Sync Marketing Sweepstakes Agency 2017 Year End Review

By: Sync Marketing | In: Marketing

2017 has been another spectacular year for Sync Marketing and we have our amazing clients to thank for that. We love creating sweepstakes and contests for our clients and have had some great opportunities to incorporate and introduce our new TurnkeySweeps platform to new and current clients.

Here are some of this year’s highlights.

Building Relationships with other Agencies

Much of our business comes from working with other agencies. We have found these relationships to be fun and rewarding. When an agency comes to us to run a sweepstakes campaign for them, it’s either because they don’t handle any aspects of sweepstakes and understand the importance of hiring an agency, like Sync, to handle it for them, or because they only handle pieces. Some of our partner agencies can handle all of the development, but don’t quite have the know-how when it comes to the complex and ever changing world of sweepstakes law. That’s where we come in and handle all of the legal elements to make sure they’re running legally compliant promotions. We greatly appreciate all of our agency partners and hope to grow this side of our business even more in 2018!

Chief Marketer 200

Sync Marketing was honored to be named by Chief Marketer as one of the top 200 marketing agencies serving the U.S. in 2018! It’s the first-ever editorial list of the top 200 non-advertising agencies serving the U.S. “I’m extremely proud of Team Sync and all of our outstanding work! It’s an honor to be recognized amongst such esteemed agencies.” Jennifer French, Sync Marketing Co-founder.  For more information on the Chief Marketer 200, visit  http://www.chiefmarketer.com/cm200/

New and Improved Website

We have added some exciting features to our website to better highlight our capabilities at Sync Marketing. While we still feature the specifics we handle within each campaign from design and programming to legal and prize fulfillment, we have also added other services. These services include our TurnkeySweeps platform and the different features we can add on to these cost-effective promotions. Some of these include instant win features, social sharing and contest upload capabilities. We have also added an SMS component to our website as we can handle SMS and MMS promotions. Lastly, we have included a few case studies of our completely custom campaigns.

While this year has been another record breaking year with gaining clients and campaigns, we can’t thank our clients enough for allowing us to do what we love. We’re excited for what 2018 has to bring!

Sync Marketing Sweepstakes Agency 2017 Year End Review

Sweepstakes Company

By: Sync Marketing | In: Advertising, Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Instant Win, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, Prize Fulfillment, SMS Campaigns, Sweepstakes, sweepstakes company, Text Message Sweepstakes, Turnkey Sweepstakes

Looking for a sweepstakes company that can handle all aspects of your next online sweepstakes campaign? Look no further than Sync Marketing. Sync Marketing is a Los Angeles-based sweepstakes company that specializes in online sweepstakes.

What we do

The Specifics

Regardless of what type of sweepstakes you want to run, we handle an array of details within every sweepstakes or contest.

Strategy and Management

In this phase of the project, we will go over your goals and ideas and come up with effective solutions for you to exceed your goals. Whether you want to gain email opt-ins or user generated contact, we have the experience and know-how to suggest the right type of sweepstakes for your next campaign.

Design and Programming

Our highly passionate and experienced team of programmers and designers are ready to create a stand out sweepstakes for you. We offer responsive design and mobile-optimized sites to make sure the user experience is seamless for your consumers.

Legal and Prize Fulfillment

This is quite possibly the most important piece to the puzzle. Making sure to hire an agency that specializes in sweepstakes law is integral to the success of your sweepstakes. Especially with social media sweepstakes, because these can be quickly taken down by a social media network if you are not abiding by their policy. Sync Marketing is a sweepstakes company that has got you covered in this area. Not only does our legal team specialize in promotion law, but we attend the latest law conferences and are quite frequently speakers at these events.

Analytics and Reporting

You need to know if your promotion is successful, right? Our programmers provide a 24/7 password protected website so you can access your metrics at any time. We will go over your goals prior to programming to make sure we’re tracking everything you need for your promotion.

Types of Sweepstakes

At Sync Marketing, we offer an array of sweepstakes. Our most popular is our TurnkeySweeps by Sync platform. These are turnkey sweepstakes that launch within a week of receiving approval on the creative. We also run SMS campaigns, instant win sweepstakes, and custom campaigns. If you’re looking for a sweepstakes company who solely focuses  on sweepstakes and contests, then we’re the agency for you. Contact us today for a quote.

