Connecting with your online communities is important for small businesses to thrive. Especially during Chinese New Year when every business is giving their best to grab customer attention. Need more ideas on how to do it better? Elevate your online presence and engage your audiences by holding an online contest or giveaways. Not only that your participants learn more about your business and be aware of your Chinese New Year offers, but you can reach more new customers and gain better engagement online too!
So what should you do to optimize your contest engagement with your audience this Chinese New Year? Try these winning contest strategies for Chinese New Year!
Start with showcasing your prize that is attractive to your current followers. There are many kinds of prizes suitable for giveaways such as discounts or vouchers for your restaurant or your curated gift baskets with CNY themes. The more appealing the prize, the higher the motivation for participation. For example, The Chicken Rice Shop has done a fun Hot-Ah challenge with vouchers for a special meal for their winners. This gift requires minimal effort from organizers, yet is perfect for the occasion and their audience, it is also an opportunity for winners to try more of The Chicken Rice Shop’s menu, winning their long-term loyalty.
Easy steps are important for your participants to join. Design your contest mechanics to only take participants seconds to take part. It can get more visibility, and encourage sharing as well. Ask an open question, let them guess or propose a Chinese New Year dish name, or you can require them to take a photo of them dining in your restaurant feasting on your Chinese New Year menu – there are many ways to do it. Make tagging a friend an entry requirement to achieve more reach within your contest period while encouraging conversations. This has been done by Oversea Restaurant for their Yeesang giveaway on Facebook. Their giveaway process requires participants to follow very easy steps.
Encourage more participation and try implementing a limited-time aspect to your contest to create a sense of urgency. While doing that, make the duration brief yet reasonable to encourage prompt participation and generate excitement as the deadline approaches. Too much time kills urgency, so we recommend 7-10 days for your contest to let the audience gather and participate before announcing the winner. Take a look at YuBake for example. Their Chinese New Year giveaway only runs from 2nd to 7th of January with 3 winners chosen. It urges viewers to hurry up as the chance of winning the prize is running. This short contest received 406 likes, 647 comments in such a short period!
Forming a connection with other businesses or influencers can boost your online presence. Not only does it give you access to a wider audience, it also helps you build trust and rapport. Influencers can share your brand values and your limited-time contest with their loyal followers which can contribute to more followers for you, as well as contest participation. Fellow businesses can also be a big help, as your collaboration would create greater hype and mutual promotion. For example, a collaboration between Inside Scoop and Poh Kong offers a special gold ice cream cake as their Chinese New Year giveaway. This unexpected collaboration was a win-win for both parties, as their audiences learned about each other’s business.
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