well.
Step 2 – Build Out Giveaway Details
Now it‘s time to configure all the key giveaway details:
Prize Details
Start by adding a compelling prize name, description, and image – this is the centerpiece of your whole giveaway.
Make sure to highlight the value, desirability, and key features of the prize. This convinces people it‘s worth their time to enter.
Schedule
Next, set a start and end date/time for your contest timeframe.
I recommend 1-2 weeks for Facebook giveaways. This provides enough time for entries while also creating urgency through the short timeframe.
Scheduling ahead is also wise so the launch and close happen smoothly without you needing to do anything.
Entry Methods
The entry methods define how people can enter your giveaway.
RafflePress makes it easy to add options like visiting your Facebook page, liking or commenting on a post, watching a video, sharing the giveaway post, and more.
Offer several simple, engaging entry methods to maximize participation.
Rules
Draft the official rules covering eligibility, how winners are selected, whether alternatives are awarded, etc.
RafflePress can generate a templated set of rules for you that you can customize further.
Design
Make sure to set aside time to customize the font, colors, layout, and branding so your contest reflects your look and feel.
Settings
Finally, configure settings like whether to display total entry counts, require email verification, enable social logins, and more under the Settings tab.
Step 3 – Promote Your Giveaway
Now that your giveaway is created in WordPress, it‘s time to promote it!
You want as many people as possible to see and engage with it to maximize reach and entries.
Here are some effective promotion tactics:
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Email – Send an announcement and reminders to your email subscriber list.
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Social media – Share your contest post across your social accounts. Post reminders leading up to launch.
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Website – Add a banner or popups to advertise it on your site using a plugin.
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Paid ads – Run Facebook and Instagram ads targeted to your audience.
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Influencers – Recruit relevant influencers to help spread the word to their audience.
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Loop in team – Have your team, brand ambassadors, partners, etc. help promote it.
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Hashtags – Research and leverage trending hashtags around your prize, brand, etc.
Driving high, targeted traffic to your contest landing page leads to the best results.
Step 4 – Collect and Verify Entries
As people start entering, RafflePress securely collects all entries and analyzes for fraud.
Requiring email verification before entries are marked "complete" is a good idea for giveaways. This verifies entrants and lets you continue marketing to them later.
You can customize the verification email template in RafflePress.
Step 5 – Select and Notify Winners
Once your giveaway ends, simply navigate to the Winners page, select the number of winners, and click "Choose Winners".
RafflePress randomly selects the winners, filters out invalid entries, and shows you the results.
Notify winners via email and announce it publicly on social media, your website, etc.
Displaying winners helps build trust and credibility that you delivered on the giveaway.
Step 6 – Analyze Performance
The final step is reviewing the performance! RafflePress provides detailed giveaway analytics showing entries over time, top traffic sources, conversion rates, popular entry options, and more.
Study these analytics to continuously improve your next contests. Doubling down on top-performing promotion channels, prizes that resonate, entry options, etc. is key to better results.
Pro Tips for Facebook Giveaway Success
Here are some pro tips I‘ve learned over the years for maximizing your Facebook giveaway success:
Offer an irresistible prize – iPads, gift cards, gaming consoles, and other hot prizes stand out from the crowd. Include prizes from brands your audience loves.
Craft viral posts – Clever posts with compelling captions, images, or videos get more entry actions like shares, tags, and comments.
Leverage video – Add a video describing the prize or how to enter. Videos boost engagement more than images alone.
Run contests frequently – Frequent giveaways keep followers engaged, rather than just doing them occasionally.
Use countdown timers – Timers create urgency to enter before time runs out. Useful in images, videos, ads, etc.
Require email entry – Collecting email addresses allows you to continue marketing to entrants in the future.
Follow Facebook‘s guidelines – Make sure your giveaway and promotion comply with Facebook contest policies to avoid issues.
Give bonus entries – Offer extra entries for sharing, tagging friends, etc. to viralize further.
Announce winners across channels – Share winner announcements on your website, email, social media, and more.
Reward all entrants – Give all entrants a small prize like a discount code to incentivize entering your next giveaway.
Make entry quick – Don‘t overcomplicate the entry process. The fewer steps and friction the better.
Get Started Growing Your Facebook Following Today
Adding an attractive, well-promoted Facebook giveaway into your marketing strategy is a proven way to engage more users, collect leads, and dramatically grow your audience.
And it doesn‘t need to be complicated or take up all your time. The RafflePress WordPress plugin makes launching high-converting contests easy.
So what are you waiting for? Try RafflePress for yourself today and start your first Facebook giveaway!
I hope this comprehensive guide gives you the tips, tools, and confidence to succeed. Let me know if you have any other questions!
