How to Run an Online Contest: A Master Game Plan

Has your business been slow lately? There’s no better way to get the sparkle back and bring the numbers up than by throwing a competition! If you’ve never launched one before, let me walk you through the whole process from start to finish with this in-depth guide on how to run an online contest.

You'll learn everything you need to know about setting the right goals, budget, marketing strategy, and other factors involved. You'll also find a BitDegree Mission Builder tutorial to help you create your own unforgettable online contest for free.

Brace yourself, though – there’ll be a lot to digest at first! But if you master this blueprint, you’ll be able to apply it to just about any type of online contest out there and have your customers clamoring for a repeat performance.

How to Plan and Launch an Online Contest: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s skip the fluff and dive straight into action. In this guide I cover every stage of how to run an online contest with plenty of useful tips and best practices. If your dream idea is still fuzzy around the edges, by the time you’re through with this section, you should have a much more solid outline of what you’re going for.

1. Set Your Goals and Objectives

No matter what kind of project you’re about to launch, the first step is always the same – getting your whiteboard out and getting down to the basics.

Before you start to dream big, though, you’ll have to zero in on your goals and objectives. Here are a few ideas:

Table: Goals of an online contest

The objectives you pick will steer the direction of your contest and tell you what to focus on during and after the launch, so don’t treat this step as just a formality! Make sure to distill the core purpose of this campaign. Don’t try to hit too many birds with one stone, though; stick with 1-3 primary objectives.

2. Decide on the Budget and Funding Options

Online contests are fun, but they don’t come free! See to it that the outcome is worth the costs and set a reasonable budget early on. These are some of the potential expenses you might come across:

• Prizes;
• Online contest platform fees;
• Marketing costs;
• Copywriting and design costs;
• Legal costs;
• Administrative hours collecting and reviewing applications;
• Administrative hours analyzing and reporting on results.

Take a look at your balance sheets and crunch the numbers to see how everything pans out. Depending on the size of your team and the ambitiousness of your project, you might need to hire extra freelance staff for some of the tasks.

Next up, consider where the funding comes from. If you’re planning a large-scale contest, you could reach out to potential sponsors or other companies to team up with.

3. Choose the Type of Your Contest

“Online contests” is a pretty broad umbrella term. It entails users participating in some sort of challenge, often one that involves creating some artistic or promotional content (it could be anything from writing a poem to taking a selfie with your company’s product). All entries are then evaluated, and the creator of the best one wins the prize.

Before you let your imagination run too wild, however, remember that setting the bar too high would reduce the number of people willing to sign up for it. This type of small-scale, high-effort contest could still serve your goals, but if you’d prefer to attract a larger audience, stick to something with a lower barrier of entry.

The good news is, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Here are a few popular types of online contest ideas to consider:

Table: Types of online contests

As you can see, when it comes to the types of online contests and the pool of themes and topics, the sky’s the limit! The best long-term strategy would be to try out different types of contests over time and see which ones get the most engagement. Consider your reasons for holding the contest, too. For example, if your goal is to collect user-generated content, a photo or a video contest would be ideal.

When in doubt, put your target audience first. What type of contest do you think would appeal the most to your main customer demographic? Flip through your market research files and go from there.

4. Select the Prize(s)

Now that you’ve laid the cornerstones, things are finally starting to heat up! This stage is what’s ultimately going to make or break your contest. Winning a free reward is, after all, the whole point of entering a contest. That’s even more relevant if you picked a type that involves a higher degree of commitment – in that case, nailing down the perfect effort VS reward ratio is essential.

As with the previous step, ask yourself what sort of prize would be the most desirable to your target audience and in line with the company’s brand. Cash prizes are always a safe vanilla choice, but a non-monetary reward might stand out more. Take a look at your goals again. If your main objective for this online contest is to market your products, the obvious solution is to offer up one of them.

