Most event marketing strategies rely on the usual suspects: paid advertising, email campaigns, and organic social media. But there’s one highly effective tactic that flies under the radar — contest marketing. Contests typically generate 15X the engagement of a standard social post. And the cherry on top? Contacts captured by contests become email or text message subscribers who ultimately convert into ticket sales that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. When properly designed, contests attract major attention, drive significant engagement, grow fanbases, and produce more ticket sales. Mic drop!
What Is Contest Marketing? How Can Contest Marketing Sell More Tickets?
Contesting is more than simply giving away free tickets in exchange for social media engagement, an email address, or a phone number. Great contest marketing generates immediate buzz for events, encourages social sharing, grows subscriber bases, and cultivates brand loyalty.
Contests are an amazing way for event producers to own the relationship with fans while social media followers are not theirs to keep. Just look at how the TikTok ban affects event producers who rely on that platform to reach their audience. By offering enticing prizes like premium fan club access, exclusive giveaways with local partners, branded merch, or VIP passes to a specific show, contests actually incentivize participation while driving audience conversion and retention.
To see the power of contest marketing in action, let’s explore how Bauer Entertainment Marketing generated massive engagement, high-value subscriber growth, and ticket sales for clients, including Ozarks Amphitheater, Harris Center for the Arts, and SunFest.
The Challenge: Building a Loyal Fanbase for Live Events
Ozarks Amphitheater, nestled in the heart of Lake of the Ozarks, was recently named the “Best Live Music Venue in Missouri” for its unforgettable outdoor concert experiences. While the venue draws impressive crowds, the biggest challenge is turning casual attendees into loyal fan club members.
In Sacramento, CA, Harris Center is an integral arts hub on the campus of Folsom Lake College. This venue hosts a variety of unforgettable concerts, including critically acclaimed theatre productions.
SunFest is Florida’s largest waterfront music festival. This annual event attracts over 85,000 visitors to West Palm Beach to experience performances from major artists such as The Killers and Jack Johnson.
All three event properties strive to expand their core audiences, reach new fans, and build stronger connections. To help achieve these goals, they turned to Bauer Entertainment Marketing for our expertise in planning and implementing successful contest marketing.
The Solution: How to Gain Fans From Giveaways
Our team immediately dove into crafting targeted, contest marketing strategies to capture the attention of both new and existing audiences. We also identified motivating contest prizes including exclusive merchandise, gift cards to local restaurants, and even a “Pick Your Prize” reward, allowing fans to choose their dream prizes!
Steal BEM’s 8 Keys to Contest Marketing Success
Offer a Prize Fans Actually Want
The prize needs to excite your audience—VIP tickets, sound-check pizza parties, backstage access, or exclusive merch are far more compelling than generic giveaways. Make it feel like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they can’t afford to miss!
Promote Contests Like They’re a Headlining Act
Contests don’t go viral on their own—you’ve got to spread the word! So, push them across email, social media channels, SMS, artist/venue pages, and paid ads. When leveraging paid ads for contest marketing, tracking cost per lead (CPL) is key to measuring efficiency. The lower the CPL, the more cost-effective your contest is—helping you grow your audience without overspending.
Make Contests Fool-Proof to Enter
No one wants to fill out a long, online form. Keep it simple—email, phone number, and maybe a fun question to boost engagement. Lower the barrier, and more fans will jump in.
Turn Fans into Promoters
Reward fans for sharing the contest with others. Offering bonus entries for tagging friends or spreading the word via social media can exponentially grow your reach!
Leverage Urgency & FOMO
A contest with a vague or distant deadline is easily ignored. Inject urgency with a clear, reasonable deadline that encourages fans to act in the moment so they don’t miss out.
Time It Right for Ticket Sales
Timing is essential. When running contests to help promote specific events, aligning your contest with key moments in your event’s sales cycle is crucial. Whether it’s a “win it before you can buy it” pre-sale giveaway to build early buzz or a last-minute push to drive urgency, featuring contests when fans are most excited ensures maximum impact.
Cover Your A$$ (Legal & Compliance)
Platform rules, local laws, plus terms and conditions matter. Ensure your contest follows all requirements to avoid costly takedowns or legal headaches.
Turn Contest Losers Into Ticket Buyers
Sell even more tickets by giving a consolation prize to those contest entrants who did not win the big one. For instance, offering a 5-10% ticket discount or a coupon for 10% discount on merch or concessions to sweeten a ticket purchase can favorably tip the scales for an otherwise wavering attendee.
The Results: Capture Thousands of Fans and Maximize Ticket Sales
Not to toot our own horn, BUT toot toot, y’all!
From just two contests for Ozarks Amphitheater, we generated 4,844 entries and brought in 2,373 new subscribers. Beyond boosting their database, these contest entrants equated to a remarkable 9.9X ROI.
For Harris Center, 9 contests generated a whopping 7,107 entries. Compared to the cost of these campaigns, each entry corresponded to just $0.50. The contests also drove significant awareness and engagement for their shows, amplifying the total number of tickets sold.
For SunFest, one contest produced a staggering 6,026 leads. After factoring in the investment for implementing the contest – including using paid social media advertising to reach more fans – BEM achieved an impressively low cost of just $0.41 per entry.
Ready to Grow Your Audience? Let BEM’s Contest Marketing Do the Work
At BEM, we know how valuable a brand’s audience is. That’s why we use contest marketing to connect with new fans who are ready to build a lasting connection with your brand. You can also count on contests to drive awareness for upcoming events and amplify excitement around key initiatives. When you combine effective engagement with solid ROI, you’re not just running a campaign; you’re setting the stage for future success!
BEM’s strategies deliver big results. When you’re ready to unlock the full potential of contest marketing, get in touch so we can go to work for you!