The biggest challenges in starting your social media presence are reaching the people who have followed you and getting them involved in your brand. While people will like and share brands and products that they love, it’s sometimes hard to get users to make the initial connection and see your brand as one they want to interact with. One way to influence followers to give you what you want – engagement – is to give them what they want – goodies.

Follow the Rules

The most important step to creating a successful social media promotion is to follow the rules. There are a lot of legalities to running a sweepstake, giveaway, or contest, and each social network has its own rules governing promotions that are always changing that you’ll want to check out first. Plus, rules can vary from state to state and country to country, so it’s always best to check with your local authorities to ensure your contest is within the law.

Get the Word Out

Fans entering the contest will help promote your hotel by making you visible to the friends and followers within their network. However, the more entries the better, and there’s always room for more promotion. Ask employees if they would share the contest on their own social media to encourage their own friends and family to enter – but be clear that people in their household (including the employee) are not eligible to win so there’s no confusion later.

Boost Your Reach

If you’ve never sponsored or boosted a post before, a promotion is a great time to test the waters. Target people who have specific interests or demographic qualities that you’re looking to reach and put a little bit of your ad spend towards the promotion to gain followers. You can also choose to make the message more visible to existing fans or only show it to people who don’t already engage with your page.

Announce the Winners

Make a big deal out of the drawing! Acknowledge your winner on social media and thank all your fans for participating. Knowing that a winner was drawn and seeing the prize awarded will encourage people to enter the next promotion you run. With engagement like that, everyone wins.

Social Media Experts

Running a social media contest, giveaway, or sweepstakes can be tricky for those with no experience. Navigating the rules around these kinds of promotions is difficult enough, not to mention the work of sponsoring posts and picking winners. As a busy hotelier, where do you find the time to do all this on top of running your property?

The experts at Travel Media Group are here to help you. We have years of experience supporting hotels with their social media accounts. From creating custom content designed to convert casual scrollers to paying guests to boosting engagement and reaching a bigger audience, TMG has you covered. We even hosted a giveaway promotion for our hotel partners a few years back where lucky fans won iPad minis. We’d love to help your hotel meet its social media goals – contact TMG today!