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Running a sweepstakes can be a great way for alcohol brands to engage with their customers and build brand loyalty. However, there are several legal and ethical considerations that adults beverage companies must take into account when running a sweepstakes involving alcohol. In this blog post, we will discuss four sweepstakes tips for alcohol companies and what they should consider.
Comply with Legal Requirements: Alcohol brands must comply with various legal requirements when running a sweepstakes. For example, in the United States, brands must comply with state and federal laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulations. Brands must also ensure that their sweepstakes are open to individuals of legal drinking age and are not accessible to individuals who are prohibited from consuming alcohol.
Hire a Sweepstakes Agency: As mentioned above there are several legal requirements to consider and these must be clearly defined in the rules and Regulations. Hiring a sweepstakes agency who specializes in sweepstakes law is key. The sweepstakes agency will structure the rules to include the eligibility criteria, how to enter, the deadline for entry, the prize, and any other relevant details. The rules and regulations must be easily accessible and prominently displayed to potential entrants.
Adhere to Responsible Marketing: Alcohol brands have a responsibility to market their products in a responsible manner. This includes promoting responsible consumption and avoiding any messaging that could be perceived as promoting excessive or irresponsible drinking. Alcohol brands should also ensure that their sweepstakes do not target underage individuals or encourage excessive drinking. In addition to handling the creation of the official rules and abbreviated rules, Sync will review all of your marketing materials to make sure that they are legally compliant.
Ensure the Prize is Relevant and Appropriate: The prize for the sweepstakes should be relevant and appropriate to the brand and its target audience. For example, a luxury whiskey brand may offer a private distillery tour as a prize, while a beer brand may offer tickets to a popular sporting event. Additionally, the prize should not actually include alcohol or promote excessive consumption of alcohol.
In conclusion, running a sweepstakes can be a great way for alcohol brands to engage with their customers and build brand loyalty. However, alcohol brands must consider several legal and ethical considerations to ensure that their sweepstakes comply with legal requirements, promote responsible marketing, and are relevant and appropriate to their target audience. By following these tips, you can run a successful and responsible sweepstakes!
Sweepstakes have long been a popular marketing tool for businesses as they produces a tremendous return on investment (ROI). In 2023, there are many different types of sweepstakes that brands (and their agency partners) can run to engage with customers, build brand awareness, and generate leads. Here is list of the top 10 types of sweepstakes to run in 2023:
Social Media Contests:
With billions of people using social media every day, running a sweepstakes on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Twitter is a great way to reach a large audience and interact with consumers. Brands can ask customers to like, comment, and share their posts to enter the sweepstakes, and can even require entrants to follow their social media accounts to participate.
This can have two positive impacts:
Increased Brand Awareness: The ripple effect is real. The more people know about you, the more their friends and followers will know about you.
Increased Engagement: Social media sweepstakes can also help businesses increase engagement with their existing followers. By offering a chance to win prizes, it can increase engagement and help to build a stronger relationship with customers. Additionally, the excitement and anticipation of the sweepstakes can encourage customers to visit a business’s social media channels more often, which can lead to increased engagement overall.
Referral Sweepstakes:
Referral sweepstakes incentivize customers to refer their friends to your business. Entrants can earn additional entries for each friend they refer who also enters the sweepstakes, which can help brands build their email lists and reach new customers. Referral sweepstakes can create a greater likelihood that those referrals will turn into new customers because they are being referred by a friend. That’s an instant vouch of support for the brand.
These types of sweepstakes can be achieved in different ways. You can have a simple enter to win sweepstakes where entrants can refer up to five friends after entry for extra chances to win or they can refer friends by tagging on a social media sweepstakes. Our client Wealthfront just finished a campaign where they gave away $25,000 to three different Wealthfront members. Entrant received extra entries for doing a number of different tasks including referring friends!
Instant Win Sweepstakes:
Instant win sweepstakes allow customers to enter and find out immediately if they have won a prize. This type of sweepstakes can be especially engaging for customers, as they don’t have to wait for a drawing to find out if they’ve won. It also allows them to feel like they have a great chance to win. Sync recommends offering daily entries for instant win campaigns as it will keep customers coming back and engaging with your brand.
Survey Sweepstakes:
Surveys are a great way for businesses to gather feedback from customers, and adding a sweepstakes component can help incentivize customers to participate. Businesses can offer prizes to random survey participants, or even offer a larger prize to the customer who provides the most helpful feedback.
