How to Get Customers Excited to Shop Online

By: Sync Marketing | In: Marketing

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.

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5 Social Media Sweepstakes Ideas to Engage Customers

By: Jennifer French | In: Marketing

Running a social media sweepstakes or contest is an easy and cost-effective way to promote your brand or company. It is also a great way to create buzz and collect meaningful user-generated content from consumers.  Below are 5 social media sweepstakes ideas to engage customers.

#1 Photo Upload

A simple Instagram or Facebook photo upload contest is a great way to capture user-generated content all in the name of fun. Think cute babies, furry friends, or fabulous food creations as a few examples. Crate and Barrel ran a wedding registry sweepstakes where they asked entrants to upload a photo of their wedding prep. Daily prizes were awarded throughout the month of February. 

#2 Twitter Hashtag Sweepstakes

This is probably one of the easiest social sweepstakes you can run. All you need to do is post your message on Twitter and ask for entrants to tweet you back with your campaign hashtag.  Tide did just that in the fall of 2019 to promote their partnership with the NFL for their Tuesday Night is Laundry Night campaign. Select NFL players tweeted on their own Twitter accounts asking for fans to tweet back for a chance to win limited edition Tide PODS. 

#3 Like and/or Comment 

This is another easy and effective sweepstakes idea.  Entrants are required to like and or comment on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram post for a chance to win. Acer uses this sweepstakes concept to promote their partnership with the LPGA. Their yearly #AcedIt Sweepstakes offers entrants a chance to win an Acer lap top every time an LPGA pro hits a hole-in-one during the season.  The hole-in-one becomes a triggering event and entrants have 48 hours to comment on Acer’s Facebook or Twitter post for a chance to win. Due to the stoppage of all sports during their 2020 campaign, Acer got creative and worked with the LPGA to hold virtual golf matches pitting pros up against one another on a computer golf game.

#4 Tiktok Contest

Tiktok is the new gold standard for creating fun videos. Because proms were canceled this year, Claire’s Stores wanted to give high schoolers a chance to win prizes through a Prom-themed contest. They ran a PJs to Prom contest on TikTok asking entrants to show their PJs to Prom looks. 

#5 Vote to Win

A great way to gage consumers interest in your products is by asking them to vote on their favorite while offering them a chance to win a prize. Specialty Materials™ ran a Facebook sweepstakes where they asked entrants to vote on their favorite pattern of fabric for the chance to win a 20-sheet prize pack.

Now you have some social media sweepstakes ideas , but you are not sure which platform(s) to choose. Here is an article that may help you narrow it down. Also, before you decide to run a sweepstakes or contest on a social platform, you need to be aware of the rules and limitations of each platform first. Our Legal team has hands-on knowledge and experience running promotions on all social media platforms.  Here is a link to Sync’s legal services we offer to help you with your next sweepstakes or contest. 

Contact us today.

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Why Should I Run a Sweepstakes?

By: Julie Link | In: Marketing

Why should I run a sweepstakes? Running a sweepstakes (or contest) has a plethora of benefits ranging from increasing brand awareness to engaging new and current consumers. Let’s break down the main benefits to see if this marketing tactic is right for you and your brand or service.

Customer Acquisition: Are you looking to grow your email database? Sweepstakes are one of the simplest ways to do so. The sweepstakes should either have an auto opt-in or ask entrants if they want to opt-in. If you’re collecting entries in California, you will need to be aware of CCPA. You can learn more about that here. At the end of the campaign, Sync Marketing will securely send you the email opt-ins to use for future marketing outreach.

It’s Cost Effective: Sweepstakes are extremely affordable compared to other marketing strategies. Using a platform like TurnkeySweeps by Sync allows you to run a full-service sweepstakes at an affordable price. While brands can put money into ad campaigns on social media, a great way to get free advertising is to ask entrants to share the sweepstakes for extra entries. While sweepstakes are cost-effective and provide great ROI, this article gets into the specifics of the best solutions for running cost-effective sweepstakes.

It Boosts SEO: If you are giving away a big prize and your sweepstakes garners a lot of views, it can significantly increase your SEO. Go a step further and tie your sweepstakes to a hashtag for another significant boost. The Content Factory agrees that sweepstakes are good for SEO:

“When a popular website links to your company, your site’s search engine ranking is improved. Ditto for tweets and Facebook updates about the contest that link back to your website. When more people are finding your website when the search online, more people are buying your products.” – Content Factory

It Creates Positive Interactions with Consumers: This is probably the most important. Especially during these times, it’s important to have positive interaction with your consumers. By giving away either cash, an experience, or a gift card, your consumers will appreciate your generosity and will continue to engage with your brand. Contests are also a great way to have a positive interaction with your consumers. By creating a skill-based promotion to win a prize, they will feel connected and invested in your brand.

