Have you ever ran a forum contest?

Do you use contests as a way to whip up activity and interest in your forum is seemingly dead or inactive?

 

I haven't used contests YET. And, of course, YET is the keyword here. I'm in beta over an upcoming forum and will certainly consider the contest option for that site when it goes live.

Just recently, I went to another forum where they were offering a contest for cash (Paypal) for most quality posts made during a specified time.

Ever since then, I can't get the idea out of my head.

I don't see any problems with contests on a forum, just so long as you set high quality standards for discussions and responses.

 

Great post right there, and so true. I think that as long as you have the memberbase, and good enough restrictions or guidelines, you can have an awesome contest!

 

I have only ran one so far and that was $100 to the person that made the 10,000th post on mine. But again like above, only for people that were posting quality content.

 

I agree, having contests can add a big boost to any forum, just remember that things will return back to normal after its over. And always one thing people should do is as you mentioned have strict guidelines set or people wont make quality posts and take advantage of it.

 

Contests are a great way to get some activity. I always do one or two when I start a forum. However, I don't usually do post contests as that can bring up some spam.

 

Well not really if you have guidelines set for whatever contest you have. When we had the first contest, it was a posting contest and there was no spam because I specified very clearly what members can do and can't do.

 

With a forum I ran a few years ago I ran a few contests to boost activity which I am pleased to say worked a treat however with the forum I have now I haven't as of yet hosted any contests.

 

I plan to host one soon, however I'm not real sure about what the prize will be. $20 is my budget, and it seems too little to give by itself, so I'm considering getting a Minecraft gift code or something.

The contest will go by a points system, which means your points are automatically increased per thread or post you make, with new threads giving you more points than posts. Long posts above 80 characters will also give you a certain value of points per character as well, to help promote longer posts, which means more content.

What do you guys use for prizes?

 

Hey lucas good luck on the contest, and don't sweat it. $20 is more than enough, trust me

 

Good to hear! I'll get to work getting everything in place for the contest.

 

Im thinking of having a contest here on AdminBB. Just can't think of anything that would be fun and interesting.

 

Ya, and its nice to run them with an established community. It's always nice to give back to your members. Whether its with a money contest, or with a free advertisement contest. You'd notice you'll get moe traffic, and possibly more members during contests. then you have to focus your community away from the contest when its over.

 

Yes I do. But, only 5 members actually participated. Maybe because the prize was just $10 but later on I'll make it much larger!

 

I've seen contests work wonders on several sites. The key is to make it something everyone wants, and making entry easy or something everyone knows how to do, only helps the cause.

 

Anyone do these? I would like to have a "12 Days of christmas" contest but I am trying to figure out details. Any suggestions? The forums are bodybuiling/fitness forums. I have some great things to give away that are related to the subject but I don't think I want to give a pize awy each day.

 

I couldn't have said it any better. And if your community is a graphics community, then a good contest would be for users who can make the best banners. On an admin forum a contest should be who could create the best articles. Typically when I run a contest, the prizes are over $10 to make it worthy for all users.

 

A forum contest is a great way to build content on as well as a family bond on your forums. I’ve ran a few contest in the past; here is a link to one and another. I’ll run one here as soon as I get something coded or a stats mod comes up where we can see top posters in X days.

 

We hold a monthly giveaway, with the prize varying each month. We gave away a replica of the Constitution last month and this time we're giving away a pocket Constitution. I do see a spike in traffic on the last day each month, but I'm thinking about adding a points system to encourage people to post more.