Gift cards or discount coupons are another popular choice, especially if your priority is to increase sales. You could also gift coupons or discounts to your partners’ or sponsors’ products to strengthen your business relationship (and save money, of course).

Consider rewarding the second and third-place winners, too, if the type of contest allows for it. Or, if you want to go all out, you could give away small prizes just for entering, like a digital download, a discount code, or a free trial.

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5. Write the Rules and Guidelines

Running an online contest isn’t all fun and games – it's time for some more paperwork! It’s important to establish the rules for your competition before launching it so that your customers have the full picture before they decide if they want to enter. It goes without saying that changing something up at the last minute or running into legal troubles wouldn't be a good look.

When it comes to this stage, it’s best to separate it into two parts: guidelines and rules.

Guidelines have to do with the main conditions for entry – that is, what this online contest is about in the first place. Make sure to give a few specific pointers on what the participants have to do and be clear about the start date, the deadline, and, of course, the prizes.

Rules give some extra context and elaborate on the legal details, such as:

• Which countries or regions participants can enter from;
• Age limits;
• Whether company employees or their relatives are allowed to enter;
• Whether participants are allowed to submit more than one entry;
• What the review and winner selection process looks like;
• Ownership (whether the company is allowed to use the generated content for marketing purposes).

The guidelines should be as clear and concise as possible, while the rules are essentially the fine print – they should be available in addition to the guidelines. If your online contest takes place on social media, don't forget to check in with the platform’s rules and regulations, as well.

Once again, make sure the guidelines and rules line up with your objectives! Let’s say you put down “growing the email subscribers’ list” as one of your goals. In that case, you should definitely include signing up for the newsletter in your list of entry requirements.

6. Choose Your Platform

That’s it for the theoretical part – now that you’ve got your “How to Run an Online Contest” plan down in writing, it’s time to start bringing this vision to reality. For which, of course, you’re going to need a platform.

The trickiest part here is to decide where your online contest will take place in general. You have three main choices – your company’s website, social media, or a dedicated online contest platform (you’ll find my recommendations in one of the sections below).

Social media might seem like the perfect no-fuss solution – you’ve no doubt seen an online contest on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok before. Community platforms like Telegram and Discord are a popular choice, too. But the other two options have some pretty compelling advantages of their own. Here’s a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of each of those three mediums:

Table: Features of different online contest platforms

As you can see, there’s no single right option for everyone. Here’s my two cents on this dilemma:

• Social media is best for generating hype and attracting a large number of participants with little effort;
• Company website is the number one option for driving more traffic to your website and newsletter and having full control over your branding and data;
• Dedicated platforms excel at managing more complex online contests with advanced tracking and marketing features at an additional cost.

With that in mind, choosing one of your company’s most popular social media channels seems like a no-brainer if you’re running a large-scale, low-effort type of contest (like a hashtag or a caption contest), while the other two options are more suited for content-driven contests.

If you’re on a tight budget and have a sufficiently popular and well-managed company website, there are few shortcomings to hosting an online contest there – but if you have a more unique initiative in mind (such as a Web3 mission), feel free to explore the top-rated online contest hosting platforms I’m going to tell you about in later in this article!

📚 Check Out: Best Community Management Platforms

7. Launch the Contest

There’s not much left to say here – the exact steps will depend on what platform you’ve picked.

Running an online contest on social media more or less boils down to writing and sharing the announcement post.

In contrast, online contest hosting platforms usually have their own unique workflow. You can check out my tutorial for the BitDegree Mission Builder below and see what the whole process could look like from start to finish before signing up for something larger in scope!

8. Create a Marketing Strategy

There’s no use throwing a cool online contest if no one notices it, right? You’ve figured out how to run a contest online, and now you’ll need to find out the best ways to get the word out.

