Contests vs Giveaways vs Sweepstakes - What is the difference? 🤔
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Have you ever wondered what is the difference between contests, giveaway and sweepstakes? Many small business owners seem to use these marketing terms interchangeably. However, each of them has a different meaning and it’s important to know it for your next viral campaign.
The general assumption is that Giveaway is the umbrella term for Sweepstakes and Contests. Both give people the chance to win a prize but the winner is chosen in a different way.
This brings us to the question “What is the difference between Sweepstakes and Contests?”
Sweepstakes are used to increase brand awareness, get referrals, grow your Facebook, grow your Instagram, grow your social media channels and you can also grow your email list through sweepstakes. All participants have to do is enter the campaign and follow the rules. The winner is chosen at random.
Now some people would ask “How to pick a random winner?”. You can use a random winner generator (for facebook and not only). Think of sweepstakes as a game of luck. Some organize sweepstakes through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter others through viral referral software such as UpViral, Vyper, ViralSweep, ViralLoops, etc.
Contests are also used to get email subscribers, to get leads and you can even get traffic through contests. However, the best way to use contests is to engage your audience. In this case, people try to win a prize by doing something better than others. The winner is chosen based on how good his submission is. For example, if you organize a photo contest, a comment contest, a caption contest, etc. the person with the best submission will win. Think of contests as a game of skill.
One can see that people don’t know the difference between contests vs sweepstakes because many searches in Google are for the terms “contest winner picker”, “contest winner generator”. Obviously, people want to pick a random winner (sweepstake) but are thinking of contests.
The most popular types of social media contests are Facebook contests, Instagram contests, twitter contests and YouTube contests. However, the most effective ones are Viral Contests. In order to run a viral contest, you will need software such as UpViral or Vyper. Some people categorize this software as viral referral marketing software, contest software, referral platforms and more. They help you get leads through a referral program and help you go viral.