Hosting a summer contest is a great way to get customers involved with your business. And they’re also an ideal chance to get branded swag out into the world. Plus, when someone wins your swag instead of just receiving it as they walk by at a trade show, it feels even more special. As they share the story of their win, more people will become interested in you. That’s a win for your contestant and for you!
But just what sort of summer contests should you be hosting and how can you make the most of them? We have some fun ideas to help your business get noticed.
Dad and Me Competition:
With Father’s Day right around the corner, hosting contests for dads or grandpas to participate in with their children will help get your business noticed in a new way. There are several options when hosting a contest for dads and kids. Start your marketing now and have a big event at your business on Father’s Day with specials and sales for dads. You can have a picture drawing contest at your business, and award a prize to the best picture. You can also do a relay race competition with all the classic games – egg toss, water balloon toss, and 3-legged races, if you have a business with a good location and lots of traffic.
For prizes, give away matching items that come in adult and kid sizes, such as t-shirts, hats, or beach towels. For all participants, you could give away a fun lawn game, branded frisbees, beach balls, basketballs, footballs, or soccer balls. Anything that dad and the kids can enjoy together will make your Father’s Day contest a real winner.
Talent Show:
If you have a bigger showroom area that you can clear a space for a day, a talent show is a great way to bring in business. Market to a variety of venues and individuals. Pass out flyers at schools and daycares, as well as other small businesses; you can even get your employees on board to perform!
Don’t do trophies for the winners. Instead, think about branded giveaways like cooling towels, outdoor game sets, or grilling sets, Think Quik has tons of options. Pair several items together in a fun cooler for the ultimate first place prize. Like the Dad and Me ideas, you can also pass out smaller items to all participants, such as sunglasses and sunscreen.
Pro Tip: how will you decide who will win? Take a tip from the talent shows on TV and let the audience vote. That ensures all your contestants will recruit their friends and family to participate.
Food Eating Contest:
Perfect for the restaurateur, food eating contests bring people in the door. You have the individuals who want to compete, and then the spectators who want to see if the participants can actually eat three pounds of ice cream. Make a food eating contest a big event in your town by hosting it during a fair or festival. Pick your signature dish, and build the contest around that.
As for prizes for the contestants, pick items that relate to the food, but will also be useful in their everyday life. Perfect food items for summer include beer glasses, picnic baskets filled with cups, plates, utensils, and a blanket for sitting, and an ice cream scoop. You can pair these with a gift card for the winner as well.
Bonus suggestion: Go live on Facebook and allow everyone to see this contest of gluttony.
Summer Photo Contest:
A summer photo contest will engage your social media users. Have a different theme each day, and pick a prize such as a selfie stick or phone case to give to a winner. Themes can include showing off their favorite summer activity, posing with an item in your store, or you can create a prompt and have them answer with a photo. A good prompt would be, “Shopping local is important to me because…”
Choose a hashtag with your business name and require that hashtag to be used in order to be entered into the contest. You can also have your followers vote on the entries and pick a winner each day.
Summer contests will be big hits if the prize is right and the entrance is easy. Pick items that you know your target audience will love. Whenever possible, take the onus off yourself to judge the contest and put it back on the audience. That will ensure more social media shares and word of mouth advertising for your business.
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