Luckily, there's no shortage of avenues for promotion. I’ve already tipped you off on how to increase your online contest’s visibility on your own company website, and here are a few more ideas:

• Email Campaign. If you’re already running a regular newsletter, make sure to mention the contest there. If not, there’s no better time or excuse to start one!
• Social Media. Share a few announcement posts in advance to build up the hype.
• Forums and Online Communities. Find the relevant online communities on Discord, Telegram, or Reddit, and advertise your contest there.
• Influencer Marketing. Reach out to some of the prominent influencers in your industry. This could pay off especially well if you’re running a photo/video contest.

• Paid Advertising. PPC (Pay-per-Click) advertising is still one of the most popular and profitable ways to attract leads and drive traffic to your website. If you’re hosting an online contest on social media, try running PPC ads on the same platform.
• Partnerships. If you’ve teamed up with partners or sponsors for this contest, pool your marketing resources together to amplify the signal.
• Contest Promotional Sites. Find some online contest aggregator websites to attract a wider audience.

Don’t just string together a slapdash promotional calendar with one or two posts before the launch and leave it at that, however. Keep the momentum going and keep your participants (both current and potential ones) updated.

📚 Check Out: Best AI Marketing Tools

9. Select and Announce the Winner(s)

The big day has finally arrived – your online contest is officially over! Hopefully, you’re now left with a big pile of submissions to sort through and pick the lucky winner(s).

This stage will depend on what type of contest this is, which platform you chose, and what criteria you set for the review and the judgment process. A photo or video contest is naturally going to take a lot longer to evaluate than something like short-form hashtag or caption-based submissions.

Keep your participants updated on the proceedings – no one wants to be left in the dark! You’ll come across as more professional if you set a public deadline for the winner announcement.

Once you’re through, notify the winner (or winners) both in person and in a public announcement post. If you’re using one of the dedicated online contest platforms, you might be able to automate this process, but I’d still recommend posting the announcement on your social media channels and the company blog.

Received more submissions than expected? Don’t be shy about mentioning that, too! You could also use this announcement to tease the next similar initiative and encourage the participants to share some feedback.

10. Generate Value from the Submissions

If your online contest involved any type of creative user-generated content, you’ll definitely want to showcase it. The participants will no doubt be curious to see what their competitors’ submissions look like. Make a follow-up blog or social media post featuring all those photos, videos, captions, essays, or product designs your customers have created.

Next up, consider all the ways you could put this content to use. In the case of a product design or naming contest, it’s pretty obvious. On the other hand, if it’s a photo or a video contest, you might want to use the submissions as promotional material for your website, product acts, or social media posts, letting your participants act as “unofficial brand ambassadors”^[2] in a way.

If your online contest was particularly unique and successful, you could even try launching a full-fledged PR campaign and pitch it to news outlets!

11. Analyze Other Relevant Metrics

Of course, submissions themselves aren’t the only measurable result of this initiative. Depending on the type of the contest and the platform you ran it on, there’s a whole list of other metrics worth tracking:

• Entry and Participation Metrics. Total submissions, number of unique participants, entry method, time of entry, prize claim rate, winner engagement (did most winners share their results on social media).
• Social Media Engagement Metrics. Follower growth, the number of impressions, story views, mentions and tags, the number of upvotes and comments (both on the contest-related posts and in general).
• Website and Traffic Metrics. Total page views, unique visitors, bounce rate (did visitors engage or leave immediately?), traffic sources, time spent on the contest page, conversion rate (percentage of visitors who actually entered the contest).
• Lead Generation and Email Marketing Metrics. Total email signups, email conversion rate, opt-in rate (percentage of people who gave consent for future emails), email open rate, unsubscribe rate.
• Paid Advertising Metrics. Ad impressions, Click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), cost per lead (CPL), ad conversion rate (percentage of ad clicks that resulted in contest entries).
• Post-Contest Metrics and ROI Analysis. Customer conversion rate (percentage of participants who became paying customers), retention rate of new followers, website traffic after the contest, overall ROI (revenue or value gained VS total contest costs).
• Participant Feedback. What did your contestants have to say about their experience? What did they enjoy the most, and what could have been improved?

