Young, college-aged consumers?hose ranging from 18-to-29-years-old?re by far some of the hardest individuals to market to. They’re extremely picky and can be easily turned off by almost anything. Posting too many statuses? You’re annoying. No funny blogposts? Your company is so lame. The list can theoretically go on and on. But plenty of studies show that offering incentives?osting contests, giving exclusive coupons, and other freebies and giveaways?an really be a great way to spark the young generation’s interest. They adore incentives. Not to mention that they can really help with your SEO efforts. Think about it: since students will most likely want to re-tweet and repost contests rules and regulations to their friends, it will direct more traffic to your site. To get a few ideas of some prizes you can award so that you can organically boost your SEO efforts, continue reading below.
Scholarships
By far, one of the best prizes you can offer a student (or even a post-grad student) is a scholarship. You don’t have to be too generous if it’s not in your budget? $500 scholarship will do?ut a scholarship is definitely a good way to go. Since the goal is to boost SEO efforts and to direct more traffic to your site, you don’t want to make entering such a hard or daunting task?eaning, contestants shouldn’t have to be a straight “A” student necessarily. However, you do need to make the rules and regulations as clear and as authentic-looking as possible. After all if people don’t think you’re legitimately giving a prize (which you are) then they won’t waste their time entering or visiting your site. Set a deadline for the essay, video essay, or whatever you want to be turned in. If you know you don’t have a very strong following on social media for example, then you might want to set your deadline for about two months. In the meantime you focus heavily on promoting the scholarship to get the word out.
Gift Cards
If you don’t want to offer a scholarship, some other great prizes to award are supermarket gift cards and restaurants gift cards. After all, students need food and since their pockets are generally empty? gift card to buy a fridge full of groceries or some gift cards to enjoy a sit down dinner or two can really be useful. Whatever you do, try to make the contest relevant to whatever products or services you sell. So for example if you’re trying to promote your food blog, you might host a contest for the best omelet recipe. Or if you’re trying to boost SEO to your insurance site perhaps mandate an essay on how contestants practice safe driving. This isn’t the best idea but you get the drift.
Free Merchandise
Last but not least, giving away free merchandise?hether the merchandise directly relates to your blog or not?s a great way to attract a younger audience. They just love free stuff and will enter a contest if it’s relatively easy to do. However, keep in mind that a student will be more willing to enter a contest if the prize is something that can benefit him or her in the future, such as an iPad, Kindle, or something along those lines.
About the Author: Melissa Miller is a freelance writer who works on an associate degree blog and loves to give information that helps connect prospective students with the online education that’s right for them. She welcomes any and all feedback at melissamiller831@gmail.com.
SMALL BUSINESS AUTHORITY
