Have you ever offered a prize for user contributed content?

Forum Moderators: not2easy

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Have you ever offered a prize for user contributed content?

Id so, what where your experiences.

mack

3:06 am on Dec 8, 2012 (gmt 0)

A recent project I am involved with requires a large amount of content. We are talking in the range of 1000 unique articles, each around 500-1000 words. I have written about 200 and its getting to be a struggle.

The articles are on widgets, the widgets are very common, although every widget is different. I would like to invite people to write about their personal widget.

In terms of reward.. I was thinking along the lines of an iPad or cash equivalent.

All entries must be in by xx/xx/xxxx the winner will be the page that receives the most Facebook likes by XX/XX/XXXX

Just now this is a very rough idea, looking for your suggestions especially if this is something you have personal experience with.

Mack.

not2easy

3:06 pm on Dec 8, 2012 (gmt 0)

I have never run a contest like this, but you should know that FB Likes are easily manipulated. Do a quick search for "buy facebook likes".

Rosalind

4:29 pm on Dec 8, 2012 (gmt 0)

I haven't run a contest for a while, and I didn't do one with a prize in return for writing. In general you'll get a lot of traffic if you post to some of the more popular contest aggregation sites. A lot of these people will be professional or keen amateur compers, and in general the easier your contest is to take part in, the more entries you'll get.

My overall feeling was that these visitors weren't very valuable, because they weren't necessarily interested in the topic of my site, or in coming back for more unless it was for a prize.

However since your aim is content rather than repeat visitors, I'd say give it a go but start small. Offer a small prize for a small chunk of content. Personally I wouldn't touch a writing gig in the form of a contest, so don't expect much in the way of professional contributions. But maybe that's not what you're after?

mack

3:26 am on Dec 10, 2012 (gmt 0)

Thank you for the relies, plenty of food for thought :)

Mack.

travelin cat

5:02 pm on Dec 12, 2012 (gmt 0)

Mack, I'm not sure about the UK, but here in the US, there are a lot of regulations that must be followed when offering any type of contest.

The law requires every person who conducts a contest to disclose on each entry blank the deadline for submission of that entry. Use of the word "lucky" to describe an entry form or symbol, or any other implication that advantage is conferred on the participant in preference to other participants, is prohibited. So too is the use of simulated checks, currency or items of value unless they bear the words "SPECIMEN - NONNEGOTIABLE" clearly and conspicuously.

That was just one part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs regulations on contests which can be found here: [dca.ca.gov...]

We considered offering a contest on one of our sites and abandoned the concept after reviewing some of the regs found here in California.

jo1ene

3:15 pm on Mar 13, 2013 (gmt 0)

We ran a drawing once for filling out a survey. People filled out the survey but would not claim the prize when notified. It was to be a monthly drawing. We drew 4 or 5 names over several months and tried emailing and calling with no response. The prize was an iPod which was new at the time. The last time was a free stay at a hotel ( the site was travel related) and that didn't work either. The site owner thought the iPod didn't work because it wasn't related to the site's topic. I thought it was a good idea because it was generic enough - who doesn't want an iPod, right? Apparently I was wrong...