The Basics
“Mash-ups”. If you watched TV anytime in the 2010s, that term was probably synonymous with Glee, a show (in)famous for its catchy and sometimes really bizarre mash-ups of popular songs. The best mash-ups were often great stand alone songs but really shone when paired with another powerhouse song. That’s where Dare U comes in.
Dare U is our take on the classic mash-up. We’ve taken two of our most powerful apps (Dare Me and Giveaway) and combined them into one. This new app will help you interact in new ways with your followers while growing your base, driving up your social media engagement, AND offering a fun giveaway for your followers to win.
Read on to see how you can use Dare Me to boost your Link in Bio!
Dare U Is For Everyone
Dare U is an app that anyone and everyone can use successfully! It encourages fun interactions with your fans while giving you focused and deep engagement on your other social media accounts…all while hosting a special giveaway for your current followers and soon-to-be followers.
And while the app is simple to use and can help any creator (regardless of size and content) grow their following and increase engagement, here are some tips for making your Dare U as successful as it can be!
Prize
If you’re offering a giveaway, obviously one of the most important aspects is the item you’re giving away. You have to make sure it’s something you can deliver on while also choosing something that your followers will really want and will work for.
This is where a deep understanding of your audience will come in handy. Are they more interested in a one-on-one video call with you or a $200 voucher for your merch? Or maybe they just want the latest iPad. Whatever it may be, have it ready before you dare your followers to make sure the winner will receive the prize they entered for.
The Dare Itself
While the prize is important, the dare you give your followers might be even more so! This is what your followers will have to record themselves completing in order to enter into your giveaway. The dare is where you can get extra creative.
For example, you can dare your followers to recreate a viral TikTok challenge, stream your whole album or latest podcast episode while standing on one leg, or even dare them to like your latest post with their elbow. The dare you issue can be as easy, complex, weird, or funny as you want it to be.
And a helpful tip is: remember to take into account your followers’ ages and interests for the best turnout possible!
Let’s Get Started
Dare U is free to use and available on the Koji App Store. Setting it up is easy, and there are a few choices to make depending on the type of experience you want to create.
Create the Giveaway and Dare
When you remix or add the app from the Koji App Store, you can start by picking a prize and telling your fans what they have a chance to win in your giveaway. Make sure it’s descriptive! Then add a cover photo or video of the prize, write out the dare, and then set an end date. Don’t worry, you can edit all of this information later if you’re not happy with it.
When you’re happy with your configuration, publish your app and add it to your profile. Make sure you give it a catchy icon! If you’re ready to promote it right away, consider making it a profile highlight so it’s highly visible when people visit your Link in Bio.
Moderation
As responses to your dare come in, it might be a good idea to go through occasionally to make sure that you approve of what people are posting. Whether it’s a response that’s inappropriate or even just a response that doesn’t actually complete the dare, you have the power to remove videos to create a safe and energizing space for your followers that will encourage them to be creative and free!
Pick a Winner
When the giveaway ends you can pick a winner by tapping on the “View Admin Dashboard” button at the top of the app. You then have two options: pick a random winner, or select the winner manually.
Randomly picking a winner is super simple: just tap the “Randomly Pick Winner” button. The app will select an entry at random. Then you can review the entry by tapping “View Winner Info”. If you approve of the entry, tap “Contact Winner”. If you don’t approve of the entry (maybe it’s inappropropriate or the person didn’t satisfactorily complete the dare), tap the ‘X’ at the top left and then tap “Re-Pick Winner”. This will prompt the app to remove the previous entry and pick a new one.
If you want to choose the winner manually, scroll through the entries and pick the person you think best completed the dare. Tap the trophy icon to the left of their username and then tap “Select Winner” in the pop-up window. Then you can contact the winner and send them their prize!
After picking the winner, their entry will be highlighted at the top of the feed so all participants can view the winning submission.
Promoting Your Giveaway Dare
Koji makes it easy to make the actual app and get started daring your followers for a prize, but that’s only the first piece of the equation. Once your app is ready, you need to make a plan to promote it.
Everyone is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all recipe for promotion, but we’ve compiled a few best practices to help you get started.
Build Hype
As soon as you start the giveaway—or even before!— get the word out to your followers that they’ll have a chance to win a sweet prize if they complete your dare before the giveaway ends. Post it on your stories, make a video, Tweet about it, livestream about it!
The more places you share it, the more hype you’ll build. If you want a more subtle approach, you can tease either the prize or the dare before release to keep your followers guessing and looking for more answers.
You can also post a video of yourself completing the challenge. If your audience sees you completing it, they might be more likely to try submitting videos themselves. Don’t forget to remind them that the winner will not only get the prize, but will also get their submission featured on the app!
Reshare Submissions As Content
You can compile or use the video submissions you get from followers in other content you create! After the giveaway ends, you’ll have the option to download user-submitted videos to use for posts, videos, stories, whatever you want.
It’s a great way to give your followers the incentive to submit their videos for entry—they can win a prize and get a free shoutout or spotlight in your future content, and you might find some great ideas and videos to use on your other platforms. It’s a win-win!
Final Thoughts
Dare U is a super fun and versatile app. We know the connections it facilitates will be truly magical to some of your followers, and we’re excited to give you the tools to make them happen.
We’d love to hear your feedback, ideas, feature requests, and bugs. Twitter is the easiest place to get in touch – we’re @madewithkoji, and we can’t wait to see what you do with this new app.