Photo or Video Contests:
Photo and video contests can be a fun way for customers to engage with a brand and show off their creativity. Businesses can ask customers to submit photos or videos related to a specific theme, and then award prizes to the best entries. Sync can help guide you on what type of judging criteria to include in the official rules. We also offer a judging platform for to score entries.
Daily Sweepstakes:
Daily sweepstakes allow businesses to keep customers engaged over an extended period of time. It’s best to offer a different prize every day to keep entrants coming back. Then offer a lager overarching grand prize to anyone who entered through the sweepstakes entry period.
Essay or Writing Contests:
If you want to engage with customers who are passionate about something, offering an essay or writing contests can be a great option. Brands can ask customers to write about a specific topic, and then award prizes to the entries that best matched the judging criteria.
Treasure Hunt Sweepstakes:
These are fun! Treasure hunt sweepstakes can be a fun way to engage with customers and build brand awareness. Businesses can hide clues or information about their brand or products throughout their website or social media channels, and then award a prize to the customer who finds all of the clues. If it’s within the budget you can include it on your website, but if you want to do smaller scare, we recommend running these types of campaigns on your social channels.
Instant Discount Sweepstakes:
Instant discount sweepstakes offer customers a chance to win an immediate discount on their next purchase. We typically recommend the discount to appear after entry and still offering a larger overarching grand prize. This type of sweepstakes can help drive sales for businesses while also providing customers with a fun and engaging experience.
Charity Sweepstakes or Contests:
Charity campaigns allow businesses to give back to their communities while also engaging with customers.
Sweepstakes: Businesses can donate a certain amount to a charity based on the number of entries they receive. Allowing entrants to vote on the charity they want to donate to, is another great option.
Contests: Going back to the essay contests, brands can ask people to nominate deserving people for the chance to win. The person nominated would then money for themselves and the cause they donate their time to. Sync recommends background checks for this and can provide this service for you.
Charity sweepstakes and contests can produce a great ROI.
In conclusion, there are many different types of sweepstakes that businesses can run in 2023 to engage with customers and build brand awareness. Whether you choose to run a social media contest, a referral sweepstakes, an instant win sweepstakes, or any of the other options on this list, a well-executed sweepstakes can be a powerful tool for driving sales and building customer loyalty.
Summer is a fantastic time for brands (and their agency partners) to engage with their customers and create buzz around their brand. One way to do this is by running a summer sweepstakes or contest. There are many different types of sweepstakes and contests to choose from, but not all of them are created equal. Today, we’ll explore the top summer sweepstakes and contest ideas.
Simple Enter to Win
Running a straight forward enter to win sweepstakes is a great way to reward consumers while collecting emails. Offering a chance to win a trip to a popular summer destination, such as a beach resort, national park, or theme park will really entice consumers because summer is already on the brain.
Here are a few prizing ideas to consider:
Adventure Sweepstakes in the Outdoors
Summer is the perfect time for getting outside, and an outdoor adventure sweepstakes is a great way to engage customers who are interested in hiking, camping, or other outdoor activities. A prize package could include camping gear, hiking boots, or even a guided camping trip.
Summer Vacation Sweepstakes
People love to travel during the summer, and a summer vacation sweepstakes is a great way to tap into this enthusiasm. A prize package could include a weekend getaway, a cruise, or even an all-expenses-paid trip to a popular vacation destination. Check out this sweepstakes from Sync and our client La Tierra de Mezcal who is giving away a trip to Mexico!
Backyard BBQ Backyard BBQ Sweepstakes
Backyard BBQs are a summer tradition, and a backyard BBQ sweepstakes is a great way to engage customers who love to grill. A prize package could include a grill, grilling accessories, and even a gift card to purchase food and beverages.
UGC Contests
Running a user-generated content (UGC) contest over the summer can have numerous benefits for businesses looking to engage with their audience. Whether it is a summer cocktail recipe contest, or a world’s best guacamole contest, you’re sure to receive a lot of great content that fits with your brand.
Sync offers a variety of services when it comes to UGC contests. While we have you covered with legal and outlining the structure of your promotion, we can also track and judge the entries for you.
Event Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes held at special events like festivals and sporting events provide a great opportunity to build your email database. Create some on site marketing materials with a QR code straight to your entry page to allow people to enter for a chance to win. If it’s a paid event, Sync can create an alternate means of entry (AMOE) microsite to keep your campaign legally compliant.
Overall running a summer sweepstakes or contest can increase engagement, sales and brand awareness in a cost-effective way. With a well-designed and executed campaign, businesses can capitalize on the excitement and enthusiasm of summer and create a positive impact on their bottom line. There’s still plenty of time. Contact Sync today to get a same day quote for your summer sweepstakes!
