Social Contest [review]
POS:
Great for list buildingNEG:
Interface could be a bit betterI was not going to do a review of the new Social Contest software. However a few of my readers where asking me about it the other day, also now that it got product of the day from JVZoo several more people are asking me about it. Because of this I decided to hit up […]
I was not going to do a review of the new Social Contest software. However a few of my readers where asking me about it the other day, also now that it got product of the day from JVZoo several more people are asking me about it. Because of this I decided to hit up Neil and get a review copy to test it out for myself.
So what is Social Contest. Well of course it is a contest software. People optin to the contest, normally with their name and email address, in order to get a chance to win a prize. The social aspect of social contest comes after they join the contest. Once they join the contest they can take different actions, which you set up, in order to get more chances to win.
These actions can be things like, following you on Twitter, visiting a website, going to your fan page, subscribing your YouTube channel or sharing a post.
Each of these actions can be weighted in the number of extra chances to win the user gets when they take the action. For example: you can give 1 extra change for answering a question, 3 extra chances for visiting a website, and 5 extra chances for subscribing to your YouTube channel. These numbers are arbitrary. They can be anything you want. The point is you can have the user take multiple actions (any or all of them) in order to get extra chances to win and you can weigh the actions so that the ones you really want them to take give them the most extra chances.
It does not take much thought to see how this is going to be a good thing. First your building a list by collecting the optin. Then you are rewarding them for sharing your contest. Finally you are encouraging them to follow you on social media or visit your webiste (or any other website you want, including an affiliate offer). This goes way beyond a normal ‘squeeze page’ because you are doing so much more than just getting the optin. You are getting engagement from the user. Also because its a contest where only a set number of people win and not a squeeze page where everyone gets a free gift, you can give something very cool away. Since only a few people will be getting it and not everyone.
There where a few things I did not like about Social Contest. For example when setting up your contest the options are on the left and the contest preview is on the right.
The problem is that the preview on the right is not a live preview. It does not update automatically each time you change a setting on the left. Instead you have to change a setting and click the ‘update’ button each time to see the changes in the preview. I personally thought this was kind of generic and I felt that the software would have had a much more professional feel if it had a live preview. In fact I was surprised that it did not.
Also this allows you to put contests on fan page tabs. While this is not a bad thing. It is preventing people from moving forward with their social media marketing. Fan page tabs are basically useless now. Fan gating has been removed and they dont work on mobile devices. There is really no reason to make a page tab at all. However some people are having a hard time accepting this. Software that still allows you to make page tabs is not helping either. They are making it hard to accept that tabs are useless now.
Despite the things that I did not like about Social Contest over all I think it is a good product. One of the most beneficial things with Social Contest is that it also hosts your contest for you on their unbranded domain. This means you can run a contest without even having a website. Also if you combine these hosted contests with some low cost Facebook ads you can have a very powerful list building tool.
At this point I should not have to tell people the importance of building a list. It does not matter if your doing affiliate marketing, selling digital products, CPA marketing, whatever, it does not matter. You need to be building a list. By combining Social Contest with Facebook ads you can build a targeted list very fast and very low cost. This alone is worth its weight in gold.
A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
About the Author
the video tutorials are under my account and then video tutorials
Yea I noticed them after I made the video. Not a very intuitive place to put them. But at least they are there.
Meh…I like your contest software better! 🙂 Tired of Neil Napier and his pitches. (NOTE: This is JUST a personal thing…he’s probably the nicest guy in the world, but he is getting as tiring to listen to as Chad Nicely! LOL!)
Well I did not think that mine competed with this one because this one has different weighted actions. Im glad you like mine though 🙂 I just got my ego boost for the day.
I am pretty cool :p
LOL And modest to !
Thanks Brett. This review is quite timely as I am about to run a contest on Facebook. I too believe that posting to a tab is useless. I was wondering what the program looks like when you post the link to the FB timeline? The majority of my customer base is on mobile and it’s no good posting to a tab for me.
Its a large graphic with a link back to the contest. The graphic will be click able as well.
