{"id":196,"date":"2016-05-13T08:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T08:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vyper.io\/blog\/?p=196"},"modified":"2024-11-26T14:04:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T14:04:58","slug":"the-evergreen-contest-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vyper.ai\/blog\/the-evergreen-contest-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Evergreen” Contest Funnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you’re first starting off with contest marketing, the Evergreen Funnel is a quick win that you can implement immediately and start seeing awesome\u00a0results.<\/p>\n

This is a funnel is designed to be low-cost way to drive conversions, add revenue, and bring in a stream of clients\/warm leads. And by low-cost, I mean for both your money AND time.<\/p>\n

The caveat\u00a0to this funnel is you’re not going to see as much EXPLOSIVE email list growth as a high-ticket funnel — don’t expect this to bring in 100k emails.<\/p>\n

But running\u00a0this funnel is pretty much a no-brainer, as you can run it cheaply and\u00a0see good email growth.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Why the Evergreen Contest funnel?<\/h2>\n

One of the questions we get a lot is “how often should I be doing contests?”<\/p>\n

What if I told you there was a way to run a contest ALL the time and have that contest generate leads for you every single day?<\/p>\n

But, wouldn’t that be exhausting? Who has the time and money to promote a new contest all the time?<\/p>\n

That’s where the “Evergreen Contest” comes in.<\/p>\n

An Evergreen Contest is a low-cost contest that you can run continuously (once one winner is picked, the contest starts over and new winners are picked monthly or bi-monthly). Generally you do this with a product that you already own or have easy access to.<\/p>\n

For example, a company selling golf apparel could give away extra\u00a0apparel that’s been sitting in the shelves. A digital marketing company or a private coach could offer a free consulting call. (Keep reading for more insights of what prize you should pick.)<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>

Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob uses an evergreen funnel to give away a free coaching call.<\/p><\/div>\n

So why are Evergreen Contests so awesome for building your business?<\/h2>\n

1. They help for BOTH gaining emails AND closing sales.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One customer of VYPER is a freelance e-commerce art teacher\u00a0who also creates his own training courses.<\/p>\n

By giving away 3-5 free coaching calls every month via viral contests and delivering amazing value to each person, he realized that those contestants were actually purchasing his higher-end courses and services.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0They help to vary up your lead offerings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have your traditional lead magnets, content upgrades, etc, and now you have the Evergreen Contest. This gives you a variety of different sources for adding leads so you can see the results and optimize.<\/p>\n

I see content marketers have the same lead-magnet or offer up on their website ALL the time, but varying up this offer can help you convert more people to your list.<\/p>\n

3. Lower your paid acquisition costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve found that the cost per lead with Facebook ads is much lower with this contest funnel\u00a0than with normal landing pages. Obviously test this before you just blindly accept this as fact.<\/p>\n

But the reason we’ve seen this is because every lead you pay for is essentially 1.5 (or 2.0, or 1.2, depending on your viral co-efficient) leads because some of those leads refer other people.<\/p>\n

We recommend\u00a0you can plug on Facebook ads targeting your contest, market to your best audiences, and get leads at super low CPAs.<\/p>\n

4. Backlinks continue to get you leads.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you get any backlinks to your contest, you’re able to continue harvesting emails from those links instead of within a contest that expires.\u00a0Evergreen contests NEVER expire.<\/p>\n

Picking the Right Prize<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The idea for the evergreen contest funnel is to pick a prize that is relatively easy & cheap for you to deliver.<\/p>\n

I tend to avoid sponsored prizes for the Evergreen funnel because these take a lot of time, and you end up managing a bunch of sponsors. Instead I look at a prize that I already have in stock or I can deliver cheaply.<\/p>\n

Picking a prize is probably the most crucial decision that you will have to make. Your prize must be able to attract high-quality leads. Because of this, you should select a prize that your target audience will find valuable.<\/p>\n

Ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For coaches \/ info products — A free Skype coaching call or copy of your course\/book.<\/li>\n
  2. For e-commerce — Extra inventory that’s not selling (you can even call it a “mystery box”).<\/li>\n
  3. For software companies — a lifetime (or 1 year, etc) free account to your site.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Need\u00a0more guidance on picking\u00a0the right prize<\/a>?<\/p>\n

    \"Giveaway<\/a><\/p>\n

    Our giveaway prize guide also has tips on choosing a prize that will attract the most high-quality leads to your giveaway or contest.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Learn more here.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    How to Implement<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    It’s easy to make an Evergreen Contest inside VYPER<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Create the contest & pick your prize.<\/li>\n
    2. Mention in the contest text & terms & conditions\u00a0that you’re going to pick a winner every month.<\/li>\n
    3. Add\u00a0an opt-in bribe<\/a> for higher share rates.<\/li>\n
    4. When you’re ready to pick a winner, you can do so without ending your contest.\n