Running sweepstakes & contests on social media to generate more leads

There are a few apps I have used, including Gleam App, and Rafflecopter. They can be inserted as a tab on your Facebook page. However, they do not allow you to require a "Like" as one of the entries (No Like-gating). There are ways to push the audience to Like the Page and you can promote specific pages and action on the page. It depends on what all you want to do.

For example, the last time I ran a Gleam contest, I pushed all the traffic to the Facebook app, ran Facebook ads for it, and offered 8-9 different entry methods plus "social share" for an entry. You can make just about anything plus custom options. You can also require them to be logged into Facebook to enter. The last one I did something like: 1. Like this Facebook Post (which was a post linking to the page asking them to like it) 2. Comment on this Facebook Post (was a post linking to the site or important article/page on the site) 3. Follow on Twitter 4. Tweet this (a premade tweet- something like "Follow Bob's Boise SKydiving to win a $100 Gift Card" with the @ and hashtags). 5. RT this (an important tweet about the site/business). 6. Visit this page (traffic to the site) and answer a question 7. +1 This Google Plus Page 8. Like on Instagram 9. Share with your friends (allows Facebook, Twitter, email, etc shares). Then I made some entries 1 time and some daily (common sense which are which). I imagine you could make a custom option like signing up for a newsletter or something to capture for followup. The free version does not capture emails but the paid versions (which are cheap, too) can capture all the emails, social profiles, etc.

When I have done contests, I had the best results after already building a base of followers rather than starting from scratch- because that gets more momentum going. For example, it should be pretty easy to get 5000 twitter followers unless you have a very tiny niche local product in the middle of nowhere or something. Facebook is a little tougher if you aren't running ads, but you can push Facebook traffic from other profiles. For example, have 1000s of twitter followers and tell them all to see your Facebook contest to win whatever, direct them to the FB tab, and so on. The prize depends on many factors but I think the more targeted the better, unless you are just looking to build numbers. My go-to generic prize is usually something like a Amazon Gift Card, but most niches can be more targeted. You just want to make it something worthwhile.

There are other people here who've run contests. So you might get some more info soon, but that's my general experience. Not saying it's the best way to do it or best app. It all depends on what you are really trying to do.

Yes, I was wondering the same question. I think that's some good advice, thanks!