The Ultimate Guide to Supercharging Your Email List Growth with Contests

Are you looking for a surefire way to rapidly grow your email subscriber list? Running a contest could be your secret weapon. A well-executed contest has the potential to generate a flood of highly engaged leads who are excited about your brand.

But great results don‘t happen by chance. You need a solid strategy to ensure your contest reaches the right audience and inspires them to eagerly hand over their email address for a chance to win.

In this guide, we‘ll walk you through everything you need to know to run a high-impact contest that will have subscribers pouring into your email database. Get ready to supercharge your list growth!

Why Contests Are Email List-Building Gold

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of executing a successful contest, let‘s talk about why this tactic is so powerful for growing an email list:

• Contests tap into people‘s natural desire to win prizes and get something for nothing. The chance to gain a reward is a strong incentive to sign up.

• A contest is an engaging, interactive experience. It‘s more exciting and memorable than a standard "sign up for our newsletter" CTA.

• Viral sharing is baked right in. People love to share contests with friends to give them a chance to win too, expanding your reach.

• You can collect email addresses and other info right in the contest entry form. Instant list growth!

• Contest entrants are leads who have already expressed interest in what you offer. They‘re more likely to engage with your emails and convert down the line.

According to a study by Vero, simply adding a giveaway contest increased one company‘s email signups by 700%. Those are the kind of results that should make any email marketer sit up and pay attention.

But to achieve contest greatness, you need to be strategic in your approach. Let‘s dive into exactly how to set your contest up for success.

Picking the Perfect Contest Platform

Your first step is choosing a platform to host your contest on. While you could try to piece together your own entry forms and landing pages, a dedicated contest platform will make your life infinitely easier.

Look for a contest tool that provides:

• Customizable landing page templates to easily create an enticing contest page
• Built-in entry forms to capture email addresses
• Social sharing features to encourage viral spread
• Fraud prevention to block fake entries
• Random winner selection
• Integration with your email marketing software
• Detailed entrant and conversion tracking

Some of the top contest platforms to consider are Gleam, Rafflecopter, Wishpond, ShortStack, and Woobox. We used Gleam for our own holiday contest at HubSpot with great results – it made the whole process simple.

Crafting Your Contest for Maximum Impact

Now it‘s time to design a contest that will generate excitement and drive signups. As you put together your contest, keep these best practices in mind:

Offer Irresistible, Relevant Prizes

Your prizes should be compelling enough to cut through the noise and inspire people to enter. Cash is always popular, but you can also offer gift cards, your own products/services, or cool experiences.

The key is to choose prizes your target audience will be super excited about. Generic prizes may generate lots of unqualified leads. Instead, offer something that ties into what your company does. When we ran our contest, the gift cards were specifically for our customers to treat their hard-working marketing colleagues.

Make Entering Quick and Easy

Don‘t put up roadblocks that will deter people from entering. Your contest entry form should be short and sweet, asking for just an email and perhaps name. You can offer bonus entries for additional actions, but keep the initial sign-up simple.

Also consider using a contest widget that you can embed right on your site rather than making people click through to a separate landing page. The easier your contest is to enter, the more signups you‘ll generate.

Set Smart Contest Goals

Before you launch, outline specific goals and success metrics for your contest, such as:

• Number of entrants/new email subscribers
• Social shares and reach
• Website traffic from contest
• Post-contest email engagement rates

Use data from past campaigns to set realistic but challenging goals. Having clear targets will help you stay focused and give you benchmarks to measure success.

For example, if you typically convert 10% of website visitors to email subscribers, and your contest landing page goal is 1,000 signups, you know you need to drive 10,000 visitors to have a shot at meeting that goal. That will inform your promotion strategy.

Follow the Law

Contests are subject to strict legal regulations that vary by state and country. Be sure to:

• Write comprehensive contest terms and conditions
• Clearly explain how to enter and odds of winning
• Never require a purchase to enter
• Comply with laws restricting entry age
• Properly disclose sponsored contest content
• Avoid contests that constitute illegal online gambling
• Follow social media rules if running your contest on platforms like Facebook or Instagram

When in doubt, consult your company‘s legal team for guidance. Covering your legal bases from the start will avoid headaches later.

Getting the Word Out: Contest Promotion

Creating a great contest experience is only half the battle. To get results, you need to aggressively promote your contest through multiple channels:

Email

Already have an email list? Send out a contest announcement to your entire database encouraging them to enter and share with their networks. Highlight the prizes and value prop.

Social Media

Post about the contest regularly across your social media accounts. Create a memorable hashtag and encourage entrants to share the contest and tag friends. You can even run social media ads to expand your reach.

Website

Feature the contest on your homepage and across your site with banners, floating bars, pop-ups, etc. Make sure every visitor knows about it.

Partners

Reach out to relevant influencers, bloggers, complementary brands, etc. in your niche and ask them to share or even sponsor your contest. Tapping into their audiences can dramatically expand your reach.

Paid Ads

Running highly targeted paid ads on search, social, and high-traffic websites frequented by your target audience is a great way to drive contest entries from people likely to engage with your brand. Just make sure to follow each ad platform‘s contest guidelines.

Throughout your contest, keep an eye on performance and make adjustments if needed. Use your contest platform‘s analytics to track which promotion channels are generating the most entrants. Double down on what‘s working.

Picking Winners and Leveraging Your New Subscribers

Your contest was a smashing success and you have a ton of new email subscribers. Now what? It‘s time to choose your winners and start building relationships with your entrants.

Use your contest software‘s random selection tool to pick winners in an unbiased way. Notify them via email to claim their prize. Be sure to also email non-winners thanking them for entering and inviting them to participate in future giveaways.

Welcome your new contestants-turned-subscribers with an automated email series that thanks them for entering, shares helpful content related to the contest, and makes a compelling offer to convert them to customers.

Analyze post-contest email engagement rates, site traffic, conversions, and revenue generated to measure the full impact and ROI of the contest. Those learnings will help optimize your next one.

Next-Level Contest Ideas to Skyrocket List Growth

A generic "enter to win" contest can generate good results. But why stop there? Stand out from the crowd with unique contests like these:

• Photo Contest: Have entrants submit photos using your product and vote on winners.

• Social Media Contest: Run a contest exclusively on social media by having people enter by liking/commenting on a post, using a hashtag, or posting user-generated content.

• Referral Contest: Give extra entries to people who successfully refer their friends to sign up.

• Quiz Contest: Create a branded online quiz and enter everyone who completes it to win.

• Scavenger Hunt Contest: Drive traffic to your website and generate buzz by having contestants visit specific pages to find entry codes.

• Hashtag Contest: Create a unique hashtag and enter everyone who uses it in a social post.

The options are endless – get creative! Just be sure to always link contest entry to an email signup so you‘re building your subscriber base.

Ready, Set, Grow

We‘ve covered a lot of ground in this guide to using contests for explosive email list growth. To recap, an effective contest should:

• Offer exciting, relevant prizes
• Be easy to enter
• Have clear, measurable goals
• Comply with legal regulations
• Be heavily promoted through multiple channels
• Welcome new subscribers and measure results

If you follow the strategies laid out here, you‘ll be in a great position to run a contest that generates a torrent of new email leads. So what are you waiting for? Your email list isn‘t going to grow itself. Get out there and start contesting!