Sweepstakes and Contest Rules

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, Sweepstakes

Anyone who has enters sweepstakes or contest has usually noticed a long list of rules and regulations. Some may be put off by all this legal jargon. It’s not just there to protect the companies involved in the promotion, but it is also a helpful tool for the entrant. It outlines very important features of the promotion in one neat package. Different variables of the promotion can change what needs to be outlined in your rules. Today, I have provided a list of some of the items that should be included in your sweepstakes and contest rules:

Eligibility

This section is important in sweepstakes and contest rules, because it outlines who can enter. This should include the geographical location where the promotion is open, i.e. 50 US states. It should also include the minimum age of entrants. Lastly, it should call out the fact that your employees, family members, etc. cannot enter or win.

Timing

This section should outline the exact start date and time and end date and time. Obviously, this is important because it tells entrants their deadline for entering.

How to Enter

This section outlines where and how people enter. Maybe it’s an online sweepstakes. In that case, the URL to the sweepstakes or contest home page will need to be provided. Also, you will need to tell entrants what you are collecting from them, i.e. name, address, phone number, etc. Here is a link to a sweepstakes home page that shows the entry process.

If you are running a sweepstakes where the entry method is on social media, you will need to explain the process for entry. Here’s an example of a Twitter and Instagram sweepstakes.  In addition, this section should outline the total number of entries a person can earn during the sweepstakes entry period. Depending on the complexity of the sweepstakes or contests, this section needs to be drafted with acute attention to detail from a legal standpoint. That’s why it’s important to hire an administrator who specializes in sweepstakes law to identify any additional information that needs to be included.

Winner Determination

This section should clearly outline when the winners will be selected and notified. This helps legitimize the process for the administrator when contacting the potential winners. The entrant can refer to the rules and see that the dates match. It also lets entrants know if they will have to wait days or weeks after a promotion to find out if they are a winner. Patience isn’t always a virtue when it comes to winning a prize, so this will inform your entrants when you will be conducting the drawing so that they have an exact date in mind.

Prizes

This section outlines what prizes you are awarding and their approximate retail value (ARV). This is important because any time a prize has an ARV over $600, it will need to be reported to the IRS. Winners should have fair warning before accepting any prize where they are going to be issued a 1099.

The above is a basic list of things to think about when drafting sweepstakes or contest rules. Keep in mind, there are a lot of other items that need to be included. It is extremely important to work with an agency that knows everything that is legally required to run a promotion.

Sync Marketing’s legal team is constantly researching and staying up-to-date on all the latest legal actions and changes in the field. We also attend the most respected marketing law conferences each year. This translates into invaluable legal counsel and advice for you on all your promotions and will ensure your sweepstakes and contest rules are the most iron clad. Here is a link to some of the legal services we offer at Sync Marketing. Contact us today and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have about sweepstakes and contest rules.

Sweepstakes and Contest Rules

Updated Pinterest Guidelines for Running a Sweepstakes

By: Sync Marketing | In: Best Practices, Contests, Marketing, Pinterest, Sweepstakes

Running a Sweepstakes or Contest on Pinterest is a great way for a company to market themselves. They are able to encourage consumers to “pin” a variety of their products and pages, which in turn increases engagement. This also results in entrants’ friends seeing the pins and therefore leads them to the company’s website. But, before running any promotion on a social media platform, it’s important to know what is allowed by that platform. Recently, Pinterest has made some changes, so today I will discuss the updated Pinterest guidelines for running a sweepstakes or contest.

All of these updated guidelines can be found in Pinterest’s Acceptable Use Policy. Previously, their guidelines stated that companies were not permitted to “run a sweepstakes where each Pin, board, like, or follow represents an entry;” require that people “Pin from a selection;” or “require a minimum number of Pins.” Within the new guidelines, none of those restrictions appear in the Pinterest Acceptable Use Policy.

