Spring is here! I'm sure you're excited to be outside more and enjoy the warm weather. So you have to assume if you're excited about engaging in more activities that don't involve staring at a screen, then your customers are likely feeling the same thing too! Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword for virtual consultants. Because even though the season brings new life, allowing our audience to come from a more positive and refreshed place when they engage with us, it's harder to grab their initial attention.

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So when a Facebook Party is all virtual - how do you combat the spring-time slump? Easy. You refresh the fun parts of the party!

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Meet people where they are at. During the warmer months, people will look at their phones in shorter bursts. However, they are still addicted to the dopamine hit they get whenever they open a social media app like Facebook. Use this to your benefit. Ensure your party's content is in their face when they check in between activities.

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To take advantage of this, you need to get into their notification inbox and have content that members engage with immediately!

That's where gamifying the party experience will come in handy.

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When there is a high incentive to engage with the content you are scheduling, Facebook won't hide it from your party guests, which means that even those just checking in to Facebook for a moment can experience the magic of your products.

MVP Award

An effective way to gamify your Facebook Parties is to make every party task an opportunity for guests to earn points or tickets towards the end-of-party prize. I call it the MVP award, which incentivizes party participation. The more a guest participates, the more tickets or points they rack up towards the prize.

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The best way to ensure all the party members are aware of the game is to have a chart that designates points for each task in the group before guests are invited. You want to make sure they see it as soon as they join. Otherwise, there's a chance they won't know what you're referencing when you bring it up later in the party to drum up engagement.

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Here’s an example:

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You can assign any task tickets/points. Choose tasks that make your life easier as the consultant. For example, do you usually have a system for starting a private message conversation with the guests? Have them message you first. Do you prefer friending the most engaged guests in the Party? Have them, friend, you. Do you want more people in your parties? Give them points/tickets for every extra person they invite into the group.

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When you make the tasks that MUST get done for your system into a game, it makes it fun for your Party guests and you! And that's just as important.

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When creating your Party Template on PostMyParty, add a question at the beginning of each post showcasing products. Then, announce in the text that guests get X amount of points or tickets when they answer the question. Use this method, especially for essential posts for guests, such as the shopping link!

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Example:

"10 MVP Tickets/points - What spring product are you the most excited to learn more about?"

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So what's the difference between assigning points to tasks versus tickets?

Points signify a competition, a game won through the means the guest controls, whereas using tickets indicates that it's all about luck.

There are pros and cons for each format.

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For instance, competition is more effective for pushing engagement because guests have more incentive to pay attention, but drawings are easier to keep up with.

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When you do tickets, you do not need to track how many each person earned because the winner is randomly picked. Yes, a guest who earns the most tickets increases their odds of winning, but it doesn't ensure they will. This fact protects you. It gives you room to decide who won the end-of-party prize without guests becoming angry that you miscalculated. It also allows you to be more strategic about who you choose to win. It could be a guest who was on the fence about booking a party, someone who is interested in the business, or someone that's the most convenient. You have options. It also makes it easier on you if you have a lot of parties running at once because then you don't have to waste time calculating.

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When you assign points to tasks, guests pay more attention because it's up to them if they win. This motivates guests to check into the group more regularly because points have more weight than tickets. But since guests are paying more attention to it, there's no room for error. You don't want your party guests to feel like you've manipulated them, so always follow through. Otherwise, their community will not want to work with you.  

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You have to decide which style works for you.

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And it's possible many of you used to have a system like this in your parties, but you grew past it. If you're starting to see a slump, this is an excellent opportunity to change your system. If the ticket drawing isn't working for you, change over to points and vice versa.

How to Keep the Game in Front of Your Guests

To give the MVP Party prize weight, you'll need to show the guests early on that when you say your giveaway gifts; you follow through. Having guests win something earlier in the Party will keep them excited and develop trust.

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An Early Bird Giveaway is a great way to show you mean what you say.

There are a handful of ways to do Early Bird Drawings. It just depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

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So, for instance, if you want to boost sales early in the Party, create an Early Bird Drawing so that anyone who orders before a specific time gets entered to win a prize. Usually, the deadline is right before the official Party starts.

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So, first, explain in the announcement how to enter the drawing and create a stipulation such as "When we reach 5 orders before x time, someone will win a prize!" Then every time someone orders during that time, notify the group with a post that says we're "X amount away from doing the giveaway."

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To increase your eyes on these posts, have your host post them instead. It's a great way to remind the party guests about the Early Bird Drawing and get your host involved.

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Once the amount is reached, announce the winner by tagging them with a picture of what they've won. You can give a gift by adding to their order or mailing something you already have stocked in your home. If you're shipping something to them, add in the winner post that they should contact you with their address. This saves you some extra work!

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When a winner is announced, it creates buzz in the Party. This is because so many members will "like" or congratulate the winner, so it's a post that will draw attention to your Party, and members who weren't paying attention will take a peek to see what the fuss is about.

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Another Early Bird Giveaway option is to make it an icebreaker game. For example, when 10 people comment on a game before the Party starts, you'll announce the winner. This option is fun because it takes little effort from the party guests but creates immediate buzz and attention.

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Here's a favorite Early Bird Giveaway post that my team used to use:

"Early Bird Drawing! When we have 10 different members, comment below, and I'll give away a prize! Woohoo! Answer one of the three questions to be entered before midnight Friday! 1. What's the last trip you went on? 2. How do you know the host? 3. What's your favorite article of clothing to wear?

