Running contests on social media can be very profitable for your business. Contests and promotions are particularly popular on Facebook. Creating contests and promotions on Facebook is a great way to build your following and engage with your audience. Furthermore, contests on Facebook typically require users to “Like” the company’s page in order to participate, resulting in more likes and fans on your Facebook Page.

The benefits of Running Contests on Facebook:

Contests, give-aways, sweepstakes and other promotions allows a business to:

• Get new Likes on Facebook Page
• Acquire new leads and customers
• Reward loyal fans
• Engage your audience
• Gain valuable insight to help your overall strategy

Furthermore, if your contest becomes popular, your business will also benefit from widespread exposure and attention for your brand.

7 Apps That You Can Use to Run Contests & Promotions on Facebook

There are several tools that businesses can take advantage of to create contests and promotions on their Facebook Page. Most of these apps are easy to use and you do not need to spend a lot of time to get started.

1. Wildfire promotions (Sweepstakes)

Wildfire is one of the most comprehensive within our guide. It was recently purchased by Google. You can opt for the full suite or pay for a promotional campaign only on a pay-as-you basis. The full suite has social media management features that can help manage messaging and advertising across social networks.

With Wildfire Promotions, you can create and launch any type of promotion that fits your business objective. Promotion formats include sweepstakes, coupons, user-generated photo, essay, and video contests, quizzes, trivia, and more.

Facebook Contest that uses Wildfire App:

So Delicious’ “100 Days of Change” Giveaway:

Campaign Details:

So Delicious launched the “100 Days of Change” giveaway which encouraged users to embrace positive personal change while receiving prizes that promoted well being. Multiple sweepstakes were held over the course of three months that encouraged sharing on social media networks.

2. Shoutlet (Shop & Share)

Shoutlet is a very advanced tool for running social media contests and promotions but it comes at a price which may not be the most accessible in terms of cost.

Shoutlet offers several features including social CRM, social canvas, Analytics, social post management, social commerce as well contests. Your business can launch unlimited social promotions on Facebook, your website, and anywhere on the web. Flexible design features and a best-in-class contest management platform make running promotions simple and effective.

You can create and manage a variety of contests and sweepstakes including Photo contests, Video contests, Text-based/essay contests,     Sweepstakes, Twitter hashtag contests, and more. You can even Publish contests anywhere on the web including Facebook Pages as custom apps, Your website via iFrame, making all contests easily accessible to Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Google+ users, and anyone else on the web or as stand-alone web pages.

Facebook Content that uses Shoutlet:

“How Do You HuHot?” recipe contest:

Campaign Details:

National restaurant chain HuHot Mongolian Grill hosts an annual “How Do You HuHot?” recipe contest where fans submit their favourite grill creations. A winner from each franchise is selected, and those winners compete nationally.

3. North Social

North Social offer simple Apps for powerful Facebook Pages. Their easy to use applications make it easy for anyone to create a custom, engaging Facebook Page. They have a suite of over 18 apps for sweepstakes, coupons, contests, promotions, videos, viral downloads, & more. You also benefit from in-depth analytics that measures every click, comment, tweet, and conversion right down to the very last penny.

Promotions can range from simple coupons to huge sweepstakes.

Facebook Content that uses North Social:

Target’s Deal of the Day Promotion:

Campaign Details:

Users were required to submit their entry by describing in 25 words about a great deal they have found at Target in order to enter the sweepstakes to win one of the 100 $20 gift cards.

4. Strutta

Strutta’s social promotions platform gives you all the tools you need to build and measure fully branded contests, sweepstakes and Facebook apps. Advanced analytics further lets you track and measure the success of your campaign in real time. Your contest or sweepstakes can also be translated into French, Spanish or German with just one click.

You have access to full Social Management Dashboard to manage all aspects of your social campaigns including running contests and promotions in one place.

You can design and launch branded, interactive Facebook campaigns to grow your audience or use the DIY promotions builder to create stand-alone contests and sweepstakes on the web that can drive traffic to your website.

Facebook Content that uses Strutta:

Hockey Moments:

Campaign Details:

Thousands of hockey fans from across Canada participated in the “Hockey Moments Photo Contest” for a chance to win NHL® Stanley Cup® Prize packs.

5. Fan Appz

Fan Appz Social Experience Apps are designed to create unique and brand-specific experiences for your fans that enable them to interact with your brand.

Fan Appz also makes it easy to create and promote sweepstakes, photo contests and photo caption contests while taking the worry out of compliance with Facebook’s promotional guidelines. The contests and promotions are mobile-friendly and can be displayed on your fan page, website as well as outbound emails.

Facebook Content that uses Fan Appz:

The NBA Ball of Fame Voting Contest:

Campaign Details:

The NBA Ball of Fame promotion is an Internet extension of the TV advertising campaign celebrating the greatest moments in NBA Playoffs and Finals history.

6. Votigo

Create a viral effect with your sweepstakes by enabling the referral incentive feature. Entrants can share the sweepstakes with their friends and receive an additional entry into the promotion when their friends enter.

Votigo allows you to run Facebook contest or sweepstakes. Run a photo contest or video contest to engage your social media audience. Entries are displayed in a gallery that allows participants to browse and share entries. You can also run Sweepstakes to grow your social reach and generate buzz for product launches, seasonal promotions or special events while building affinity for your brand.

Facebook Content that uses Votigo:

Belvedere Dream Job Video Contest:

7. Friend2Friend

The Friend2Friend Social Engagement Platform to build, manage, monitor and measure social engagement experiences. includes a suite of branded promotional Apps that can be fully customized with your brand assets and content. There is a 30 days free trial offer.

You can use it to create Instant Win Sweepstakes, Photo Sweepstakes, Photo Contest, Story Contest or Video Contest where your brand and the community votes on user-generated entries.

Facebook Contest that uses Friend2Friend:

People’s Choice Award

Campaign Details:

This social voting App allowed People’s Choice Awards voting through Facebook and Twitter. The App encouraged viral sharing by friends, and voting was syndicated across multiple Facebook pages. Fans were able to enter a sweepstakes for VIP tickets to attend the awards show.

Conclusion

If you have thought about running a contest, give-away or promotion on your company’s Facebook page, you might want to consider and try one of the social media contest and promotion platforms we above . These contest apps offer any advanced features that are designed to get the most engagement from your promotions.

What About You?

Do you run contests or promotions on your Facebook Page? What app or service do you use? Perhaps you would like to suggest another app or tool for this list. Please add your response by leaving a comment below.