First, I love the way that your review stars are animated, and slide into view….
Is that one of your products or something which I could buy?
Second, I appreciate your reviews…they do bring added value.
Third, could you explain a bit more about why you consider Facebook tabs a waste of time?
Evidently a lot of people other than me have not figured that out. What makes them obsolete? Or, better still: what has replaced them as the weapon of choice in the marketing battle?
Fourth, I could not find any information about how the contest winners can be determined.
Does the program do it automatically and randomly for you, while weighting the chances each person earned?
To me, that is a very important part of the service – because at some point somebody is going to force me to prove that the contests are “fair” – or risk being sued.
So, I would like to know more about whether they are using a pseudorandom number generator that has been tested, or what?
Thanks
Russ
One of the main points of Facebook tabs was that the tabs could be fan gated. This required people to like your fan page to see the content of the tab. Facebook has removed this feature. One of the main down sides of tabs was that they do not work on mobile devices. This has never been corrected. So now that there is no fan gating you have lost the main feature and still have the main downside. Ie. there is no point in them anymore.
Sorry I did not show the winner selection in the review video. I try to keep my reviews from getting to long and this one was getting there. The software selects the winner, the winner is the one with the most entries, or a random winner if there is a tie.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
I really wish you would’ve demonstrated the viral aspects. (the additional chances to win)
This is user experience and a direct effect on our results.
And in my opinion , most desirable feature
I did show them in the review video. Not sure what you mean by demonstrate them. I did not think people would need me to actually show them how the user +1’s a post, or clicks a link to visit a fan page or website or clicks the share link, etc. Sorry about that. I thought it was more important to show the options you have.
Hey Brett, I agree with another user- Your contests software is awesome. Who says you can not add similar ( or better ) weighted options to your software. It would be a cool update for current owners, it may also generate additional interest etc. Knowing you and your creative side when it comes to product development – you would have an ” Amazing” update and then you can tell yourself that you have a killer software that not only competes but blows the other away 🙂 You can then also do an over the shoulder training with your very own update as a killer bonus.. Sadly, I already purchased my copy when it was first released yesterday. However, now I regret that I did not wait to purchase until after reading your review. Lesson learned on my part.. Another thing that really impresses me is the fact you really and truly care about your customers and you will always be there to offer product support etc. One thing about these massive launches is the fact one makes a purchase and when it comes 90 days or so and you need support – the damn product is obsolete or you never can get the support you need. There is one particular marketer that I will absolutely not order from again due to this issue, not backing up their money back guarantee etc.. Sadly, some ( not all ) marketers are only out to make money and not worry about ( after the sale ) and making sure their customers are taken care of.. I know with you this will never be the case and that is why I have multiple products you have launched and look forward to many more in the near future… Anyway, thanks for all you do for your customers.. I know for certain that everyone who is a customer of yours would agree..
Thanks,
Jason
Well my own contest only gives extra chances when people send clicks not when they take specific social actions. Though this and my own software are both contest software they are different in how they function.
Im glad that you like my products though and what I do. Also I agree with you, it seems like people vanish after the launch sometimes. I could never understand that, why would you just stop supporting and selling a software once its made. I normally keep on selling my stuff after I launch it (and I make thousands of dollars month because of it). I know that you make a lot during a launch, but why would some vendors dont keep promoting ongoing is beyond me. Perhaps they think a few $K a month is to little? In which case they are more then welcome to send it to me 🙂
Fortunately the vendors of this product are more in with my thinking. They keep their products going and don’t abandon them.
I bought it and the OTO. Thanks Brett for the awesome review and demo of the product. I will put to good use and can’t wait to get in our your bonus training. Thanks always.
What about your jack jacker gold plugin? I missed that one, because I was working. I’d by this software in a minute if you gave me the option of getting that plugin? Even if I had to pay for it, with the resell rights!
Sorry Beau, I gave Jack Jacker Gold as a bonus for the Social Robot promo. When I did that I gave away reseller rights and also gave my word that I would promote JJ Gold again after that bonus was over. If I gave it to you now as a bonus for this that would mean I lied to everyone who took advantage of the Social Robot bonus offer. So I cant do that.
