Photo Contest Advertising

November 01, 2010 · by Louis Camassa

You've tried PPC, shopping comparison, email newsletters, SEO, affiliate marketing, and a few other advertising avenues, but are looking for something new and fun. Let me introduce you to a low cost, easy advertising campaign that will generate buzz, create new customers, and develop new content for your products! Drum roll….the Social Photo Contest!

Popping up all over the web, eCommerce sites are incorporating photo contest campaigns to increase visibility and sales. Simply said; they are inexpensive, easy to setup, and surprisingly effective. The benefits are many:

1. Encourage existing customers to return to and engage with your site.
2. Attract new customers through the social media and word-of-mouth buzz.
3. Build content for your product pages.
4. Increase product visibility, and awareness.
5. Plan supporting campaigns such as; email newsletters, press releases, on-site banner ads, etc…

All this adds up to more sales!

The strategy is quite simple. Depending upon what you are selling, create a photo contest campaign that includes your customer using/wearing/holding/etc… your product(s).

For example, at http://advanceadapters.com/gallery/17722/Mobbin-the-Back-Country.html - Advance Adapters held a contest called “Mobbin the Back Country” to feature customers vehicles in a “Rugged, Picturesque, or Out-of-the-Way location”. A month after the contest started, over 300 submissions were received!

Here’s the step-by-step process to start your own campaign:

1. Develop a creative and fun campaign that will incorporate your customers using your products.
2. Define a trendy name for the campaign as well as a start and end date. Make sure to also draft some terms and conditions for the contest.
3. Setup the webpage and submission form on your site to collect; name, email, photo’s (and titles) and products used in photo’s (which can be crossed referenced on the product page).
4. Publicize the campaign on your social media profiles, email newsletters, homepage, footer links, banners, etc…You can also publish a press release, start a new PPC campaign, and other such marketing to get the word out.
5. Once the contest has ended, tally up the ratings of each photo to select your winner!

This grass-roots marketing campaign will not only engage your existing customers, but attract new ones! You also get photo's of your customers using your products, which is a powerful sales tool!

Examples of the product/customer photo association:

This campaign works very well for businesses that sell apparel:

Don't be limited to just photo's-you can hold video, essay-style, recipe, and other such contests. Your only limited by your imagination and the flexibility of what you are selling!

Feel free to also incorporate the Facebook "Like" button on your customers submissions to help increase exposure and linkage. If you want to be really unique, have the contest winner chosen based upon the number of "Likes" associated with the customers submission.

Category: Tips For Newcomers, Mostly | Tags: advertising, Marketing, marketing