The Essential "Three P's" of Online Video Contests

When done right, online video contests with user generated content can really help brands listen to and energize users while providing them a great source of promotional video content.  In a Forrester Research article released earlier this year entitled, "Video Contest Checklist," analyst Nate Elliott lays out a thorough checklist to help marketers get the most from their online video contests.  But first, he urges interactive marketers to focus on the "three P's" of online video contests - premise, prize, and promotion - before choosing a vendor, getting executive buy-in, and working out a measurement plan.

Learn Your "Three P's"!
Premise: Keep it simple.  Choose a premise that's easy to enter and lets you reuse the content. You want your premise to be interesting and engaging to attract as many participants as possible.  With that said, avoid being too vague or complex with what you ask of your entrants as this will only discourage participation. Find the right balance for your target audience. Note that our contest platform supports video, image, audio and text submissions.

Prize: Although cash prizes generate more entries, product prizes will attract more targeted entries. However, you may want to consider an "aspirational prize" with something that money can't buy such as Tourism Queensland's hugely successful campaign "Best Job In The World" that swept this year's Cannes Lions advertising awards. If possible, award weekly prizes to keep the hype up, dish out multiple runner-up prizes to give more participants a chance at winning, or give prizes to random voters in appreciation for participating (this happens to be a tool built into our contest platform!).

Promotion: This is one of the most important considerations for all online video contests, and often the most overlooked.  Spread the word! Use standard online advertising as well as offline marketing to reach a broader audience.  Reach out to existing customers, brand advocates and known video creators (students, amateurs or professionals) to get the ball rolling.

If you're interested in creating a contest but need some guidance with nailing your "Three P's", feel free to contact us at info@strutta.com.