Refer-a-Friend Contest
Run a contest in which people share and refer their friends to get entries
Refer-a-Friend Contest
E-commerce
Build your email list
Get new leads
Description
The Refer-a-Friend Contest Campaign is an easy way to build your email list and get new leads. People enter to win a gift card for your ecommerce store by entering their email and name in an entry form on the Contest Page. They can also earn bonus entries in the contest by referring their friends. This makes your contest grow exponentially, as each entrant is incentivized to refer their friends and more entrants to your contest.
By offering a gift card to your ecommerce store as your contest prize, you’ll attract targeted leads who are interested in the products you offer. And your Contest Page acts as a pre-qualifying sales page: People learn about the products available on your ecommerce store, and then say “Yes, I want this!” by entering the contest. You’ll then be able to follow-up with them after the contest ends to drive new orders.
Step 1: Facebook Ad
Advertise to people on Facebook who are interested in your products to drive them to your Giveaway Page.
Step 2: Contest Page
On the Contest Page, people fill out an entry form and refer their friends to enter to win the contest.
Step 3: Thank You Page
The Thank You Page shows people they’ve successfully entered and displays the refer-a-friend link to get entrants to refer their friends.
Step 1: Facebook Ad
Facebook Ads allow you to target people who are interested in your products to drive them to your Contest Page.
Below is a pre-built Facebook Ad and Target Audience that we use for one of our ecommerce clients.
1. Ad
Text
Start with a short, exciting sentence to pull people in. Then show a call-to-action to tell them to Enter now for a chance to WIN. Then show the aspects of the grand prize in a bullet list, with eye-catching emojis, so it’s easy for them to read. And finish by tell them that the contest ends soon to create a sense of urgency.
Image
Use an exciting, eye-catching image with a teal border. In our experience, this kind of image with a colorful border is what will stop people when they’re scrolling in the Facebook Newsfeed and read your Ad. And show a text headline in the image. This will get people reading your Ad right away.
Headline
This headline format, WIN [PRIZE]!, does a great job of immediately drawing people in and exciting them. Having WIN in all-caps draws people’s attention to it. They’ll then see what the prize is that they can win, which gets them excited and keeps them reading all the way to the end – where the Call-to-Action is for them to click.
Newsfeed Link Description
Provide a sentence or two with some extra details on the prize.
Call-to-Action
This is the button people click on the Ad to be taken to your Campaign.
Facebook only gives you a few options for this. For Contest Campaigns like this one, Learn More performs best as none of the other options are applicable for it.
2. Target audience
Here’s the targeting we recommend:
Interests/Behaviour Targeting
For Ecommerce stores, the best people to target are those who are interested in brands similar to yours. For example, if you sell jewelry, target people interested in Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston.
You can also target interests that your product can be used for. For example, if you sell camping products, then target people who are interested in camping.
Age, Gender, Language and Location Targeting
Age, Gender, Location and Language targeting should reflect who your most common customers are. If you generally sell to people in their 20’s and 30’s, then you should target people in that age group. If you’re unsure which Location to target, we recommend targeting people who live in all areas you ship to.
Why are Facebook Ads effective for this Campaign?
The reason they’re effective is because they’re shown to people who are interested in your products. Facebook is great at knowing people’s interests based on their behavior, which is what makes their Ad targeting so effective.
Google Adwords, on the other hand, don’t work well for giveaways. This is generally because people don’t search on Google for giveaways. And the ones who do search for giveaways are just people who are interested in winning something free, not specifically in your products.
Need help with Facebook ads?
Step 2: Contest Page
The Contest Page is where people enter for the chance to win. It has two jobs:
1. Make it easy for people to enter the contest and refer their friends:
The entry form is right at the top of the page so people can immediately see it. And the title and subtitle directly explains what a person should do on the page: Enter to win a gift card for your ecommerce store.
2. Build interest in your ecommerce store and products:
The page includes several sections to highlight your products and tell visitors about your ecommerce store and brand. This builds people’s interest in your products and brand, and makes it easy to follow-up after the contest to drive new orders.
Contest Page Sections
1. Top Bar
Show your logo and a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency in people to get them to enter.
2. Hero Unit
Includes the following:
- Headline and Subheadline:
Tell people what they should do (Refer Friends to Win) and what the prize is (a gift card for your ecommerce store).
- Entry Form
This allows people to immediately see how to enter the contest when they visit the page.
3. Your Products
Highlight your most popular products that people can buy using the gift card. This will build entrant’s interest in your products and pre-qualify them for a follow-up offer.
4. About your Ecommerce Store
Discuss the background, mission and story of your brand to build a warm relationship with entrants. This helps them get to know and identify with you, making them more likely to buy from you after the contest ends.
Step 3: Thank You Page
After a person fills out the entry form on the Contest Page, they’re directed to the Thank You Page. On this page, we show entrants a thank you message to confirm they’ve entered, a message that says when the winner will be chosen and display the refer-a-friend link so that entrants can continue to refer friends to enter the contest.
1. Top Bar
Show a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency in entrants to get them refer more entrants.
2. Hero Section
Includes the following:
- Thank You Message
- Prize Draw Date
- Refer-a-Friend Link Object
How to create this Campaign in Wishpond
The Refer-a-Friend Contest Campaign Template is available for free on any plan in Wishpond. Here’s how to use it:
- Sign up for a Wishpond account.
- Select Ecommerce as your Industry
- In the Campaigns Dashboard, click “View More”, then scroll down and choose Refer-a-Friend Contest.
- This will take you to the Campaign Builder where you can edit the Contest Page and Thank You Page. They will look exactly the same as they do above, and you’ll be able to edit and style them however you like.
- Publish your Campaign to your website, Facebook Page or a wishpond.com URL.
- Create your Facebook Ad and set the Ad’s Destination URL to the Campaign URL.
