Facebook allows up to 12 individual visible tabs.  Each provides real estate for a custom contest application.  Too few companies take full advantage of this space.  We can hardly think of on occasion when this inventory should be allowed to spoil.  The number one reason consumers will make repeat visits to your page is to see if there is value.  And consumers see great value in online contests.  A well thought out contest app will deliver value in many ways because it can facilitate real time communications with customers.  Because there are some fixed costs associated with adding apps there are three things to consider when adding a contest app to your Facebook page.

1. Know before your begin what the true objective or reason is for adding the contest app.  Contest (and sweepstakes) can meet a variety of objectives such as increasing awareness and purchase intent.  But use caution in overestimating their direct impact on sales.   Contest and sweepstakes promotions are not direct conversion tactics like a coupon or premium offer because under most circumstances making a purchase cannot be a condition of participating or entering.

2. Be realistic about how many people you will reach through your current fan base.  The number of fans you have who would be exposed to a contest app.  Absent of a suitable number of current fans you’ll need to think about media to drive up the numbers.  The media budget is going to be the largest single item in the overall campaign unless you have planned a very exotic contest prize structure (which we don’t recommend).

3. Make the commitment both in expense and time to place a contest app on your page that is legally compliant.  We’re seeing too many promotion marketers take chances with the law.  Recently a well known east coast supermarket chain got slapped with a $102,000 judgment because they violated the most basic of rules.  Not sure if this slipped through the cracks or if they knowingly took a chance.  We wince when we see these things because there isn’t a reason on the planet for it to happen.  If you’re interested, the full story can be found here.

Another important piece of news coming out of Facebook is the move toward reducing the number of types of paid ad units.  This means less fatigue on the part of users so when they arrive at your page there will be receptivity to your contest app.  For more information send us an email at expert@mardenkane.com or fill out our contact form and we’ll be happy to discuss your custom app needs.