Some of those metrics, particularly the post-contest ones, will take a while to become apparent – so don’t switch off immediately once the online contest is over! When you’re done analyzing the data, share it with your team, business partners, or sponsors as you see fit.

How to Run an Online Contest on BitDegree

You know what they say – you can’t learn to swim by reading about it! At the end of the day, the only way to learn how to run a contest is to actually give it a go. The good news is that you don’t need to get your business involved just yet. How about trying something with lower stakes for now?

Enter BitDegree, one of the best gamified Web3 education platforms. It’s the perfect tool to let you put on some training wheels and run a fun play-to-earn Mission. You’ll have a chance to build your own little community of players and hand out rewards with no coding knowledge or technical skills needed.

In this section, I’ll show you how to create an online contest using the BitDegree Mission Builder.

Make sure to mention:

• Mission cost (if any);
• Who’s eligible for the rewards (everyone who completes the Mission or just a select few?);
• Whether the rewards are earned or won ("earning" implies that everyone who completes the Mission will be rewarded, while “winning” should mean a chance to win a prize, but no guarantee).

When you're done, click [CONTINUE].

If you picked “Currency”, specify the crypto coin, the amount per winner, and the total number of winner slots available. If you selected “This is a Lucky Draw”, enter the draw end date. Once you’ve finished, click [CONTINUE].

This is it! Now you can sit back and enjoy watching players flock to your Mission. If you want to make any changes, you can always edit the Mission and click [PUBLISH] again.

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Top 5 Alternative Platforms for Creating an Online Contest

I couldn’t recommend BitDegree’s Mission Builder enough – it’s an excellent way to learn how to run an online contest without having to spend a single cent or commit too much time or effort. Having said that, if you’re looking for a bit different type of tool, I have a few alternatives. Here’s my list of the best online contest generators.

ShortStack

ShortStack is a flexible social media contest app that lets users create multiple types of contests in a matter of minutes with no coding knowledge required. Its advanced collaboration and project management features make it a great pick for teams and agencies.

Here are the key features you’ll find on this platform:

• Widgets and Templates. An intuitive drag-and-drop builder with 20+ widgets (such as form, poll, newsletter, social media, gallery, and voting) and 150+ templates to choose from.
• Customization. Easily customize colors, fonts, boxes, text size, and other elements in your contest page.
• IFTTT-Style Automations. Set up handy automations (for example, a "thank you" pop-up following a contest form submission).
• Email Notifications. Notify your winners or other participants with automated scheduled emails.
• Leads Database. Filter out your leads with a searchable and exportable database.

Unfortunately, learning how to run an online contest with ShortStack won’t come cheap. There’s no free plan, and the entry-level tier starts at $49/month, with the most expensive one costing $499/month. An annual subscription comes with a 20% discount.

Easypromos

This platform supports an impressive range of contest types, including direct giveaways, video contests, quizzes, games, and more. Easypromos’s user-friendly website will help you find the best type of online contest for your economic sector, use case, objective, or key functionality you’re looking for.

Here’s what Easypromos has to offer for online contest hosts:

• Responsive Designs and Widgets. Adapt your contest to different platforms, screen sizes, and social networks.
• Advanced Data Reports. Export and download the results of your online contest with graphs, charts, and other infographic elements.
• Fraud Prevention. Easypromos has ISO 27001 and 27018 certification, guaranteeing robust security, and a reliable fraud control system.
• Multilingual Support. This platform supports over 30 languages for multilingual promotions.
• Marketing Collaboration. Team up with influencers, brands, or sponsors to create an online contest together.

The Basic plan costs $29/month and allows Facebook and Instagram contests with up to 5,000 comments. If you’re looking for something more flexible, there are three more plans ranging from $49 to $349 per month.

ViralKit

ViralKit is one of the best AI-powered online contest generators. With this platform, the process of creating an online contest takes just a few seconds and only requires you to write a single prompt! Those who prefer the traditional way have the option to set the contest up manually.

