Brewing Skill-Based Business Competitions: Tips for Public Voting

This contest would be a good guide or inspiration in creating your own skill-based business competitions. You could use online platforms to have participants register, gather entries, and have your audience vote for their favorite. The virtual phases of your contest can be a preliminary to your live main event, so it also serves to market the upcoming occasion. Alternatively, your whole contest can take place online and be integrated to your company website to increase your web traffic and leads. You can encourage the participants and their supporters to share the contest or the creative entries to achieve this goal even sooner. Like the Sam Adams and Entrepreneur contest, you can require voters to leave simple contact information like their email address, and get their permission to be added to your company mailing list or newsletter.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/brewing-skill-based-business-competitions-tips-for-public-voting/

Contest Management Software Essential for Video Contests

Video contests are one of the most compelling marketing tools today. Harnessing the power of social media and exploring the creativity of an audience, a video contest can reach masses to promote a brand, sometimes even making it a household name. As a marketer or public relations representative, you can satisfy the objectives of your clients with stellar results. Even the First Lady knows the strong impact that video contests can bring, as her past participation with Skild competition management systems successfully put into motion the Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP) in 2012. ASAP was a video competition project that worked with Child Obesity 180 and Tufts University to inspire children to get more physically active.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/contest-management-software-essential-for-video-contests/

Getting the Kids Involved makes Contest a Family Affair

Running an online contest is sometimes a double-edged sword since it makes submitting multiple entries easy. For fairness’ sake, businesses should choose an online contest platform that has a feature that restricts multiple entries from one sender. Have the participants complete a registration form and submit it along with their entry. Accuracy to compute rating according to set criteria Judging an artwork involves looking into several categories. As such, businesses should be clear with their criteria ahead of time and establish a rating system. Doing so will make it easy for judges to assign a score when judging the submitted entries. Afterward, the program should be able to compute the scores accurately to arrive at the overall grade.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/14/getting-the-kids-involved-makes-contest-a-family-affair/

And the award goes to…: Inspire your Audience with Grandeur

Your business should establish a cornerstone on which to base the awards. Are you honoring people or groups for their environmental efforts? Are you recognizing businesses for their social or environmental responsibility? Having focus prevents the awards program from turning into a hodgepodge of categories that make it appear like it was launched on a whim. Open the program for nominations. Soliciting nominations enables audience engagement, raising the stakes even higher for the winners. Using an awards management platform, like the one Skild, Inc. offers, can help a business efficiently store and secure the data of the submitted nominations.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/and-the-award-goes-to-inspire-your-audience-with-grandeur/

Story-telling becomes a path for marketing success

Experiences go far deeper than facts, figures, or features. They leave lasting impressions. By creating a story-based contest, you inspire your audience to participate in a competition that they won’t easily forget. Stories are your emotional connection to customers If it weren’t for stories, a company wouldn’t mean much to its audience. Stories create a real connection. Ask your fans to post stories about their individual and collective experiences about your product or service. It’s a way to create a rock-solid connection between what the company provides and the difference it’s making in the lives of your customers.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/story-telling-becomes-a-path-for-marketing-success/

Picture This: A Photo Contest for Your Next Marketing Campaign

You need to make it easy for your audience to join your contest, so when you’re deciding what type of photo contest to run, think of photos that your audience are likely to save on their computers and mobile devices. After all, it’s easier for people to share photos that are already available. Many people may also be excited to find an outlet to share their previously captured photos that they’re particularly proud of. Make your contest fit your target audience A photo contest has a much larger chance of success if your target audience includes artists, photographers, vacationers or scrapbookers. However, if your customers aren’t included in this list, creativity can still produce amazing results. Determine your target audience, and figure out a way to provoke their creativity.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/picture-this-a-photo-contest-for-your-next-marketing-campaign/

Skill-Based Business Competitions that Put Your Brand in the Spotlight

Likewise, you can capitalize on the creativity of your prospective customers to find unique, relevant, or innovative concepts for your products or services. Ask a general question like, “What would the smartphone of the future be able to do?” for gadget manufacturers, or create a specific subject, such as “Your Favorite Comfort Food” for restaurants. Take inspiration from the winning entries in developing or tweaking what you sell. Alternatively, your competition can be aimed at improving company policies or operations. Your participants can come up with ideas on how to make your office space more flexible, how to improve your employees’ productivity, etc. The public can evaluate the entries and vote for their favorite, or carefully selected experts can serve as judges.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/10/02/skill-based-business-competitions-that-put-your-brand-in-the-spotlight/

Using Contest Management Software for a Government’s Green Initiatives

Competitions like the one the White House is planning could use a sophisticated contest app like Skild, which is customizable to any agency’s branding strategy. Plus, it’s online, so it can be accessed easily by the public. The wide exposure given to the nominees and winners can provide them the much-deserved recognition. Additionally, it strengthens or extends the contest’s impact since others can use them as models. Call for Eco-Friendly Techies Government agencies can also use competitions to trigger the emergence of innovative technologies that will lessen the carbon footprint of specific institutions or whole industries. Participants can pitch an idea for a practical, earth-friendly device or machine through a proposal or a creative writing piece, and funds can be allotted to the winning entry for the actual manufacture of the device.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/using-contest-management-software-for-a-governments-green-initiatives/

