Contest Ideas

KahneFan · December 23, 2008, 11:24:38 AM

As a lot of others, I have a couple of forums I'm trying to get traction in. I've been told contest can be a good way to get people coming back. So, what are some contest you've tried (that work)?

ApplianceJunk · December 24, 2008, 05:43:07 PM

QuoteI've been told contest can be a good way to get people coming back.

I have not found this to be true.
Contest have never worked that great for use at ApplianceJunk.com

A good niche and some SEO work did wonders for our forum.

thebofh · December 30, 2008, 11:06:44 PM

I run a Mountain Bike forum and have some stickers and t-shirts available through CafePress. I ran a competition to design a mountain bike track using a game called Freerider 2, then ran a poll to see whose track was the most popular. The winner got a t-shirt and the runners up got bumper stickers.

pinoypetfinder · December 31, 2008, 10:11:22 PM

the best way to get people coming back on your forum is just to simply keep the friendly atmosphere

later on you can run a contest, a simply way to say thanks to those loyal members you have

[works for us anyway

Looking · January 03, 2009, 05:26:01 PM

Money is a good incentive for everyone!

vbgamer45 · January 03, 2009, 05:33:21 PM

Money and contests usually don't work tell you get an active forum.
The bad part about paying people to participate is they keep posting usually not great posts either. Then once the contest is over people just leave. Seen it happen a couple times.

Looking · January 03, 2009, 05:52:25 PM

Other things may need to be considered like amount and requirement.

Ricky. · January 03, 2009, 06:15:33 PM

Quote from: ApplianceJunk on December 24, 2008, 05:43:07 PM
QuoteI've been told contest can be a good way to get people coming back.

I have not found this to be true.
Contest have never worked that great for use at ApplianceJunk.com

A good niche and some SEO work did wonders for our forum.

I agree.. me too have similar experience.. tried various contest.. no gain..
Only content and SEO is the king.!

Looking · January 03, 2009, 06:18:44 PM

I would very much to see some of these 'failed' contest ideas. Please post the exact requirement and remuneration here so I can see what you were doing. Thanks,

Ricky. · January 03, 2009, 06:28:34 PM

Well.. my initiatives were to attract more ppl to get active..
1 contest I made was for best poster of the month.. my criteria was simple, whomsoever made most post shall be considered same but quality will also come in place.

another contest was for submitting some articles ..

Another one was to pay per article .. but got lots of stolen junk

Paid articles rates were $1-3 depending upon quality and number...

Other contest prizes were mobile phone and similar gadgets..

But as of now.. no one bother to make more that 2-4 posts on that very month..

Looking · January 03, 2009, 06:32:53 PM

Articles for $1 to $3 only?

How much did you give for the person that posted the most?

Ricky. · January 03, 2009, 06:52:01 PM

Well.. I got lots of submission, was headache for me to find out the original and genuine article so only 3-4 made to posting.. rest were stolen work.. so another flop incentive/contest.

Looking · January 03, 2009, 06:54:13 PM

I think I am getting a better idea of the kind of people in your community now and why the response is such.

RATR · January 05, 2009, 09:00:42 AM

Well I can give you a definitive answer sometime after the 6Th of next month. Just started a contest for best picture posted to the gallery. The prize is $50.00 USD for the best picture that relates to the uniqueness of China which is part of the forum content. My forum has been going for nearly a year, just updated the theme (well Smoky did) and want to get members more active in putting up photo's and getting used to the new addition of the gallery.

Looking · January 05, 2009, 09:07:41 AM

$50! I wish I were in China taking photos right now. That is what I call a contest!

KahneFan · January 05, 2009, 09:11:52 AM

Makes my $20 look tiny

Guess we all start somewhere

Looking · January 05, 2009, 09:13:14 AM

What do you have for $20? Did you get your forum fixed yet?

KahneFan · January 05, 2009, 09:19:23 AM

There's a referral link in each member's signature, plus there's a referral box upon registration; both will track for registrations for 60 days. Whichever member gets the most registered (and posting) members (minimum 5) by 1-16-08 wins.

I'm still unsure what might be causing the error. Do me a favor and register on my other site http://www.heyhays.com (same theme, same SMF, many same mods) and see if it lets you log in.

Also, you can try logging into ipostyoupost with smf/smftest and see if that will allow you to login for some reason.

RATR · January 05, 2009, 05:05:19 PM

Well the $50.00 is not out of my pocket, it came from donations and other revenue. So I thought I'd give some back to the members and achieve something I wanted to be used more on the forum. I'm not going to start doing regular competitions, they will be random and spaced apart and mainly used to get members to use more of the new features and build even more content which is the main aim. That's what keeps the regulars and get others interested in joining the forum. Which has been said many times throughout this forum.

Ryanator · January 06, 2009, 06:27:28 PM

On our new forum, http://www.sicshooters.com/forum/, we had a Find The Drunkest Person On Photobucket competition. No prize involved (well, maybe some extra karma for funny pics). Got the post count rising a bit. Not the most responsible way to get people posting but it was funny nonetheless!

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Contest Ideas