If you?ve ever run a contest on social media, you know how powerful they can be.
For early stage profiles that are just starting out, a contest can offer a leg up to build an initial following. For large and established accounts that want an extra boost, contests can provide an enormous surge of participation and interest.
But the game in social media is always changing, so if your contests are going to continue to be effective, they?ll also need to change.
Why contests are so powerful
Social media contests are effective for several reasons:

Value: Because you?re offering a prize, your post instantly becomes more appealing than most other content on social media. People see real stakes and real benefits to engaging.
Circulation: People also like to share contest opportunities, which makes contests ideal for promoting viral content and earning new shares with untouched audiences. Participation: Contests give you a method to demand user participation, and interactivity is always valuable in a social media context.

To make these reasons work for you and build your value, you might have to adapt some of the tactics you may have used until now.
How your contests need to evolve
These methods can help your contests become even more powerful in 2017 and beyond:

Offer more experiential prizes: Tangible, immediate prizes–such as gift cards or a free iPad–can be attractive, but if you want to stand out in the future, think about offering more experience-based prizes. F...