News, Trends & Stats, V4I1

Ugly Shed Contest Proves to be a Winner

Helmuth Builders in Virginia has been striving to boost its online presence.

They were brainstorming ways to draw traffic to its website and social media platforms, and then they realized—there are a lot of ugly sheds out there.

All of this is available to you immediately when you meet a girl on the street, so it’s immediately clear whether you like her or not. On the Internet you’ll have to draw conclusions from ts hookups photoshopped photos of unknown date. During the meeting there is a high probability that the real person will not interest you in the way you were interested in the image created by your imagination.

By combining social media and ugly sheds, the inaugural Helmuth Builders Ugly Shed Contest was born.

“Josh Helmuth and Mike Troyer had long been wanting to find a way to implement a contest like this, aiming to continue our tradition of service,” says Phil Saunders, who handles sales at the Harrisonburg location. “As a way of giving back to the Shenandoah Valley, and our loyal customers, the contest was born.”

Entrants emailed a photo of their ugly shed, along with a little background on the structure and the years of wear and tear it had seen. Helmuth posted each photo and story submitted on its Facebook page for the public to select a winner.

Folks who entered “liked” the Helmuth Facebook page and were notified when their shed was posted. Then, they were encouraged to share the Facebook post with their “friends.”

“We received a lot of really positive feedback from customers and individuals interested in the contest,” says Saunders. “And the stories attached to the photo submissions only added to the genuineness of it all and I think that’s one aspect that people loved so much. You really got to connect with each submission and vote accordingly.”

The owner of the ugly shed with the most votes had two choices. First, Helmuth Builders would provide a shed renovation with a new roof (metal or shingles), new trim, and new paint on the entire building. Option number two was 50 percent off a brand-new storage building.

The results of the contest, which ran throughout the month of September, were obvious to company.

“We saw a boost in visitors to our Facebook page, website and physical offices,” says Saunders. “Sales were up 34 percent this September (compared to September 2016), which, in my opinion, is in relation to the contest. Storage buildings alone saw an 80 percent growth this September, compared to September 2016.”

In the end, the winner opted to go with 50% off of a brand-new building instead of having her old shed made over.

“We are still getting people in our offices asking if we’re going to be doing another one anytime soon,” Saunders says. “Needless to say, this is definitely going to be an annual part of our sales calendar.”

Comments are closed.

Current Issue

October/November 2024