Offering big displays, entertainment and food sampling are all effective ways a company can draw people to their booth during a trade show. Today I will discuss an updated version of the typical booth raffle – an online sweepstakes. Below I will break down the three top reasons to run a sweepstakes at your next trade show.
Catch people’s attention
If you’re giving away a trip, cash or free products/services, you’re sure to turn heads and pique attendees’ interest. When Sync runs trade show giveaways, we provide the client with a QR code to put on all their POP and marketing materials that when scanned links directly to an online entry form. This makes it a seamless user experience. Users will stop, scan and go directly to the sweepstakes site and enter for their chance to win – big! And best of all, we can select winners same day and they don’t need to hang around all day for their number to be called. Go Delta highlighted the benefits in their article by saying, “A study by Exhibit Surveys Inc. found that companies that displayed promotional giveaways at their booth had significantly higher traffic than companies that did not utilize giveaways.”
Boost email opt-ins
For each entry you receive, you can also receive an email opt-in. This allows you to reach back out to all of those who attended your show. You can even send them a surprise and delight offer to everyone who entered as a thank you.
Drive sales
After entry you can provide CTA on the thank you for entering page back to your site. You could even offer discounts after entry to help boost sales. Want to take it a step further? Ask those who entered to sign up for SMS notifications for an additional chance to win!
Sweepstakes are a fast and effective way to obtain the best ROI for your next trade show. Sync provides an all-inclusive package consisting of design, programming, legal and prize fulfillment for your next sweepstakes. We even offer discounts to clients who run multiple trade shows a year. Now that’s a win for everyone! Contact us today for pricing and campaign examples.
3 Reasons to Run a Sweepstakes at Your Next Trade Show
While there has been a significant shift in consumer shopping habits due to COVID-19 as discussed in the Quantcast Blog, some consumers need more of a push to shop online. Today, I will discuss how to get customers excited to shop online by running a sweepstakes or contest.
Prizing
One of the most cost-effective ways to get customers excited to shop online is to incentivize them with a chance of winning a prize. What better way to do this than running a sweepstakes where your customers can win a gift card to your company or store? Many big box retailers have started running sweepstakes to entice their customers to come online for a chance to win. While there, the hope is that they will see something they like and that it will translate into a sale.
In order to make the entry process “worth it,” it’s important that your prizing is up to snuff. We would recommend giving away several small gift cards (possibly one or more a day) with an overarching larger grand prize. This makes customers feel as though they have a better chance to win. Also, by giving away gift cards, you are encouraging them to shop online, and in most cases, they will buy more than what the gift card is worth.
Surprise and Delight
Want to encourage more online sales? Offer a surprise and delight coupon to every person who enters the sweepstakes. Make the discount worth it at 20% or more.
Social Media Contests
Another way to get customers excited to shop online is to run a social media contest. Engaging with your customers is more important than ever. Perhaps you can ask your customers to upload their favorite “lounge look” to Instagram for a chance to win. Julie Link Co-Founder of Sync Marketing wrote,
“It’s not business as usual. Businesses are struggling to find ways to connect with their consumers while we are forced to “social distance” by staying home. So how do brands interact with consumers? How do they connect? A great way is engaging consumers with sweepstakes and contests.”
Another way to encourage engagement is by including a call to action after entry. One way to share the sweepstakes and encourage engagement is to offer entrants extra chances to win by sharing on social media.
As we all try to navigate these times it’s important to continue to assess your goals and think of cost-effective ways to engage with your customers in a positive way. Sweepstakes have always been a great way to do that. If you want to brainstorm ideas on how a sweepstakes might benefit your brand, reach out to Sync today.
What a decade it has been. Sync Marketing opened in January or 2011 with the goal to offer clients a specialized service with acute attention to detail. It makes me proud to look back and see that we are still providing this service and haven’t strayed from who we are.
Our Clients
2019 was another great year for Sync Marketing. As we close on this decade we can look back and see enormous growth for Sync both personally and professionally. From the creation of our Turnkey sweeps platform, to receiving new accolades, 2019 was a year for the books!
We enhanced PII security for TurnkeySweeps by Sync by creating a new sweepstakes platform
TurnkeySweeps by Sync got a complete overhaul. The platform is now even more efficient, but most importantly, secure. While Sync never collects social security numbers or credit card information online, we have upgraded our system to meet and /or exceed the latest standards to protect PII.
