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25 jun

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!


23 jun

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.

 

 


20 jun

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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11 jun

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.