If you have any additional questions about if you should run a sweepstakes, contact Sync Marketing at info@syncmarketing.net. We will answer any questions, provide pricing, and examples. We look forward to hearing from you!

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How CCPA Law Affects Running a Sweepstakes or Contest

By: Jennifer French | In: Marketing

Today I will discuss how CCPA law affects running a sweepstakes or contest. If you have considered running a sweepstakes or contest, you have probably heard of CCPA, but what is it exactly? CCPA is a new law in California that went into effect on January 1, 2020 that is designed to give Californians more control over their own data. If your promotion excludes California, this is not something you will need to worry about. If you plan to collect personal identifying information (PII) from people in California, you may be affected. More specifically, if you will need to be accountable if your business falls within the following parameters:

• Business possesses the personal data of more than 50,000 California residents, households, or devices per year
• Business earns at least $25 million in annual revenue
• Business earns more than 50% of annual revenue selling the personal data of California residents

A good summary of what is considered PII under CCPA can be found here.

So, what rights do consumers have under the CCPA? In short, California consumers now have the right to request access to or delete any personal information you have collected from them. The CCPA also allows California consumers to request that a business not sell their personal information to third parties. The full information can be found here.

Clearly CCPA is something to consider when running a sweepstakes or contest in California since collecting PII is part of that process. Below are steps to ensure you are running a legally compliant promotion:

Right to Notice

Your business must inform consumers at or before the point of collecting PII what categories of PII are going to be collected and for what purposes this information will be used.

Right to access

You will be required to provide users a way to request access to the data you have collected. Essentially you should provide them with an easy way to contact you to submit a request for access to this data. Keep in mind you should respond in a timely manner.

Right to request deletion of PII

Consumers in California have the right to request deletion of all PII that you have collected.

Right to Opt-Out

Consumers must have the ability to easily request to opt-out of receiving correspondence from you.

Protection of consumer privacy and data is increasingly becoming more important so we should expect other states to follow suit. Consider contacting Sync Marketing for your next sweepstakes or contest. We will we navigate you through all the up-to-the-minute legal changes that may affect your sweepstakes or contest. We also, pride ourselves on our secure platform and will ensure your consumers’ PII is protected. Contact Sync today.

Disclaimer: This is article is not intended to be legal advice but is provided as general information. To learn the full impact of the CCPA, please consult with a legal professional.

 

 

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Engaging Consumers with Sweepstakes and Contests

By: Julie Link | In: Marketing

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.

Fashion brands are finding creative ways to engage with their consumers while they sit at home. PAPER Magazine discusses how Fashion Brands are taking advantage of their consumers staying home.

Fashion brands and designers are among those leading the way in getting everyone to participate and have fun thanks to recent contests popping up online. Below, see full details for some of the challenges you can get involved in now. – Papermag

Furniture and office supply brands can definitely jump in on the contest bandwagon. Are your consumers now working from home? Let them show a photo of how they are making it “work.” Qualifio speaks to creative ways brands can engage with their consumers by working from home.

You can also imagine a particular photo contest for the ones doing homework. Encourage them to share their home office space, homeworking memes or even the most awkward homeworking situations. Let them share their experiences with others and enjoy the moment! – Qualifio

All brands can figure out a creative way to engage consumers through sweepstakes or contests. Sweepstakes and contests are cost-effective ways to engage new and existing consumers, gather user-generated content and reward consumers. Kick Off Labs discusses why contests work in this article here.

If you’re thinking of running a cost-effective sweepstakes or contest in order to engage consumers, contact Sync Marketing today.

Engaging Consumers with Contests

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Retaining Customers with Sweepstakes

By: Julie Link | In: Marketing

Retaining customers with sweepstakes is an extremely cost-effective marketing strategy you should seriously consider.

One of the most important benefits of running an online sweepstakes is retaining your current customers. Based on today’s current climate, now is a more important time than ever to retain your current customers. According to Business.com,

“Retaining customers is important for the long-term success of your business, because it is far more expensive and difficult to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one. For example, SignalMindreports that the probability of a sale from a new customer is only 5% to 20%, whereas the probability of converting an existing customer is between 60% and 70%. Additionally, repeat customers spend an average of 33% more than new customers.”

Sweepstakes are a cost-effective way to retain customers. How you ask? Try opting to run a sweepstakes that are marketing only to your email subscribers. This will make them feel special and connected to your brand because you are providing them this opportunity to win. This an easy way to spark the relationship and keep your clientele engaged in your company or brand.

First, you need to figure out what type of prizing to award. There has not been a better time to offer gift cards for your products or services. You already know that your customers enjoy purchasing your products based on their behavior, but they just might not feel they can afford to  do so right now. This will incentivize your customers to enter so they can continue to use your product or service. In addition, another great incentive is to offer everyone who enters a surprise and delight discount coupon.