2020 Top Shop!
Sync Marketing is honored to be listed among the greatest in the business as one of the Top 200 Marketing Agencies for 2020 by Chief Marketer. This is our sixth year receiving this award. In addition, this year we were names Top 10 B2C marketing agency.
Continued our NWBOC certification
Once again Sync Marketing renewed our certification as a business owned and controlled by a woman by the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC), the first national certifier of Women Business Enterprises. The goal of the certification program is to streamline the certification process and increase the ability of women business owners to compete for contracts at a national level.
We are so excited to see what this new decade has to bring!
The holidays are right around the corner, but there’s still time to add a holiday-themed sweepstakes or contest to your marketing plans this year. Yes, time is of the essence, but the following ideas can be implemented just in time for the holidays. Below are some quick and easy holiday-themed sweepstakes and contest ideas.
Instagram Sweepstakes
An Instagram sweepstakes is easy, breezy and very effective. It’s a great way to get your customers posting about you and your products or services for their chance to win a cool prize. Have a makeup line? What about a “pretty pumpkin” decorating sweepstakes where consumers are asked to make up their pumpkin instead of carving. Then, they can post it with the campaign hashtag to their Instagram account. Home décor is your business; how about asking people to show their Thanksgiving table-scape using your merchandise and their personal touches? Shop ‘til you drop? Ask entrants to upload a photo of their best Black Friday experience. Keep in mind if you are asking entrants to use your products, you will also need a free method of entry. Here’s some additional information on the benefits of running an Instagram promotion.
TurnkeySweeps by Sync
The TurnkeySweeps by Sync platform is a cost-effective way to get a sweepstakes running quickly. Consider hosting a simple enter to win promotion that offers consumers a chance to win your merchandise every day in December. This simple sweepstakes approach is a great way to reward your existing customers for the holidays as well as attract new consumers. You can also add on a surprise and delight discount offer to everyone that enters to get people in your door to drive sales after the holidays end. Within this platform, you can easily add instant wins or fun holiday-themed games such as find the matching elf memory game or spin the Hanukah dreidel. Or, consider asking entrants to upload a photo of their favorite holiday dish or a shot of their New Year’s Eve style. To learn more about TurnkeySweeps by Sync, go here.
SMS campaign
This is one of the easiest ways to reach your consumers. Consider running an SMS campaign if you are hosting a holiday event or concert for example. All you need to do is provide the short code and the entrant uses this to text for a chance to win. You can also have in-store POP with the campaign information, so people can enter at point of sale. After the promotion is over, it’s a great way to send reminders and discount offers directly to your customers that opt-in for texts. Here are some additional benefits to running a text to win campaign.
Hopefully these quick and easy holiday-themed sweepstakes and contest have been helpful. Regardless of which type of campaign you run, keep in mind that there are legal requirements so consulting an agency to help you with the details is key. Reach out to Sync and we will help get your holiday campaign (or beyond) off the ground.
Quick and Easy Holiday-themed Sweepstakes and Contest Ideas
Sweepstakes and brand loyalty marketing go hand in hand. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to reward your customers all while strengthening the relationship you have with them. Today we will discuss the best types of brand loyalty sweepstakes to run and why.
Start slowly
We always suggest to our clients to run at least a few straight forward enter-to-win sweepstakes before running a loyalty sweepstakes. First and foremost, it will allow you to collect new opt-ins to add to your email list. Also, you will see how sweepstakes resonate with your consumers before you launch a loyalty-based campaign.
It’s all in the email
A brand loyalty sweepstakes starts and ends with email communication. Consumers are interested in your brand and have already signed up to receive emails from you. Now, reward them with the chance to win a great prize. Be sure to put the sweepstakes CTA within the email you send out to your consumers.
Reward, reward, reward
When it comes to a brand loyalty sweepstakes, we think having all entrants win something is a great way to optimize the relationship you have with your customer. To achieve this, you can run an instant win sweepstakes. Here the customer either wins a prize or a discount coupon with a percentage or dollar amount off of your product. If you are a subscription-based service, another way to reward your consumer is to automatically enter them into a sweepstakes for signing up. Here is an example of a recent sweepstakes. Stitch Fix entered all entrants who scheduled a Fix for delivery in the month of June for a chance to win. However, keep in mind, if you require a purchase like this sweepstakes did, you must offer a free alternate means of entry.
Have fun and gather more info
Polls are fun for everyone! People love to give their opinion! And you love to get information on your product, right? Why not ask your loyal customers a question about which new fall look they like best for a chance to win? They are rewarded with a chance to win, and you gather insightful information about your product line for the fall.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to brand loyalty sweepstakes. Whether you’re reaching out to a newly acquired customer or one of your more loyal fans, reach out to Sync to help you strengthen your relationship with you customer by offering unique and engaging ideas.
