We have been running community competitions on Facebook for our clients for a number of years, and they have always had a positive impact on the Page following, so they are definitely a good way to increase your fans. They need to be managed effectively and you will need to ensure there are set rules (which you can add alongside your Privacy Policy on your website and link to the page, in order to minimise character overload on your Facebook post).
With estate agency businesses, you want to get into the heart of the community, and what better idea than to involve local children. I expect that many of your agencies currently sponsor local schools or clubs, perhaps putting up their ‘Summer or Christmas Fayre’ boards a couple of times a year? Well, how about taking it a step further, and offering the school a great prize, donation for the library or computer equipment, and ask if they would get their classes involved in your Facebook competition?
Some of the most successful competitions we have run for our clients are school colouring competitions. Here are some examples:
Lawrence Rand Estate Agents Christmas Competitions 2017 & 2018
This child’s drawing reached over 20,000 people alone (although a friend did have rather a large FB following!)
Lawrence Rand & Northfields Estate Agents Easter Competition 2018
Some of the entries produced amazing results:
With the competition over, there is good PR to be had, make sure that you get a photo with the child/children or presenting gifts to schools etc. One competition below had children donating their prizes to charity which gained even more tractions after the event.
Other types of competition also work for adults if you can offer a good prize.
Maxine Lester ‘Spot the Shot’ Competition
As part of Maxine’s weekly blog, the ‘Spot the Shot’ competition drives people to the website to see if they can identify the property with the item or object in the ‘shot’ and the winner comes into the office to collect their prosecco weekly, ensuring the competition stays local. I draw the winner weekly on video by putting the correct names in a hat, this gives authenticity to the proceedings as I am an independent person.
Dawson’s Cake Smash Competition &Dog Days of Swansea Competition
Run in conjunction with local photography studio Safelight Images.
Whoever made the cake which got the most Facebook likes, won a photo shoot with a local photography studio called a “Cake Smash”. Aimed at relatives of young children as the cake smash photo shoot is for babies, they get a cake to smash on camera and a lovely portrait to show for it.
Similarly, the dog with the most likes won the competition for a dog portrait.
Maxine Lester Hallowe’en Pumpkin Competition
This was run internally and externally, with prizes given to both winners!
Prestige Dream VIP Club offered membership and some rather lovely bottles of bubbly
London Residential & Robinson Jackson Nespresso Machine Competitions
London Residential ran this competition to start their company Facebook page and increase their following. The page likes went from low 100s to over 1200.
Boxing day is traditionally a great time for promoting your brand online, so this Robinson Jackson Group competition for a Nespresso coffee machine went down a treat. The winner came into the office to collect and the post captured her with the team, which worked really well.
Dawsons Golf Giveaway
Dawsons run a reward card for their clients and had golf round passes to give away, so we made it into a competition. See I got involved again!
If you are interested in running a social media competition, it is part of some social media packages we run, so take a look and get in touch!
Social Media From JP Gardner & Associates
Jane Gardner
I work all over the UK with various business owners, dedicating my creative and expert property knowledge from 35 years in the industry. I am a Level 4 ARLA Propertymark examiner, I sit on the board of Agents Giving Charity and I love everything property related! I can be contacted on 01923 627777 or by email to jane@social-angels.co.uk
