by Google
YouTube contests are a popular marketing practice because they increase brand awareness, gain new followers or customer contacts, but above all, they work very well. YouTube marketing is all about building a community, and contests are a great tool to help you do that. We’ve prepared a few simple steps for you on how to create a great YouTube contest that will help you build your brand’s community.
SET YOUR GOALS
Goals clearly define what you want to achieve with a given contest. Is it to increase the audience for your brand’s YouTube channel or is it to collect leads? Whatever your goals are, don’t forget to clearly formulate them to help you achieve them. Clear and specific goals are much easier to achieve than general ones.
READ THE RULES OF YOUTUBE COMPETITIONS
Before you start running a competition on YouTube, review the platform's rules. The most important condition is that any competitions on YouTube must not violate the privacy policy, terms of service or community guidelines. The platform has very clear rules in this regard that must be followed. When creating "giveaways", make sure you meet the general restrictions and requirements, which are:
1. You are solely responsible for your contest.
2. Your YouTube contest must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations, including U.S. sanctions.
3. Your contest must not infringe or encourage the infringement of third-party rights or engage in any illegal activity.
4. You may not ask viewers to grant you the rights to or transfer ownership of their submitted content to you.
5. Entry to the contest must be free of charge.
6. You and any third party may not manipulate YouTube metrics to misrepresent the actual interactions viewers have with YouTube. These metrics include views, likes, dislikes, or subscribers.
7. Unless YouTube grants you prior written permission, you may not associate YouTube with your contest. This rule prohibits, among other things, actions or explicit statements that would suggest that YouTube is part of or supports your contest in any way.
TAKE INTO YOUTUBE CREATORS
A Google study shows that collaborations with YouTube creators are up to 4x more effective at building brand awareness than collaborations with celebrities. Take advantage of this opportunity, choose the right influencer for your brand, prepare great contests for your audience and achieve your marketing goals. If you need advice on choosing a YouTube influencer, do not hesitate to contact us.
CHOOSE A GREAT PRIZE
An important motivating element in your contest is the main prize. Make sure that the prize has the potential to engage your target audience and is relevant to both the brand and the work of the YouTube creator you are collaborating with. Simply put, if you want to promote a florist in collaboration with an influencer who creates gaming content and the main prize of the competition is a stay in the Tatra Mountains, there is a high probability that the competition will not work effectively. On the other hand, if a brand producing computer accessories created a competition together with a YouTuber with gaming content and the prize was a set of accessories for a gamer, we can almost certainly say that this type of competition has the potential to achieve very good results. Therefore, choose a prize that is relevant to your brand, influencer, and audience.
CLEARLY COMMUNICATE THE RULES
In addition to general requirements, YouTube also defines clear rules for your specific contest, which are as follows:
You must have official rules that:
1. Include links to the YouTube Community Guidelines and state that entries that do not comply with them will be disqualified. 2. Provide all information required by applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including U.S. sanctions laws. 3. Comply with and comply with all YouTube Terms of Service. 4. Your Contest must be conducted in accordance with your Official Rules and all prizes must be awarded as set forth in your Official Rules. 5. You are responsible for the rules and the entire administration of your contest.
6. Your rules must clearly state that YouTube is not a sponsor of your contest. They must also require viewers to release YouTube from any liability associated with the contest.
7. Your official rules must include a privacy notice that complies with the law. This notice explains how you will use the personal information you collect for the contest and that you will comply with the rules for that use.
When creating your contest rules, make a checklist and make sure they include:
☑ A clearly defined contest objective.
☑ Information on how to enter the contest.
☑ Information on who can participate in the competition.
☑ Information on the competition prizes.
☑ Information on how long the competition will last.
☑ Information on how many people can win.
☑ Information on when and how the winner will be announced.
☑ Information on where the winner can contact you.
☑ Incorporated requirements from the YouTube platform.
In addition to the points listed above, it is necessary to “release” YouTube from responsibility for the competition and publicly declare that it is not involved in any way in the creation of this activity. How to do this? Simply add a disclaimer to your contest description, such as:
“This contest is not affiliated with YouTube or any social media platform on which it is promoted.”
“This contest is sponsored by (brand name) and is in no way affiliated with the YouTube platform on which it is promoted.”
“The prizes in this contest are sponsored by (brand name) and are in no way sponsored by YouTube.”
We recommend posting a complete list of contest rules on your website. A comprehensive and transparent list of rules will help you avoid problems that could arise from unclear rules.
ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF THE COMPETITION
Let your target group know about the competition. The more people know about the competition, the more people can participate in it. Use your communication channels and introduce your marketing activity to your audience. A great way to announce an upcoming competition is a so-called "teaser" or a short video in which you present the prizes and the launch date to the audience. Make sure that the video is short, dynamic and has the potential to immediately attract attention.
ANNOUNCE THE WINNER TRANSPARENTLY
Today, there are many online tools, such as Woobox or Comment Picker, which will simply draw the winning comment for you. For complete transparency, you can record the process of generating the results on the screen either using the built-in tools on your computer or using the application Gyazo and publish them on the website or social networks. Thanks to these few extra steps, you build the credibility of your brand.
TIP ON YOUTUBE COMPETITION
Finally, we have prepared a tip for you on a YouTube competition that is simple, effective and supports community building.
Come up with a title for the photo/video
The basic rule of this competition is very simple. The person in the video presents various photos or videos and the task of the viewers is to come up with a creative title for them. They can write their ideas in the comments, which will also increase the engagement of the video, or they can send them via a pre-created online form. This is a simple and fun way to compete, which will not only appeal to, but also support the engagement of your target group.
Competitions can really bring excellent results if done correctly. Follow our 7 recommended steps and create successful contests. We hope you found this article helpful and if you have any further questions or advice, please feel free to contact us.