In addition, the new guidelines state that companies who run campaigns should, “encourage authentic behavior, keep Pinterest spam-free, and be sure to comply with all relevant laws and regulations.” What does this mean for you and your brand? Make sure your campaign hashtag includes, “sweepstakes” or “contest.” This way consumers are aware that their friend is pinning that particular image for a chance to win a prize.

The new guidelines also state that companies who are running campaigns should not require participants to Pin one specific image. Furthermore, they acknowledge that requiring consumers to Pin from a selection is now allowed. This is a benefit to your brand because the more options there are to pin, the more diversity of images of your brand will be on Pinterest.

“Give Pinners the ability to choose Pins based on their tastes and preferences, even if it’s from a selection or a given website.” – Updated Pinterest Guidelines

Lastly, Pinterest is now requiring that there is a limit of one entry per person. This new guideline may affect entry numbers slightly, but know you are getting more genuine content.

What do the updated guidelines mean to companies running a sweepstakes on Pinterest? More brand exposure for you! Now that you can require pinning from a group of images, means your images will appear on entrants’ boards. With this change, you should definitely consider adding a Pinterest sweepstakes to your marketing plans. Not convinced? Here is an article giving five reasons why Pinterest is great for business.

As we’ve said before, social media platforms change their guidelines on a regular basis. Recently Facebook has taken out the language about not allowing shares for extra entries. This implies that this is now permitted. Here is a link to Facebook’s guidelines.

Regardless, it’s important that you make sure you’re up-to-date on all of these changes each time you run a social media campaign. Hiring Sync will help you with knowing you’re running a complaint promotion. Our team is in direct contact with the legal teams at all of the social media platforms. We are even alerted if there are any changes to their guidelines that could affect your upcoming promotion. Consider reaching out to Sync for your next sweepstakes or contest.

Updated Pinterest Guidelines for Running a Sweepstakes or Contest.

Sweepstakes vs. Contests; What Produces the Best ROI?

By: Sync Marketing | In: Best Practices, Contests, Sweepstakes

ROI is definitely a major consideration when running sweepstakes vs. contests… but did you know that the majority of people don’t know the difference between sweepstakes vs. contests and think that the words are interchangeable. In most cases, companies are looking to run a “sweepstakes,” but are referring to it as a “contest.” Here is a good reference to differentiate between the two. Below I will take it a step further and discuss Sweepstakes vs. Contests: What produces the Best ROI?

So for those who are not familiar with the acronym, ROI is Return On Investment, which is a major factor when running any type of marketing campaign. Although I would love to be able to tell you which of the two would give you the best ROI, there are a lot of factors to consider. For arguments sake, let’s treat this as a boxing match, the main event; Sweepstakes vs. Contests.

In this corner, Sweepstakes. Here are the stats:

• Obtain large quantities of entries; Entering a sweepstakes is typically easy breezy, so that’s why the entry count is typically higher than with a contest.
• Inexpensively promote your product or service; You can run sweepstakes with very little investment, but make sure that your budget covers the legal components as well as the design. Here is a good reference to the importance of legal guidance on a sweepstakes. Even more affordable sweepstakes options can be found in the form of a social media sweepstakes or turnkey sweepstakes.
• Collect consumer data; A sweepstakes is a great vehicle to collect basic consumer data, preferences, and email opt-ins, but be careful, the more information you require from an entrant, the greater the chance of losing them before entry.

Here are a few tips to improve your ROI when running an online sweepstakes: https://www.syncmarketing.net/ask-sync-marketing-maximize-roi-running-online-sweepstakes/

In this corner, Contests. Here are the stats:

• Gain quality entries vs. quantity; People who enter contests are asked to take an extra step vs. entering a sweepstakes so you are getting people who are really interested in your product and/or the prize you are offering.
• Gather user-generated content; Your contest can require people to upload a photo which shows them enjoying your product. You can’t ask for better promotion than organic promotion.
• Reach people who are interested in your company; When a contest entrant opt-ins in to receive emails, you typically have a better email open rate than by someone who provided their email address thorough a sweepstakes.
• Create PR Buzz; Contests seem to excite the media a bit more than a basic sweepstakes because it’s a challenge and people love a good challenge.

