1. Engagement
through
contests

2. Why do contests?
 Contests are fun. The audience loves to
see something they did in print.
 Contests drive traffic.
 They encourage the readers to interact
with the newspaper, showing readers that
we are here and a part of this community.
 They drive new readers and build our
audience.
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

3. What kind of contest?
 Contests associated with holidays
(Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s
Day, Halloween).
 Events (festivals, parades, trivia bowl).
 Weather (snow, first day of summer).
 Biggest fan or school spirit.
 Best community stories (Ghost
stories, Veteran’s stories).
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

4. What types of platforms/social
media?
 Videos
 Photos
 Written stories
 Google forms
 Print newspaper
Facebook
 Twitter
 Blogs
Pinterest
Instagram
Storify
 Timelines
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

5. How do we handle prizes?
 Arrange prizes with a participating event or
venue (free tickets or passes to an event).
 Use the tantalizing idea of the best photo
making it into print.
 Post the photos in a Facebook album, on
Pinterest and in a slide show on your
website as the prize.
 Occasionally dip into the budget for a
gift card (but that depends on the newspaper
and budget).
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

6. Valentine’s Day Project
 Call-out for
“Loveland’s greatest
love stories” online and
in
print, Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest.
 13 submissions
received.
 Timeline of
submissions designed.
 Top five chosen by
Reporter-Herald staff.
Reporter-Herald projects:
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

7. Valentine’s Day cont’d:
Reporter-Herald projects:
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald
 Top five put to a vote by the community for one week.
 First place entry interviewed for a Valentine’s Day feature
story.

8. Easter
 We asked for egg decorating “egg-sperts” to be part
of a feature.
 We used how-to videos of those submissions to ask
the community to submit their best-decorated eggs for a
Facebook album, slide show, and to run in our News:
By You section.
Reporter-Herald projects:
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

9. Photo curation
 Quick hitters like curating for photos seems to often perform
better than longer contest projects.
 We usually ask for photos and place them in a Facebook
album and slide show on our website. We have a vote for the
best shots and print the top couple in our News: By You section
of the paper.
 Halloween
 Snow photos
 Easter eggs
Reporter-Herald projects:
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

10. Our thoughts on what has worked:
 Our community likes to participate when they don’t have to
put in a lot of work.
 Submitting photos.
 Participating in polls.
 Big prizes are noticed, as are the promises of a child’s photo
getting in the paper.
 Contests around big events/topics of the day like snow
storms or summer festivals.
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald
And what hasn’t:
Trivia Bowl: Asked readers to call in with answers to eight trivia
questions for the chance to win a free entry to participate in the
Trivia Bowl. – No calls.
 Might have been too small of an audience.
 Too much work, not a big enough topic.
Lifetree Film Fest: Asked to submit 3-minute films for a mini
film festival in conjunction with Group Publishing Lifetree Film
Fest. We received three entries.
 Perhaps not enough time (we gave them 2.5 weeks).
 Not a big enough topic.

11. Tips from other newspapers:
 Peeps dioramas are a big hit.
 Reader’s Choice: Unlimited voting or not? You might end up
putting something in the paper that isn’t great but had a lot of
friends.
 Sex sells. We didn't get a tons of entries in our tax season
Sexy Accountant contest, but tens of thousands clicked to see
what sexy accountants look like.
 During National Poetry Month a few years ago, we sponsored
a limerick contest; we got lots of entries, but most were
badly rhymed couplets that weren't even limericks.
-- Richard Chin, St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

12. Tips from other newspapers:
 Better response when we offer less of readers and offer
bigger prizes.
 Giveaways do well like commenting on a post with a favorite
beer or wine to win passes to related events.
 Built up buzz about “Restaurant week,” where people could
“like” the event on Facebook to enter to win. A $400 prize was
announced during a “happy hour event” to kick off the week
(advertise-driven).
-- April Trotter, York Daily Record, Pennsylvania.
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald

13. Brainstorm
 What has worked for you?
 What are your ideas?
Jessica Benes, Reporter-Herald
Jessica Benes
 Reporter-Herald, 970-669-5050 ext.
530.
 Email: jbenes@reporter-herald.com.
 Twitter: @JessicaBenes
Facebook, Pinterest: Jessica Benes
 Blog: jessicabenes.com