Business2Community agrees that sweepstakes and contests are an effective strategy if done right.

“Engagement, traffic, and now sales are low, which means you might be ending the month far worse than you started it. It’s time to come up with something quick and effective to recover your numbers: why not run a giveaway or contest? When giveaways are done right, they can bring massive results and even help your brand to go viral. One way to ensure your own giveaway does just that is to make it a foolproof lead machine.”

If you are thinking of running a contest or sweepstakes even if you have a small budget and/or short turnaround, Sync Marketing is here to help. Our TurnkeySweeps by Sync solution is fast, affordable, and effective. In addition, our TurnkeySweeps 2.0 has upgraded security features to keep all of your consumers’ data secure. Contact us today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sync Marketing 2019 Decade in Review

By: Sync Marketing | In: Marketing

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!

Sync Marketing 2019 Decade in Review

 

 

 

 

 

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Holiday Promotions

By: Julie Link | In: Instagram, Sweepstakes

It’s the spookiest and sweepiest time of year! For retailers, the end of October is the time to start ramping up holiday promotions for the season.  And what better way to do this than with a sweepstakes? Sweepstakes are a great solution for retailers because they are cost effective, engaging and produce exceptional ROI. Today, we will discuss the best game plan for running holiday promotions this season.

Type of Sweepstakes

The basic enter to win sweepstakes often produce the best ROI. If the prizing is good and the entry method is simple, it’s a win-win for both customer and brand.

Instagram: If you want to generate some UGC this holiday season, then let your customers imagination go wild by running an Instagram Contest.

Partnerships! Why not partner with a complimentary brand to come up with a fun and engaging sweepstakes. Partnership are great because you receive free advertising from the partner and better prizing. Here’s an example of a fun holiday partnership between Abercrombie and Paper Culture.

Prizing

If you are a retailer, the best prizing is your product. We recommend giving out several gift cards and a larger grand prize. Having more smaller prizes allows consumers to feel like they have a chance to win, while also enticing them with the larger grand prize ($1,000 gift card, a trip, etc).

Consistency!

Our clients customers love it when they run a few during the holiday season. It keeps them engaged with the brand while also feeling as though the brand values them because they are giving away their product. We recommend running a Thanksgiving sweeps, Holiday sweeps and New Year sweeps to keep customer engagement high.

Sync is currently offering a 25% discount for brands who want to run three sweepstakes this Holiday season.  Contact us today for details.

It’s not too late to get started this holiday season. Sync can turn around sweepstakes in less than a week. Please contact us today to get started!

 

Holiday promotions!

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Running a Sweepstakes to Boost CRM and Loyalty

By: Julie Link | In: Instagram, User Generated Content

One of the major goals of running any sweepstakes is to collect information about consumers. What you do with this information as a brand or company can have varying results. CRM (Consumer Relationship Management) and loyalty take on different roles with respect to brand-customer relationships. In this article, we will speak to the benefits of running a sweepstakes to boost CRM and loyalty.

Before we get into the benefits of running a sweepstakes, it’s important to know what the difference is between CRM and loyalty. Ultimately, it comes down to the expectations set between the brand and the consumer with respect to the relationship. When a brand invites a consumer to join their loyalty program, they are asking them to do more, so customers expect more in return for their efforts.With a loyalty program, a brand is looking for customers to be a  fan of the brand and is products; is willing to provide the brand with personal information, and in return wants more exclusive interactions. Conversely, when a company invites a customer to sign up for CRM, they are simply asking for an email address and the customer is promised nothing more in return than receiving non-exclusive promotional emails. Here is a great article that outlines these differences in more detail.

The tween retailer, Justice, recently ran a sweepstakes to offer their Club Justice loyalty members a chance to win a VIP trip to LA to attend their annual Club Justice Awards. This promotion was offered not only to reward their consumers’ loyalty to their program but to drive new consumers to join the loyalty program. One of the stipulations of the sweepstakes was that entrants must be enrolled in the program at time of entry. Part of Justice’s loyalty program is they offer of great perks including the opportunity to win this exclusive prize. This is a good example of a brand running a sweepstakes to boost CRM and reward consumer loyalty.

In order to help your company maximize its CRM and loyalty efforts, it is important to have a clear understanding on these two distinct disciplines. Sync will layout a plan to utilize sweepstakes to boost CRM and loyalty, maximizing the best digital consumer experience and ROI. Contact us for your next CRM or loyalty promotion. https://www.syncmarketing.net/

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Quick and Easy Holiday-themed Sweepstakes and Contest Ideas

By: Sync Marketing | In: Marketing

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

 

 

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