A popular method for running a contest is to have people submit entries (videos/Facebook posts/stories/whatever) and then decide the winner(s) (or finalists) based on the number of votes/views/Likes/whatevers each entry receives.
There’s no mystery to the appeal of this method. It’s…
- Good for publicity: your competitors are promoting your contest (+ brand/website/Facebook page/whatever) for you! Awesome!
- Easy: no sorting or ranking required on your part. You just have to sit back and wait for the results to come in.
Free labor from your participants? Almost no extra work? What’s not to love?
Well, there are few downsides (and I think they outweigh the upsides):
- Low-quality entries: if you’re asking for anything that requires more than one minute of effort, you’re asking for an investment. But why would someone invest their time and energy into making something awesome when they know that no matter how awesome their entry is, they’ll almost certainly lose to someone who has a large group of friends who will vote for them? You’ll probably get some good entries, but you’ll also miss a lot of them.
- Un-targeted publicity: by setting up a contest that rewards being able to persuade (or trick) a kind-of “lowest common denominator” (a pulse and an internet connection!), that’s who you’re reaching: anyone and everyone. Sure, it may be cheap or free, but how will that audience help you?
- Mediocre winners: similar to the first point, if the winning entry is determined (or even significantly influenced) by a what amounts to a popularity contest, your winners may not be the kind of thing you actually want to brag about.
Before you go down that road, consider a really crucial question:
What is the goal of your contest?
Really. What are you trying to achieve? It could be…
- New readers or subscribers
- Fostering a sense of community
- Generating great content
- Reaching new groups online
- Creating a news-worthy event
How likely is it that the lazy popularity-contest method is the best way to achieve your goal?
It could be, if you are simply trying to increase raw traffic to your site, and don’t have a business goal for it. But even then, making a contest that gets really high-quality entries still might trump “anybody and everybody” traffic, because it’d be more likely to be featured elsewhere.
Running a contest without exhausting yourself
Maybe you agree that the results will be better with a different kind of selection process, but the idea is overwhelming. Keep in mind you don’t have to do it all yourself. Narrowing the field down to the “good” or “great” entries doesn’t require an expert, just someone competent. This could be a virtual assistant, an intern, a student, or someone you hire on oDesk just for the purpose.
Thoughtfully creating your contest will also help reduce the number of “blah” entries. When you’re very clear on your own goals, and as a result, clear in your descriptions and requirements, you’ll automatically improve the average quality.
Finally, consider whether you even want a contest with creative entries. If you really just want increased traffic or more people on your mailing list, run a random giveaway that makes no pretense of being about merit.