Using an Online Contest Platform for Philanthropic Problem-Solving

Your nonprofit can also make a similar problem-solving online challenge or one that’s uniquely yours. The most pressing issues that are relevant to your cause can be the theme of your contest, and individuals who want to take a stand with you, or support you, can contribute ideas. You can find an affordable competition app to fulfill this project. An online contest management provider like Skild, Inc. that has in-depth experience working with nonprofits can support you in any kind of philanthropic prize. Skild can help you come up with ideas, or provide a sophisticated competition platform that can host your contest. You can supervise and monitor the progress of your challenge through the same platform to make sure you’re getting the results you envision.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/using-an-online-contest-platform-for-philanthropic-problem-solving/

Take Your Art Competition Online with Professional Contest Software

The same can also be said for art competitions. As the Internet becomes more widely available and internet speeds rise, more and more organizations are taking their art competitions to the cloud, so to speak. Take, for example, ArtStart, an initiative started by ArtPrize, an independently organized international art competition, to involve the youth in the art discussion. Open to anyone under the age of 18, the competition takes advantage of the Internet’s wide reach to get its message across to a larger audience.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/take-your-art-competition-online-with-professional-contest-software/

Take a Tip from the Canadians for Sweepstakes-style Contest Ideas

Sweepstakes and similar games have earned a generally negative reputation for having very low odds of winning. People today are more aware that although it appears that their chance of winning is very high, it’s actually very low. It could be less than 1 in 1 million. Meanwhile, the chance of winning a contest can be as good as 1 in 4. Therefore, there’s much to learn from the Canadian strategy of running sweepstakes-style games. It ensures that the chances of winning is determined initially by skill before it is influenced by luck. For these types of competitions, craft contest ideas properly, and execute them with the help of trusted contest management firms like Skild, Inc. so your investment would be totally worth it.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/take-a-tip-from-the-canadians-for-sweepstakes-style-contest-ideas/

Analytics Plays an Enormous Role in the Success of an Online Contest

Analytics can provide pertinent and specific data about the people who joined your contest, including how people view your event. Basically, it can present you with actual numbers on how well your contest did. Combining contest with analytics Contest management companies like Skild, Inc. can provide you with online contest analytics that you need to obtain accurate and reliable marketing data. With their help, you can build a truly beneficial online competition that would allow you to make adjustments to your strategies and, in the future, entice more people to join your contests.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/analytics-plays-an-enormous-role-in-the-success-of-an-online-contest/

Pointers in Launching a Business Contest to Find the Next Bright Idea

Some of the organizations that launch business plan competitions on a regular basis include the University of Texas and University of Oregon. However, running a similar competition shouldn’t be limited to academic institutions. Venture capitalists and investors can also hold their business competitions when they are in search of projects in need of funding or mentorship. Here are some pointers to keep in mind when running a contest on the most ideal business plan: Plan the big prize carefully. Venture capitalists and investors should be clear on what they want to offer the winner. Will they offer partial or full funding, with or without mentorship? The popular reality TV competition show, “Project Runway,” for instance, is upfront on the exact amount of money for winners so they can start their own line. Giving specifics on the rewards avoids ambiguity.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/pointers-in-launching-a-business-contest-to-find-the-next-bright-idea/

Using Contest Application Programs and Other Tips for Running Contests

Business owners who are running contests for the first time can take a cue from this example, and launch one that specifically supports their brand. Here are a few useful tips to run a contest to build a brand, from choosing the contest application program to deciding on the reward: Choose great prizes. How do you choose the rewards for the winners? Most businesses will settle on giving away their very own products as prizes, and this is a good and cost-effective idea. Gift certificates redeemable at their business’ stores is another great one. Business owners can also consider giving the winners the gift of experience rather than products, like trips to a faraway destinations or a hotel stay.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/using-contest-application-programs-and-other-tips-for-running-contests/

Building a Contest Platform—Three Recent Successful Ones to Learn From

For many business owners, the prospect of running an online contest seems daunting. Even those who have embraced the Internet may still be reluctant to consider launching a contest because of concerns, such as the extensive research and planning needed. You need not worry too much, though—companies can build an effective online contest platform for you to further your marketing reach. Contests can be an important part of an online marketer’s toolkit.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/building-a-contest-platform-three-recent-successful-ones-to-learn-from/

Harnessing Contest Software Effectively and Tips for Contest Success

For many nonprofits, running a contest via social media has become the best way to build credibility about their brand and earn support for their cause. This method not only engages supporters in a fun way but also produces a wealth of customer information organizers can use to enhance fundraising efforts. To collect and harness customer information effectively, though, you need to use contest software that integrates with your existing workflow and provides the public a seamless experience of your brand. The software must also provide the ability to monitor the contest through built-in analytics. Once the software is in place and a contest plan is in effect, you may then proceed to the next phase of the contest cycle, which is to launch it in social media. Nonprofit Quarterly’s Ritu Sharma provides these tips for increasing your contest’s chances at success.
http://luciuscambell.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/harnessing-contest-software-effectively-and-tips-for-contest-success/