Here are a few tips on running a successful contest: https://www.syncmarketing.net/ask-sync-marketing-questions-running-successful-contest/#.V2L0MI-cHyQ

In the end, you need to be your own “referee” when deciding on running sweepstakes vs. contests. They really are in different weight classes so to speak. Ultimately your goals (and budget) will determine which one you run and a sweepstakes administrator can help you decide. The results will show if your ROI was strong for you. For any questions, contact Sync Marketing at 323-596-7962.

Sweepstakes vs. Contests

Sweepstakes Legal Services

By: Sync Marketing | In: Best Practices, Contests, Instagram, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing

If you’re looking for a sweepstakes law company to handle the legal needs for your upcoming project, Sync Marketing has got you covered. We specialize in all aspects of planning, implementing and managing sweepstakes and contest campaigns, although we consider the sweepstakes legal services to be the most important piece of the puzzle. Our legal team specializes in promotion law and are experts in the field. It’s important that when running a sweepstakes that you can trust your sweepstakes administrator to provide accurate and current official rules. This helps to minimize any risk that may come with running a sweepstakes or contest.

The official rules is the most important legal document that you will create for your promotion, but did you know that there is a lot more that goes into making sure you’re running a legally-complaint promotion than the official rules? Not only do we thoroughly go through the concept of the sweepstakes or contest with you and provide creative ideas to ensure you achieve your campaign goals, but we also make sure the promotion is in line with today’s legal standards. In addition, we will review all of your promotional materials to make sure they include all of the necessary legal language. We provide this service to ensure that your sweepstakes is meeting the legal guidelines on all levels. 

Below is a comprehensive list of the sweepstakes legal services we provide at Sync Marketing to help you build a legally-compliant sweepstakes or contest campaign:

• legal counsel
• official rules creation and review
• abbreviated rules
• legal disclaimers
• winner affidavit of eligibility and release forms
• travel companion forms
• trademark search of campaign title
• patent negotiations
• partnership negotiations
• client indemnification
• letter of opinion
• fraud mitigation of promotion offers
• fraud mitigation of consumer entrants
• bond and register campaign per state and federal guidelines
• legal compliance review of all promotional materials and social media posts
• contest criteria
• contest judging
• background checks
• insurance coverage of prizing
• file all required winner lists

If you’re on the fence and about hiring an sweepstakes administrator for sweepstakes legal services, check out this article that provides reasons as to why you should.  We hope to have now convinced you to not only hire a marketing agency that specializes in sweepstakes law, but to considering hiring Sync Marketing. Whether it’s an Instant-Win Sweepstakes, an Instagram promotion or video contest, Sync Marketing will cover all of your legal needs and make it a seamless process to build and launch your next sweepstakes. Contact us today at inquiries@syncmarketing.net or 323-596-7962 to receive a quote.

Sweepstakes Legal Services provided by Sync Marketing

Questions about Running a Successful Contest

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, Contests, Marketing, User Generated Content

So you’ve decided to add running a sweepstakes or contest to your marketing plans this year, but you are not really sure where to start or which one will work best for you to reach your goals. Below are a few questions about running a successful contest from fellow marketers.

What are the benefits of running a contest?

We are always upfront when someone comes to us who is considering running a contest. The truth is, in most cases, you will not receive as many entries as you would if you chose to run a sweepstakes. The reason being is that with a contest, you are typically asking people to complete an extra step beyond just filling out a simple entry form. When running a contest for example, you might ask people to upload a photo or video of themselves completing a particular outlined task, or to write an essay, or even name your new product. If you want to run a buzz-worthy campaign, make sure you are reaching your true customers and collect fun user-generated content, a contest is the way to go. A contest will provide you with much more QUALITY entries. Here is a helpful article touching on the differences between sweepstakes and contests.

Are there any legal parameters to consider when running a contest?

Yes, and they change frequently, especially on social media platforms. That is why we always recommend that you consult an expert like Sync Marketing, when putting together any contest or sweepstakes. One of the most crucial elements is to make sure that you clearly outline the contest criteria and judging parameters in the official rules.  Here is an article that was written to give advice for contest entrants that might help give you additional insight.

