Website Competitions

Do you run competitions?

[appi2]

Would love to hear from anyone who runs competitions on thier sites.
What to be aware of, the downside of running any comps.
What sort of competitions worked best for you? caption, questions, games or just plain entry.
Any legal issues.

[Rosalind]

I am not a lawyer, but you may notice that most competitions allow users to enter without purchasing anything. That's something to do with gambling regulations.

Another thing to consider is postage costs, if people will be winning goodies. The net is worldwide, but you may have to cut a lot of your users out of the fun if it costs to much to let them win.

[webboy1]

We run quite a few competitions on different client sites. I think it really depends on what the objective is. For instance, if it is simply to try and build your database of names then the easiest of competition formats should be used i.e. one question with multi choice answer (with the answer being obvious).

If it is to be used as a viral with a great prize to promote awarness then a more catchy, gamey competition would be better.

We use alsorts for different things.

I think the most important thing you should look into is the legal side. Be 100% clear on what you are offering and exactly what happens to the users details etc.

Also, as mentioned in the previous answer, you might also want to restrict which country entrants can be from i.e. you don't want to end up having to post a big prize around the world ... or indeed offering a prize that is of no use to anyone outside the UK while allowing the whole world to enter.

Hope this helps.

[wheel]

I used to run a community forum where we routinely had contests and games. We used them strictly as a community building exercise and gave away prizes that didn't cost much but meant a lot to the community. And we kept all the contests and games real easy so that anyone could participate.

for example, we'd have a 'best avatar' contest, or best new smilie. Then give away red swingline staplers (from the movie office space - the community consisted of professional employees who would have all seen that movie).