webmaster board contests

[basschick]

so... do contests help a board grow in the long run or do they cause spikes during the contests and drops in traffic afterward with no effect from the contest? i asked this on another board, but i'd really like different people's takes on this.

[IdolKnights]

Good question, however, hard to answer an honest feeling about them without sounding bitter and rude.

[Squirt]

they cause spikes during the contests and drops in traffic afterward with no effect from the contest

:thumbsup:

[gaystoryman]

Interesting question, as it seems to be the way a lot have gone. I think if its for a milestone like the last one at GWW, it can stimulate awareness that could last, though Lee would be better able to comment.

I think the rush of a contest, as it runs to its conclussion would also tire some out, making a lull right afterwards. Darned if I know, but felt like making a reply anyhow.. gotta keep the fingers limber.. :crazy:

[Lee]

An interesting question and in all honest it depends on several factors as to whether or not a 'contest' is good for a board or not.

There are several boards that run contests on an almost regular basis or run contests that last for several months at a time and in my opion these really arent contests at all, these types of things amount to paying people to post, whether they get to win traffic, content or, cold hard cash and these types of 'contest' are typically only good for as long as the 'contest' is running after which, the people posting will leave and never be heard of again.

The disadvantage with this type of setup is that it draws out the nutjobs who can seriously devalue the worth of a board counter-acting the benefits of the individual users who do post.

Another type of 'contest' is the type that pays people for the 'longest thread' type deal, we've had these on GWW and again, as with the paying people to post type contest, this is good for a few days as everyone starts posting like crazy in order to 'win' but ultimately, it again just pulls out the people who are looking to make a quick buck, win, then disappear.

Then we have the 'giveaway' a type of contest where really, nothing of substance has to be done and everyone has an equal chance at winning as everyone else, these are the types of 'contest' typically where a certain post number or thread count has to be made, like the GWW milestone contests, a prize for hitting a certain post, is actually one of the better types of contest available, as i mention, everyone has an equal chance of winning, the board owner has a chance to set 'conditions' to deter the nutjobs from registering multiple fake nicks and winning and when you do have a winner, typically they stick around for a while.

Ultimately, contests on a board are good, however the reason for the board owner having them is what can make or break their usability, if a contest is being run just to increase a post count, then imho, the board owner is just wasting money because, as soon as the contest is over, the board dies again, we see this happen all the time in the gay industry where the board owner wasted their money and 3,6,9 months later down the line starts another contest but makes the same mistakes as before and wastes more money.

If a board only has a handfull of active posters, contests are no good for the board either, because all it is doing is creating a board that looks un-natural in that the same people, posting about similar topics all replying to the same threads day after day creates the illusion that the board itself is dead and 'struggling', think of Cybersockets board here, its dead, yet the same 5 people post all the time and they continue to wonder why its dead.

A good contest, is one that rewards the regular community members, whilst also leaving the option there for new people to join in the discussions, a good mixture of 'fun' and 'business' needs to be posted about, a nice mixture of attitudes in the people posting needs to be visible and more importantly than that, the skills of the people posting need to be varied, a bunch of newbies telling a bunch of newbies how to run their businesses are worthless for a boards organic growth.

In essence, yes contests can be good, however if they are used for the wrong reasons, or the wrong type of contest is used, they can also just be a waste of money for the board owner and sometimes they can even have a negative effect on a board.

Regards,

Lee