Ok that’s cool..As long as I get another chance to get it, I’m ok with that. I will be on the lookout for this…Thanks Brett!
Hi Brett,
Thank you for the review… Though I have to ask… What are your real thoughts or experience when it comes to contests in exchange for a persons name and email?
Im not sure what you mean when you ask my ‘real thoughts’? My ‘real thoughts’ are what I said in the review. They are a good idea. In fact I have created contest software. I for sure would not make contest software myself, nor would I suggest people use contest software if I did not really think it was worth doing. As for my real experience. Though I have obviously not run a contest with this software (its just came out yesterday) I have used contests for list building in the past with good success.
Hi Brett,
I’ve found doing contest’s to give mediocre, to a complete waste of time results… Reason I ask… But I’m going to assume their are many variables to consider when holding a successful contest.
“Mediocre” is a subjective term and is going to depend on your goals and what you think is good. Our opinions on this may vary. You are right though there are many variables that can sway results one way or another.
The value (perceived value) of your prize(s) are a huge driving factor for a successful contest.
If you are or are not having success you may want to look at the value of your prize(s). Blessings!
Hey Brett, thanks for reviewing this software. It looked awesome but what stopped me was it appeared to only work in FB tabs – Which is crap!
I think both you and Neil didn’t emphasize the FB timeline set-up which I suspect would be where this product will get most use.
You did touch on it (thankyou) and you clarified it in the comments when asked directly. As you said using this with FB ads would be a winner – I agree! So I have purchased through your link (of-course). Do you want my purchase details?
Finally can/will someone sell me your Jack-Jacker? PLEASE?
Yes as I said in the review video making tabs is not very useful anymore. Im very sure this will work with ads though. I do very well with Facebook ads sending traffic to a squeeze page, Im fairly excited to start sending them to these contests.
Also anyone reading this who got my JackJacker Gold, please send me a message with a link to your sales page and I will forward it to Matt for you,
Hey Brett,
I have a copy of your JackJackerGold. I will sell it to anyone at 14.99 via Paypal.
Just message me at acbower@hotmail.com.
Put “Want JackJackerGold” in the header and I can give them the instructions for the
transaction.
Hope this helps while I wait for the official sales letter.
Archie
.
Your the first one to answer: Hope you dont mind me leaving your email open so anyone who wants a copy can message you. If you do mind it let me know and I will remove it. Also just a FYI: I sent out the official sales letter I had Josh make for you guys a few hours ago.
Any idea as to what the OTO is & the cost?
Sorry no I honestly dont know what the OTO is on this one.
It’s an upgraded version of the main product with the ability to post to unlimited facebook pages, more templates (30 instead of 15) and enhanced analytics as well as a few other bells and whistles
Thanks Brett!
It would be nice if you let the people that bought your contest software get into the course your having about facebook ads. I don’t want to keep buying new shining objects if the one I got is working good. Thanks Darryl
Well Darryl lets be honest (and fair). My knowledge with Facebook ads and my time spent making the training has value and I deserve to be compensated for it. The way I will be compensated is through the commissions I earn from Social Contest.
You are correct, I really wasn’t thinking about your time you have to put this together. Sorry for that.. And yes everyone should get paid for their time that they are showing people new ways to make money. Is this webinar going to have something else to purchase like most of the rest of them?
Its not going to be a webinar. Its going to be video training showing how I use FB ads to build my list. Im going to use the contest software as well. This will be ‘over the shoulder’ training where you can watch exactly what I do. This is why its not coming out until Wednesday. Because I will need time to do what I do and recorde it to show you. Even if it was a webinar though I would not try to sell you something in a bonus training. That would be uncool.
Brett,
Thank you for these reviews. I just found your site and it is very useful and I will bookmark your site and like your Facebook page to hopefully be notified when you do future reviews. Blessings!
The best way to be assured you will get notice of future reviews is to be on my mailing list, you can click link at the very top of this site to get to a signup page.