Are competitions good for brand awareness?

When it comes to generating brand awareness, PR is a fantastic tool because it’s multifaceted and can get your business out there in a range of ways.

Setting up competitions with media publications is just one way to increase your brand awareness and put you in front of a large audience. Well known media outlets will already have high traffic from regular readers which instantly boosts the reach and credibility of your brand. Partnering with trusted media outlets gives your brand exposure to their established and loyal audience which can be beneficial in the long run. 

What’s in this article:

• How can competitions be used in PR?
• What kinds of competitions are there?
• What are the benefits of competitions for brand awareness?
• Key takeaways

How can competitions be used in PR?

Competitions can be used in PR to put your business in front of the right audience, increase your credibility and get people talking about and trying your product or service. They also create an opportunity for businesses to interact with their consumers and give something back to them. As well as boosting brand awareness, competitions can be used for a range of different things.

Here are eight ways competitions can be used in PR:

1. To increase brand awareness

Whether you’re a start up or your business has been around for a while, competitions are an easy way to get your product or service in front of people and get them familiar with who you are and what you offer.

2. Reach a specific and targeted audience

One of the great things about running a competition is that it allows you to reach very specific and niche audiences. For example, if you’re a gardening business running your competition on a website that specifically has an audience of gardeners such as Gardeningetc and Ideal Home, placing a competition in these publications will allow you to reach your exact target audience. This way you can make sure you’re putting yourself in front of people who are most likely to be genuinely interested in your product or service, giving yourself the best chance at converting them into real customers.

3. To boost credibility

We’ve helped clients arrange competitions with well-known and trusted sites such as Woman and Home, Marie Claire and Country Living. Partnering with an established publication will automatically make your brand more credible. Simply seeing your business partnered with popular media outlets can increase people's willingness to engage with your product or service as your brand looks more authentic, credible, and trustworthy, which is great for its reputation. 

4. Help showcase new products

Arranging competitions to giveaway new products is a great way to showcase them to the public and create a buzz around them. The idea of entrants being able to get their hands on a new product before anyone else gives the competition an exclusive feel.

5. Collect user data

Some competitions allow you to collect user data with entrants’ permission. This means you can gather useful consumer insights like demographics which can be helpful for planning future PR and marketing strategies. You can use this information later to reach out to those who entered the competition with offers and discounts, giving them a reason to come back to your business and give it a try. In fact, 33% of competition participants are open to receiving information about the brand and partners. If your competition gets 1,000 entrants, that’s at least 300 new people for you to market to!

6. Builds relationships within the media

If your competition performs well for a media outlet and brings in a lot of entrants they may wish to work with you again in the future. Having your business appear in a trusted media outlet time and time again is great for your reputation and exposure.

7. Boost your social media profile

Competitions hosted on social media have the power to boost your social profile. Many of these competitions ask people to share your post or follow your account as part of the entry process which can help boost your engagement. You can use this surge in engagement to your advantage by making sure your social channels are engaging to encourage people to continue to follow you even after the competition is over.

8. Help with digital PR

Online competitions can also help with your digital PR strategy if they’re hosted on a website with a high domain rating. When a website with a high domain rating links back to your website, it indicates to Google and other search engines that your website is credible too – which can help boost your own domain rating. Over time and with consistent efforts you can improve your website ranking which will make it easier for potential customers to find you through organic search results. 

What kind of competitions are there?

Competitions and giveaways can be carried out a couple of different ways - either through media websites and social channels or your own social channels. The best way to run a competition will depend on what you want to achieve.

To decide what competition is best for your brand, think about what you want to gain from it. Do you want to increase your brand awareness and reach a wider audience or do you want to grow your following and increase your social media presence? 

Running a competition with another website 

If you’re looking to get your brand in front of as many people as possible then you may want to host a competition on another news website that is relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach. These sites will already have a large and established audience who trust their site and the content promoted on it. 

Publications that offer competition spaces will likely have a minimum prize value that you’ll have to meet. This can usually be spread over one or multiple winners. You’ll also have to agree to send out the winner’s prize within a certain time frame.