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This kind of post gets a lot of interaction and kicks off the Party strongly. Moreover, it tells Facebook's algorithm that the content from this group is popular and will continue to show it in members' newsfeeds afterward.

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For these kinds of giveaways, use PostMyParty's Spin Wheel Feature.

Add everyone's names, click "Update Wheel," and let it spin to see who wins! When the name is picked, take a snapshot of the wheel and post it in the winner announcement to make it more fun!

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Here's an example of what it looks like:

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Remind guests about the MVP prize at the end of the party by doing a Happy Hour. The two middle days are the least active days in a Facebook Party. In the beginning, you can use novelty and hype. In the end, you can use urgency. However, the middle can get stale, so a fun way to pick it back up again is a ticket/point Happy Hour on the 2nd to last day of the party.

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Instead of doing a discount or giving away a prize to everyone who places an order within a specific time frame, announce that from x time to x time, all the points/tickets assigned tasks to have double the value.

It’ll boost engagement, and guests will be reminded that the party is nearing a close.

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Use this to change your group’s cover photo and name to announce the Happy Hour. These actions usually send a notification to all the members of the group. Notifications are hard to ignore, so it’ll get them back into the group.

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How to incorporate the MVP party prize into your host coaching

Add MVP points/tickets to posts you give your hosts to share in their parties. An example for your host to share:

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“[consultant’s name] will award points/tickets to anyone who helps me figure out what I should add to my host wishlist! So what recommendations do you all have?”

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Have your hosts tag their friends in posts you want to get more attention to. Before checking in with your hosts daily, check to see which posts and games need more love. Then, tell your host to tag their friends and reference the MVP points/tickets they will earn by responding to the specific posts. The notification will pop up on the friend’s screen, and they won’t be able to ignore it! It’ll bring them back into the group, even if it’s just for a moment, but that’s enough to get them interested in the party again and check out the catalog.

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Game ideas

There are two kinds of games you need for your party. First, the ones related to your products help guests envision themselves using them. And second, the ones that are just for fun and help everyone get to know each other. You need both for a successful Facebook Party.

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Example of games related to your products:

• Guess how many can fit. Show a product with objects inside or a basket with many products inside.
• Create a post that showcases similar but different products. Explain what kind of person would find the different products more useful and then ask them which person they think they are more like!
• Guess what I use most. Show a few products you might use regularly or what the host might use regularly.
• Show products and guess different ways to use them or what it’s used for
• Show a close-up of an image or product and have them guess what it is.
• Showcase a product and then ask - What ways would you use X product?
• Guess the movie using a graphic of a collage of movie images and product images.
• Family Feud style game of - What are the top uses for x product? Or What products are the best x activity?
• Trivia Game about your company, your business, or your products
• Guess an item in the image over $10, then have them send you a message with the answer.
• Guess what’s on the host’s wishlist, and show a graphic of your bestsellers or package sets.
• Counting Games: Guess how many x is in x product. It showcases the product and is a super easy question to answer.

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Examples of games unrelated to products:

• Share what you do for a living only using emojis.
• Let's start a dance party! Post a dancing GIF below to get your dance on!
• What's your perfect summer day - and create a graphic with squares in them, and each square describes a different day and have your guests vote on which day sounds like the best day to them.
• Finish the Sentence Game, where you create a graphic with a sentence that's about a topic that's trending, like "My favorite TV show is ____" or "I relax by____."
• This or that game, such as, "Do you prefer a shower or a bath? Dogs or cats? Cake or french fries?
• Would you rather have games like "Would you rather be famous or be friends with a famous person?:
• What 3 ….words would you use to describe yourself? Fictional characters make up you?
• If you were - questions - If you were a Greek god - which god would you be? If you were a dog - what dog breed would you be? If you lived in another country - what would it be?
• What are your favorite questions - What's your favorite time of the day? What's your favorite color?

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Additional tips for how to use Games to boost engagement:

Use the time of the day wisely. For your posts/games to get the most engagement, they must be shared BEFORE those peak times, so posts are already in party guests' faces when they check into Facebook.

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7 am - 9 am: Guests will interact with games/posts as they wake up. People tend to grab their phones first thing when they wake up and scroll. So make sure your content is available for them to see during this stint of time by having posts scheduled at 6:30 am.

12 pm - 1 pm: Party Guests will interact with games/posts during their lunch break, slightly before and slightly after.

3:30-5 pm: Party Guests will interact with games/post more often during the midday slump. Usually, people are running the clock at work at this point and looking for a distraction. So make sure your group's content is the distraction.

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Thursday and Sunday evenings are the best nights to reach party members through Messenger. This is because they are home preparing for their week or weekend, likely resting in front of the T.V. You'll see more responses if you send messages after dinner on those days.

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Use games to encourage guests to message you:

We can reach only so many party members through Messenger before Facebook limits your ability to message for that day. To avoid this, use games to get the members to message you instead. Also, once a conversation is started, Facebook doesn't count as a new person you're interacting with. Which means it's less likely to be flagged as spam.

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It also starts a conversation, and even though some people aren't willing to engage in stagnate content, they are excited to talk to you! You just have to find an opening.

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You can use any game examples above and tack on - "To get x MVP points/tickets - send me a private message with the answer!

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Add the direct link to your Messenger. Your direct link is https://m.me/, and your Facebook user name.

Like with anything else in a virtual party, not everyone will participate, but the people who do are the ones who will make great future hosts!

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With all these tips, you will rock your spring and summer seasons!

Now, let's get the fun rolling! Let us know which of these tips you incorporate into your parties.

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