Does one contest theme attract more entries than another?

Theme is certainly one of the factors for consumers when deciding if they want to enter a contest. Although it isn’t the only thing that might pique their interest. You will almost guarantee that you will have a good amount of entries if the contest is offering a new or fun twist or has a “cool” factor, but we find that prizing is what really drives entries. If you offer a fun experiential prize, or something that the consumer can’t obtain on their own, they will take the extra steps to enter. Another great option is build a contest around a philanthropic cause that is close to your company’s heart. Here is a case study of a contest campaign that Walmart and some of its vendors partnered together to run to a contest to support the cause to fight world hunger.

If done right, contests are a fun way to create positive interaction with your consumers and possibly create some exciting buzz for your company online and beyond. If you have any additional questions about running a successful contest contact us today at 323-596-7962 or info@syncmarketing.net.

Sync Marketing – The Sweepstakes and Contest Experts

Questions Regarding Taxes on Sweepstakes Prizing

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, Sweepstakes

February is the beginning of tax season so we thought it fitting to address some questions that we’ve received from winners and clients alike regarding paying taxes on sweepstakes prizing.

How will I know if I will have to pay taxes on a prize?

Any prizing that you win that totals over $600 in value will be reported to the IRS, and you will receive a 1099 for the tax year in which you accepted the prize. During the process of accepting a sweepstakes prize, you will be asked to fill out and sign a W9 form, so this will be your first indication that you will have to pay taxes on your prize. The amount of taxes that is paid is based on the individual, so it is recommended that you speak with a tax professional to determine what your taxes will be before you accept the prize.  Here is a good article about prizing and paying taxes: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-win-and-now-you-owe-taxes-2014-03-12

How do I determine the ARV on a prize for tax purposes when running a sweepstakes? 

We are often asked by our clients to determine the approximate retail value (ARV) of a prize for a sweepstakes. If the prize is an item that is sold by our client, that is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, which we use to determine the ARV. If, however the prize is a service or trip, we do our due diligence to research the average price of the trip elements to ensure that the ARV is on target.  For more information, see our previous blog article about ARVs here.

What if I accept a prize such as a trip but end up canceling at the last minute? Do I still have to pay taxes on the prize?

Ultimately this is up to the sponsor of the sweepstakes. If the trip elements were already booked and paid for by the sponsor, they will submit a 1099 to the IRS for the advertised ARV.  However, if there are elements of the trip such as food or ground transportation at your destination that wasn’t pre-paid, you could dispute the ARV since those elements were never purchased by the sponsor. Here is an article about taxes on vacation prizes.  http://contests.about.com/od/vacationsweepstakes/f/Which-Taxes-Do-You-Pay-On-Vacation-Prizes.htm

If you are a client thinking of running a sweepstakes or if you have additional tax questions, please contact us at info@syncmarketing.net.   

Sync Marketing’s Year In Review – 2015

By: Sync Marketing | In: Contests, Marketing, Sweepstakes

Just like that, another year has come and gone. However, last year seemed to pass faster than most. Perhaps a good reason for this was how busy Sync Marketing was throughout the year. Below is a recap of our best moments of 2015.

Judged in the 2015 Chief Marketer Pro Awards

In 2014 we were honored to take home Silver at the 2014 Pro Awards for our work on the Dodge Dart – Win a Dart. Date a Winner. Sweepstakes. In 2015 we saw another side of the awards when co-founder, Julie Link, was given the opportunity to judge the entries.

“It was an honor to be asked to be a judge in the 2015 Chief Marketer Pro Awards. It allowed me to gain a great perspective on the unique and creative work that other agencies are putting out there.” – Julie Link

Valued Clients Old & New

We were honored to continue our relationships with our clients in 2015 and create work for them that delivered great ROI. We were also fortunate to bring in many new clients in 2015, a 111% percent client gain from 2014. Some of our most recently obtained clients are American Eagle Outfitters and Crate & Barrel. Crate & Barrel’s latest sweepstakes with Sync can be found here.

