Organizing a Twitter contest is a great way to gain fast publicity and use followers to market a brand, product, or person. Profiles with larger followings can make their content go viral at least within their own circle by offering a a potential reward for retweeting. Here are 7 tips to secure the maximum profit from a Twitter contest!

1. Target an Audience

This is the time to find out who is really reading your Tweets. Make sure you have a following (sorry, not much help here) & create a contest with their interests in mind. Make sure the context of the contest is relevant, give it an eye-catching title, and you're off to a good start.

2. Follow the Rules

Although Twitter promotions are fairly lenient, make sure you understand and follow the legal terms in addition to Twitter’s terms of service. For more information, check out Twitter’s guidelines for contests. Make sure you have your own guidelines as well. Choose an end date and time for the contest and state this clearly.

3. Hype it Up

Tweet about your upcoming contest to generate interest. Promote* the contest in advance so you can have entries immediately. Reach out especially to those most likely to participate - whether it is your most active customer or frequent retweeter. Make sure your contest won’t be a failed attempt by getting some feedback ahead of time. Use #hashtags and tweet about it more than once to make sure people see it. Announce the prizes that are up for grabs and provide a picture/link to be extra informative.

4. Be Available

After you make the initial announcement that you are having a contest, be sure to answer all questions and comments that may arise. Keep the momentum going by actively participating in the conversation. Use a service like TweetDeck or CoTweet to ensure you don’t miss any @mention. You don’t want to leave anyone confused or any question unanswered. Instead, use the opportunity to establish a better relationship and credibility with your followers.

5. Choosing the Winner

Twitter suggest using Retweets to monitor all the participants in your contest. You should also make sure the winner follows you if he or she is not already doing so. If your tweet doesn't include an @mention to your profile, make sure the contest requires it because you won't be able to publicly search all of Twitter.

6. Follow Through

Try to deliver the prize or reward to the winner in a timely manner. Don’t start another contest until you have satisfied the conditions of the previous one!

7. Follow Up

Again, the contest is a chance for follower/customer interaction. Use it to connect with the winners and runner-ups and maybe offer them some kind of special treatment in the future. They might become some of your best customers!

First image via TheWWWBlog. Screenshots taken from Twitter.

* Keep an eye out for Fueled’s own Twitter mini-contest, coming soon!