Five Best Contest Apps You Should Be Using In 2023
With so many options available, deciding which contest app is right for you can be challenging. What are the features? What are the benefits? How do they work?
We’ve created a comparison of the five best contest apps to help make your decision easier. These apps have been tried and tested by businesses like yours. So whether you’re looking for an app that’s easy to use or one with many features, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s explore each of them below.
What Is a Contest App?
A contest app is a digital tool businesses use to run giveaways, sweepstakes, and other promotions. Contest apps make it easy to collect participants, track entries, and select winners.
They’re also a great way to increase engagement on social media and drive traffic to your website or blog.
But how does a contest app work?
Contest apps allow businesses to create digital forms where participants can enter their contact information. Once the form is submitted, the participant’s information is stored in a database.
This makes it easy to keep track of the entries and choose a winner at the end of the contest.
There are many different contest apps available, but they all have one goal: to help businesses run successful promotions.
Benefits of Running a Contest
Running a contest can be a great way to generate interest in your product or service. You can create excitement and buzz around your brand by offering participants the chance to win a prize.
If you structure your contest correctly, you can generate significant revenue.

Here are some real-world results that show the benefits of running a contest:
● Every year, FlySafair offers a ticket contest to its passengers. They had 300,000 passengers flying with them, and their social media following blew up (particularly on Twitter). Running a social media contest allowed them to increase their brand awareness, generate new leads, and increase their number of passengers within a short period.
● Bruce Lee’s family uses sweepstakes exclusivity to turn 23,489 social fans into insiders (that pay). Their sweepstakes contest using ViralSweep was essential for their lead generation. Of course, they leveraged the legacy of Bruce Lee in their strategy, but running contests allowed them to fully utilize all their social media channels.
● Over $50,000 in income was generated by LostGolfBalls through a contest. LostGolfBall also leveraged Facebook contests to increase brand awareness and produce sales at a record-breaking speed. They used ViralSweep as well to run their contest and generate revenue.
● Evelo made almost $40,000 in just 12 days after launching a contest thanks to their partnership with ViralSweep. This was the first time they had ever run sweepstakes, and it’s one of their best-ever marketing campaigns.
As you can see, running a contest can be a great way to generate interest and revenue for your business. So if you’re thinking about holding a contest, be sure to consider the benefits carefully.
Main Benefits of Contest Apps
While running a contest has benefits, you won’t fully utilize them without a decent system. That’s where contest apps come in. These offer advanced features that you won’t find in any other application.
Here are the main benefits of having a contest app:
Easily Collect Participant Information
One of the main benefits of using a contest app for contests is that it makes it easy to collect participant information.
With most apps, you can create digital forms and landing pages where participants can enter their contact information. This makes it easy to keep track of the entries and choose a winner at the end of the contest.
Additionally, many contest apps offer API integrations. You can connect your contest app to your CRM or email marketing platform. This allows you to automatically add new leads to your database and follow up with them after the contest.
Track Entries Easily
Another benefit of using a contest app is that it makes it easy to track entries. With most apps, you can see how many people have entered the contest and view all the entries in one place. This makes it easy to track who has entered and who hasn’t.
Additionally, some apps offer features like entry limits and entry tracking. This allows you to ensure that each participant only enters the contest once and that you’re not getting duplicate entries.
Select Winners With Ease
One of the most important benefits of using a contest app is that it makes it easy to select winners. With most apps, you can randomly select a winner from all entries. This ensures that the contest is fair and everyone has an equal chance of winning.
Increased Brand Awareness
Finally, one of the most important benefits of using a contest app is that it can help you increase your brand awareness.
You can promote your contest with most apps across multiple social media channels. This allows you to reach a larger audience and increase your chances of getting more entries.
Furthermore, many contest apps offer features like social sharing and viral growth. This allows you to encourage participants to share the contest with their friends and followers.
Small businesses need to focus on building their brand to be successful. In today’s digital world, one of the best ways to do this is by running hashtag contests across multiple social media channels.
Hashtag contests are a great way to increase brand awareness and get more people talking about your business.
5 Best Contest Apps To Use Today
You may already be wondering what the best contest apps you can use today are. After all, you must ensure that the right tool is intuitive and functional for your business.
Here are the best social media contest tools for you:
ViralSweep
ViralSweep is the best choice among social media contest apps today.
It has advanced features that allow you to export entries quickly and easily set up your contest. ViralSweep is also great for small businesses as it will enable you to create fun and engaging games without spending much money.

It has various pricing options, including a premium plan for larger businesses.
Gleam
Gleam is another excellent choice for social media contest apps. It offers many features, including social actions, entry form customization, and support for multiple languages. Gleam also makes it easy to track your results and analyze your data.
Contest Domination
Contest Domination is a powerful contest app that offers various features, including automatic entry verification, instant winner notification, and built-in social sharing. Contest Domination is also very easy to use, making it an excellent choice for businesses of all sizes.
ShortStack
ShortStack is a popular contest app with many features, including customizable entry forms, multi-step entry forms, and Facebook Tab integration.
Like other apps on this list, ShortStack also offers a range of pricing options and features that makes them an excellent choice for all types of businesses.
Woobox
Woobox is an excellent choice for social media contest apps. It offers various features, including Facebook Tab integration, advanced reporting, and support for multiple languages.
How To Create a Successful Contest
Developing a successful contest isn’t as easy as it may seem. There are a lot of factors to consider if you want your contest to be successful. You must ensure everything is planned out correctly, from entry methods to design.
Here’s a basic plan on how to create a contest and make it a big success:
- Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with your contest? Do you want more engagement on your social media platforms? More website visitors? More customers? Once you know your goals, you can better plan your contest accordingly.
- Choose the right platform: Not all contests are created equal, and not all platforms are suitable for every type of contest. Research the different kinds of contest apps, consumer data, and media available, and choose the one that best suits your needs.
- Plan your entry methods: One of the most important aspects of any contest is how people can enter. Will it be via social media, your website, or both? Make sure you plan your entry methods in advance to avoid confusion later.
- Design matters: A well-designed contest will look more professional and more likely to grab attention. Spend some time designing your contest to look its best and entice people to enter.
- Promote, promote, promote: Once everything is all set, it’s time to start promoting your contest. Use social media, email marketing, and any other channels you have at your disposal to reach as many people as possible.
As you can see, designing your own contest can be challenging. The easiest way is to leverage contest apps like ViralSweep to create a functional system and manage your contests effectively.
Contest App FAQ
Is There an App for Giveaways?
Yes, there are abundant apps that help with giveaways. ViralSweep is one of them.
It allows you to easily create and manage giveaways. You can use it to randomly select a winner from a list of entrants or choose specific criteria for your giveaway, such as the number of entries or likes on a Facebook post.
ViralSweep makes it easy to run a successful giveaway, so you can focus on promoting your product or service.
Does Facebook Have a Contest App?
Facebook doesn’t have a native contest app, but you can use ViralSweep to easily create and run contests on your Facebook page.
With ViralSweep, you can choose from various template designs or create your own custom design. You can also easily specify the rules and prizes for your contest. ViralSweep provides all the tools you need to promote your contest and track its results.
So if you’re looking for an easy way to create and run a Facebook contest, ViralSweep is the solution for you.