2016 Chief Marketer Top Shop

We were humbled to be named among an exceptional group of agencies for the Chief Marketer 2016 PROMO Top Shops. The Top Shops is a listing of the Top 100 U.S. Promotional Marketing Agencies selected by the editors of Chief Marketer. It will be a goal of ours to continue to a part of this list every year.

Sync is NWBOC Certified

In 2015, Sync Marketing was also certified 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. To find out what Sync Marketing co-founder, Jennifer French said about the certification, click here.

We thank all of our clients, family and friends for their support and/or business. We hope to continue to offer our clients creative work, exceptional customer service and successful campaigns throughout 2016 and beyond. 

How do I maximize ROI when running an online sweepstakes?

By: Sync Marketing | In: Advertising, Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Instagram, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes, Twitter

To answer this question, I am going to first ask you to image that you have agreed to volunteer to bake a cake for your child’s school bake sale to raise money for their upcoming class trip. Your goal with this task is to make the most appealing product that will fetch the most money possible, doing so all within a set budget for purchasing your ingredients. Why this exercise, you may ask? Because this scenario is very similar to the process of trying to maximize ROI when running an online sweepstakes.  Below is the “recipe” for a successful sweepstakes campaign:

Identify your goals:  The goal of the bake sale is to raise as much money with as little financial investment as possible. It’s a challenge because you don’t want to invest too much money towards creating the cake, but the product must still be appealing to fetch a decent price.  Does that sound familiar?  You want to run an online sweepstakes to reward your consumers and get your name out to the masses, but you have a limited budget.  If money is an issue, you may want to consider running a simple social media initiative on Instagram or Twitter for example.  These types of promotions are a cost-effective way to engage your consumers all while promoting your company and/or product.  Here is an article on the benefits of running an Instagram sweepstakes: https://www.syncmarketing.net/benefits-runnings-instagram-promotion/#.VoR5y_9Iios

Know your Audience:  It’s a bake sale that will be attended by other parents at the school who will be most likely be buying the cake to serve to their family that evening. A rum raisin cake might be your baking specialty, but based on the audience, it most likely will be passed up.  The same goes for your online sweepstakes.  If your core consumers are not on social media, it would make much more sense to host the sweepstakes on an iFrame on your website, or on a dedicated sweepstakes microsite.  It may cost a bit more money, but the investment will pay off when you receive entries and email opt-ins. Identifying your audience and their habits is very important to maximizing your investment.

Quality of the Product:  So you signed up to participate in the bake sale knowing that baking is not your forte and now you are nervous.  Since you are not one to shirk responsibility, you whip up your best attempt at a chocolate cake, but it looks more like a hockey puck with frosting.  You certainly get an “A” for effort, but unfortunately, no one is buying your cake.  The same goes for a sweepstakes.  The overall quality of a sweepstakes consists of many ingredients, so to speak.  The design, value of the prizing, and overall user experience are very important to its success.  The icing on the cake is having clearly outlined official rules.  This is something a consumer really values because it’s the basic recipe to the promotion; it outlines the entry period, eligibility requirements, prize description and how they will be contacted if they win to, name a few. It also allows you to rest assured that you are running a legally compliant promotion.  Here is an article outlining the benefits of hiring an agency like Sync to handle your legal needs for running a sweepstake or contest:  https://www.syncmarketing.net/2014/07/#.VoVbSP9Iios

Product Display:  You made the most perfectly delicious cake and you are so excited to bring it to the bake sale to hopefully fetch a handsome price.  The problem is, you wrapped it in cellophane and it’s sitting on the back end of the table in the cold auditorium and it’s completely passed up.  Don’t make the mistake of letting your perfectly constructed sweepstakes go unnoticed by hiding it in the clutter of the online world. Even with a small budget, you can promote your sweepstakes or contest on social media channels, by writing a blog post, or by calling it out on your website’s home page.  You should also consider sending emails to your current subscribers.  The more traffic, the more entries and the higher return on your investment.    

For more information on building the perfect sweepstakes check out this article:  https://www.syncmarketing.net/steps-take-run-successful-sweepstakes-contest/#.VoVhF_9Iios