Some will also offer add ons which could include a link to your website or the opportunity to collect user data. These add ons can be really useful if you’re looking to make the most out of competitions. Including links to your website for example comes with SEO benefits, especially if the media outlet running the competition has a good domain rating. 

If the publications also run their competitions on their social channels, it can be a good chance to grow your own social media presence as part of the entry process may involve entrants having to follow your page or like your posts. This temporary engagement boost can be a great starting point to help you boost your social reach

Running your own social media competition and giveaway

You can also run your own competition on your business’s social channels, which is a good idea if you’re looking to grow your own social presence and followers. If done correctly, hosting an Instagram contest can help you grow your account by as much as 70%. If you continue to create engaging content you can make the most out of this growth and turn your new followers into customers. 

Running your own social media competition gives you more freedom as you can pick the value of the prize you want to give away. To get the most out of the competition make sure that the entry process involves people having to follow your page and share your post. This will help you gain followers and expand your reach.

It’s important to remember that while a competition might initially grow your socials, you should also have a plan in place to keep up the engagement once the competition comes to an end. 

One way to do this is by regularly hosting monthly giveaways. This gives people a reason to keep following your page and it shows you care about your customers by trying to give something back as a thank you for supporting your business. 

Before deciding on which platform you’re going to run your competition on, make sure you’re picking the one that is best suited to your target market. Spend some time looking at social media demographics to see which form of social media your ideal customer uses the most. 

Generally speaking, platforms like TikTok and Instagram work better for younger audiences, while Facebook is better suited for older audiences. Running your competition on the right platform will give you the best chance of converting entrants into customers. 

Running your own competition can certainly pay off in the long run especially if you’re going to grow your social media. But if you’re hoping to instantly reach a large audience, hosting the competition with a news website may be the better option.

What are the benefits of competitions for brand awareness?

Brand awareness is a huge benefit that comes with running competitions, introducing your brand to a whole host of new people.

Here are some of the benefits of competitions specifically for brand awareness:

1. They create a buzz 

Competitions generate a buzz and excitement. People love the chance to win something for free so they’re likely to enter and interact with your brand even if they’ve not come across your product or service before. 

2. They can increase your online traffic

People who haven’t heard of you prior to hearing about the competition are likely to search up your business to find out a bit more about what it is that you do. This could potentially increase your online traffic which is great for your website's health. A consistent increase in online traffic signals to search engines that people are looking for your website, this will help you rank higher in organic searches too.

3. Social sharing opportunities

We’ve already covered that social media competitions can create sharing opportunities with entrants having to share or like a post as part of their entry process. A constant stream of shares will organically spread your content and reach loads of people, even those who don’t follow you.

4. Targeted reach

If you’re hosting your competition with another publication you can make sure you’re reaching your exact target audience. For example, if you’re looking to attract women in their 30s and over you may want to try and run a competition with Woman and Home. Reaching the right audience means you have the best chance in turning those entering the competition into future customers, making the competition more beneficial to you. 

5. Word of mouth marketing

Competitions encourage word of mouth marketing between family, friends and colleagues helping more and more people hear and learn about your business. Word of mouth marketing is vital for most businesses, as 92% of consumers state that they believe their family and friends over any kind of advertising.

Key takeaways

1. Competitions can be used in PR to reach a wider audience, boost your credibility, collect user data and help with your overall digital PR strategy.
2. There are different types of competitions that can be set up depending on what you are hoping to achieve out of them. If you’re looking to grow your social media, then hosting a giveaway on your own channels is a great way to do this. If you’re hoping to get yourself in front of your desired target audience, you’re better off partnering with a publication that already has an established following.
3. When running a competition with a publication you’ll have to meet their terms and conditions by supplying a prize that meets their minimum prize value and agree to send the prize out within a certain time frame.
4. If running your own social media competition, make sure to choose the platform most suited to your demographic.
5. Overall competitions are great for boosting brand awareness as they generate a buzz, can increase your website traffic and offer sharing opportunities.

If you’re looking to increase your brand awareness and expand your online reach get in touch with us for a chat!

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