Check out ViralKit’s main features:

• 60+ Social Media Platforms. Run your contest on a vast selection of social media channels.
• 30+ API Integrations. Seamlessly link your online contest to 12 available CRM API integrations from across the web.
• Entry Management. Select the winners automatically or manually, delete individual entries, and download user data in a CSV file.
• Real-Time Analytics. Get in-depth insights about your contest and optimize your campaign’s success.
• Enterprise-Level Security. Protect your campaign and ensure its integrity with ViralKit’s robust fraud detection tools.

ViralKit has three pricing tiers: Boost ($29/month), Elevate ($59/month), and Ultimate ($129/month). The entry-level plan offers unlimited entries, custom styling, and 40+ social media platforms, while the other two have a larger social media platform selection and advanced features like white labeling and custom branding.

Woorise

Rather than being a dedicated online contest builder, Woorise functions as an all-in-one marketing platform designed to take your lead generation to the next level. With this tool, you can create forms, surveys, quizzes, popups, or viral giveaways and generate effective landing pages with responsive templates.

When it comes to the topic of how to run an online contest, Woorise has got you covered with these key features:

• Social Media Contest Templates. Create online contests with just a few clicks using pre-built templates for types like refer-a-friend contests, photo competitions, and more.
• Drag-and-Drop Editor. Customize the layout and the general look of your contest with widgets and other interactive elements.
• Workspaces. Keep all the data and contests from different companies you work with separate using the workspace feature.
• Flexible Publishing. Post your contests on a subdomain or directly to your site through a WordPress plugin and display it in different ways: as a pop-up, in full screen, or in chat.
• Advanced Contest Features. Make use of additional features like geo-targeting, fraud detection, instant win milestones, and more.

Woorise offers three pricing plans. For $23/month, you’ll get the Basic plan that includes unlimited landing pages and 1,000 entries per month. Unfortunately, photo contests are only available in the Grow ($39/month) and Pro ($79/month) plans.

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Outgrow

Outgrow is another all-in-one contest builder you can use to set up all sorts of fun competitive campaigns. It offers unparalleled contest configuration tools like outcome mapping, conditional messaging, and branching logic to control what kind of content visitors who open your contest page are exposed to.

Here’s what you can expect from this platform:

• Automated Social Actions. Give your participants extra points or bonus entries for completing various social media actions, such as commenting or liking posts.
• 1-Click Winner Picking. Woorise automatically chooses a random winner or winners according to the parameters and filters you set.
• Instant Reward Redemption. Distribute digital prizes like coupons, content upgrades, or downloads immediately.
• Geo Targeting. Limit your online contest to specific countries.
• Multiple Integrations. Woorise integrates with a wide range of marketing and automation tools to help create a seamless workflow.

Woorise supports four pricing plans. The Freelancer plan costs only $14/month and offers five content types but doesn’t include giveaways, so you’ll probably want to go with Freelance Pro ($25/month) or higher. The topmost tier (the Business plan) costs $600/month and gives you access to full custom branding, domain, and advanced integrations.

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Conclusions

Hopefully, my in-depth guide gave you just what you needed to push you in the right direction. Once you jot down your own game plan using my step-by-step tutorial as a blueprint, you’ll be well on your way to learning how to run an online contest!

Let me hammer down a few key points again while we wrap up. Make sure to distill clear goals and objectives for your campaign – this will ultimately shape what the end result looks like. On top of that, think carefully about where you want to host it, weighing all the pros and cons of every option.

Scientific References

1. Schaarschmidt M., Dose D. B.: 'Customer engagement in idea contests: Emotional and behavioral consequences of idea rejection';

2. Brooks R., Christidis R., Carah N., Kelly B., Martino F., Backholer K.: 'Turning users into ‘unofficial brand ambassadors’: marketing of unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages on TikTok'.