I need some advice to create a competition on FB for a language school

3 replies
I am working for a language school and just convinced my boss now to improve the Facebook page of the school. Since I am new to IM it would be great to get some advice from you guys.

The FB page was in very bad condition. The last postings were from 4 months ago and it has only 90 fans which are few little compared to the 1800 members of the language school. What makes it worse is that our members are very happy with the school, so they are basicly easy targets.

Another thing which is very bad is the results of FB ads: 18k people who saw it, frequency is 89,9, clicks: 409, click through rate: 0,0025%, site interactions: 5. The CPA is 30% higher that the suggested CPA.

The first thing I did was to post events (we have different, public events which can be participated also by non members, most of the time for free. For example, we just had a "wine with chocolate" seminar.) But each one of them was seen by only 14 people, noone liked it, commented it or participated.

So it was obvious that before I do anything else, I need to increase the fanbase. I was thinking about running a competition to get new friends. I am not sure though which kind of competition would be best to run and which price I should choose.

I think I want to do 2 kind of competitions. The first competition will be a competition to focus on getting new fans while there will be several following competitions in the future to increase interactions on the Facebook page. To increase the number of fans I think it's best to create a competition with an Add (and not on the wall) since on an Add people can share the competition and therefore it can be seen in the newsfeed of their friends. It could be just something simple like "share this post to take part in the competition for winning an Amazon coupon of $150". Of course an aamazon coupon is very general and has no real connection to a language school but I think it's the best way to get new fans to share this post because if I want to offer something like a coupon for three month of free classes, and the people are not interested in taking classes, they will not share it.

When I increased the number of fans, I can focus on increase the interactions on the Facebook page. I was thinking about running a monthly competition just to post a review on the page , no matter if positive or negative or short or long. The price would be a two-month coupon of free classes which is worth about 100$. I am not sure though if such an monthly competition will be a good look to the members of the language school because it may look kind of cheap.

Alternatively, my boss had the idea to let the fans answer some questions in order to take part in the first competition. He wants to ask several rhetorical questions like "which languages schools have a flat rate for fall classes for $14 in a month?" or "which language schools have a policy to repeat every course for free?" and lastly: "If you know another language school who offers at least 3 of these things, you can win a flight to London". This is the kind of competition he is doing every month with flyers during one special event, and I find it great but I just think it does not convert well to FB. THe comments or posting will be seen just for a short time on the ticker, and all will be the same, so it´s better to let them post different reviews because this is the best marketing for new people visiting the page imo.

What are your ideas? Also, do you know a good, cheap source where I can create competition ads?
#advice #competition #create #facebook #language #school
  • Profile picture of the author ChloeSmart
    I would certainly suggest running a contest on Facebook, using an app. Photo contests and sweepstakes work really well to build up your fan base. To get things rolling you can get the word out about the contest by posting on your FB page to existing fans and/or running a small Facebook ads campaign to promote it. The prize you give away doesn’t need to be much but it should be something you think would attract the target audience you want. I’ve found that the best website for creating a contest is www.clickappy.com they have really well made sweepstakes and photo contests, etc with sharing functions, for just $2.99 per month. You start with a pre-made template that they have created and then you can easily change the template with your own logo, texts, pictures etc. They are also the only Facebook app builder site I’ve used where you can edit the contest templates into any language. I hope this info helps and all the best!
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    • Profile picture of the author banwork
      Using any kind of contest is a manipulation to get people to like your page. It can work but you will always have to keep doing something to get them to come back. Often the kinds of interaction you get are self interested and not sustaining. You always will have to keep doing a contest or manipulation to get people to come back. It will be hard work and most people give up eventually.

      What if instead you start with asking WHY should people like your Facebook page? Why would they visit the page each day on their own without you having to lure them in with a contest? Some of the WHY could include giving them a laugh, sharing new information they will appreciate, or giving them the chance to create a status for the page.

      Start with WHY you want people to visit the page. Once you have this down, all you need to do is tell a few people about it and within a few days everyone will know why they should visit the Facebook page each day.
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      • Profile picture of the author Benjamin213
        You are right, that is the longterm thinking. Which I am doing right now, too. For example, I create events on FB and plan to post reguarly "smart" qoutes or funny images/memes etc. which are related to languages / studying in general.

        Do you have something in mind what I can do more?

        Originally Posted by banwork View Post

        Using any kind of contest is a manipulation to get people to like your page. It can work but you will always have to keep doing something to get them to come back. Often the kinds of interaction you get are self interested and not sustaining. You always will have to keep doing a contest or manipulation to get people to come back. It will be hard work and most people give up eventually.

        What if instead you start with asking WHY should people like your Facebook page? Why would they visit the page each day on their own without you having to lure them in with a contest? Some of the WHY could include giving them a laugh, sharing new information they will appreciate, or giving them the chance to create a status for the page.

        Start with WHY you want people to visit the page. Once you have this down, all you need to do is tell a few people about it and within a few days everyone will know why they should visit the Facebook page each day.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8655052].message }}

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