For marketers, running a sweepstakes is an easy way to gather information about potential consumers. It’s also an effective way to reward current consumers for loyalty to their brand by offering a chance to win a fun prize. Unfortunately, there are people out there who are in the business of running scam promotions. So we’re here today to help you know how to avoid sweepstakes scams. Here is recent CBS News story outlining how Americans were bamboozled out of over $100 Million dollars last year.
Look for the official rules of the sweepstakes
When entering a sweepstakes, be sure to look for the official rules that clearly outlines the parameters of the promotion. Here’s what you are looking for: Sponsor’s name, eligibility, run dates, method of entry and prize details. If you don’t see the official rules listed, don’t give your information.
Don’t enter personal information
Upon entering, a legitimate sweepstakes should only ask you to provide basic information. This would include as your name, email address and sometimes phone number or zip code. If they are asking for your social security number, passport number, or driver’s license information, beware.
If you are a winner, never send money
There will never be an instance where you should be expected to pay for any type of handling fee or service charges to receive your prize. If a prize is valued over $600 you will be asked to provide a W9 form as the prize value won will be reported to the IRS and you will receive a 1099 in the January following the year you won your prize. Also, never give your banking information or credit card numbers. This will never be required for claiming a legitimate prize.
Examine the winner notification email for clues
If you receive an email from a company using a free email service such as Hotmail.com or Gmail.com, it’s quite possible it’s not a legitimate notification. Most companies running a sweepstakes will notify you from their company or their administrator’s company email addresses. Whenever Sync Marketing notifies a winner, we refer potential winners to visit the sweepstakes website where they can view the official rules to see that Sync Marketing is listed as the Administrator. It’s important to do your research.
Social Media has sweepstakes scams too
They are hard to spot, but they do exist. Scammers will set up fake Facebook and Twitter accounts with the hopes of getting you to give up your personal information. They’ve also gone so far as to impersonate Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The fake Zuckerberg account sends a message through Facebook Messenger congratulating you that you’ve won the Facebook Lottery. If you click the bait, you find that they will ask you to send money to claim your prize. As mentioned above, no legitimate company will ask you for money to claim your prize. Here’s a recent story on NBC News offering additional tips on how to spot social media sweepstakes scams.
Now that we’ve given you some tips on how to avoid sweepstakes scams, hopefully you will feel comfortable to enter the ones that are legit. There are thousands of legitimate companies running sweepstakes each year offering amazing prizes for the taking. You just need to make sure you protect yourself and be smart. Not quite sold? Here’s some additional information from the Federal Trade Commission. For any additional questions regarding how to avoid sweepstakes scams or sweepstakes in general, please contact us directly.
There are many ways to run a sweepstakes, but which one is right for you? From straight forward enter-to-win’s, to UGC collection sweepstakes, to photo contests, the possibilities are endless. Today we will discuss the questions you need to ask first on how to run an effective sweepstakes that will produce the best return on your investment.
What is your goal?
Let’s start with the basics. What is the goal? Do you want to capture user-generated content? Do you want to increase your loyalty program? Or do you simply want to increase your email database? Once this question is answered, you can get started on the ideation step for setting up your sweepstakes or contest.
What is your theme?
Is this campaign a one-off to drive a new product? Do you want to offer sweepstakes quarterly to attract loyalty from your consumers? Do you want to center the sweepstakes around a holiday? Themes will help give your sweepstakes or contest a focus and will feel more organic for your brand or service.
How are people going to hear about it?
Promotion is key. Do you have a large social media following? This is a cost-effective way to promote a sweepstakes, but it’s always important to put some advertising dollars behind any promotion. Depending on how much money you want to put towards the promotion of your sweepstakes will also affect how long you should run your sweepstakes. If you have a small budget, try to pack a punch and run it for only a few weeks to get the best bang for your buck.
What do you do with the information once the promotion is over?
An integral part of making your sweepstakes or contest have a lasting impression with your consumers, is what you do once the sweepstakes is over. At Sync, we always encourage our clients to share the winner information on their social media pages after the sweepstakes is over to reinforce their messaging. One idea is to send out an email to all of those who opt-ed in to the sweepstakes to not only announce the winner, but to thank them with a surprise and delight offer.
If you make sure to ask yourself these questions before putting together your sweepstakes, it will help ensure that you run an effective sweepstakes. If you need help with ideation don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
