Should I Run a Text Message Sweepstakes Campaign?

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, SMS Campaigns, Sweepstakes, Text Message Sweepstakes

We have clients come to us all the time and ask if they should try a text message campaign (sometime referred to as SMS campaign) for their next sweepstakes and contest campaign. At Sync, we not only run online sweepstakes and contests, but we can also set up and manage your next text message sweepstakes campaign. You can see some of our SMS campaigns here. Below are a few common questions we have received from our clients.

What is more effective, a photo upload sweepstakes or an SMS campaign?

In our experience, the simpler you make the entry process, the more entries you will typically receive. Requiring an entrant to text an SMS message instead of a photo as their entry is definitely quicker and easier for the entrant. Of course it all comes down to how and where you are marketing the sweepstakes. If you’re asking entrants to text a code word, make sure it’s clearly displayed on your marketing and POP materials.

How do I know if my brand or product would be a good fit for a text message campaign?

As long as you can focus your text message campaign sweepstakes or contest on a theme that is relevant to your brand or the particular promotion you are running, a text message sweepstakes will work.  Keep in mind, the goal of a text message campaign is to allow people to instantaneously enter on the spot, so the goal is to make your marketing materials and POP compelling to consumers with the hope of capturing their entry on the spot.

What should I ask entrants to text in?

The possibilities are endless, but we will go back to our theme of, the simpler the better. You can ask entrants to take a survey, answer trivia questions, or simply text in a code word that includes the name of your brand or product.

How can I get potential consumers to text in to win, but also engage with our website?

It’s easy! Once the entrant has entered the code word or answered the questions to be entered to win, you can include a link to your website in your thanks for entering SMS response. You can entice them by asking them to check out exclusive content, video contest, trivia, games, etc.

How can I be sure the entrants are of the required minimum entry age?

At Sync, we handle the entire text message set up process and will also create all of the necessary legal documents, including the official rules, for your text message campaign. Not only will the rules include the eligibility requirements, but we will be sure to set up an age gate SMS response during the entry process, if necessary. To learn more about the legal services we provide at Sync, click here.

If you have any additional questions about text message sweepstakes, including pricing, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Sync Marketing.

Adding a Sweepstakes or Contest to your Marketing Plan

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

This is about the time of year when companies start thinking about their marketing budgets for the upcoming year. They analyze the current year’s successes and misses, and start the conversation about what might work to their advantage in the next year. Does your upcoming marketing strategy include an online sweepstakes or contest? If not, we think it’s something you should consider. Below we list the benefits of adding a sweepstakes or contest to your marketing plan. It could be a win for your company.

Sweepstakes are a very cost effective marketing tool

Unlike traditional media, sweepstakes are a low cost way of getting your company’s name or products in front of the masses. By putting the word out on your company’s social media sites, it will engage conversation about your company and the free buzz will organically occur.  It’s also a great way to build your SEO. Here is a case study showing how Star Fine Foods increased their website visits by 288% from the previous year due to running an online sweepstakes.

Sweepstakes are a good medium to build your email database

Your online sweepstakes may just have been the catalyst that brought a new customer to your site. Once there, hopefully you have impressed them enough to want to keep in touch so to speak by signing up for future communications from your company. Here is an article that outlines sweepstakes best practices and ways to build your email database.

Sweepstakes offer insight into who is interested in your company

You are in control of the information you collect from entrants so if you’re looking to obtain demographics on your consumers, the sky can be the limit on what you can collect. One word of caution, however, is the more difficult you make the entry process, the higher chance you have of drop-offs. Make sure you are only requiring information that is important to you and perhaps make the other information optional for entry.

Sweepstakes and Contests can produce unforgettable UGC and PR

One instance that comes to mind is the annual Doritos contest. I can’t image watching the “big game” without the anticipation of seeing the winning commercial from the Doritos contest. This is an example of a fun promotion that has garnered a lot of free advertising through blogs and social media sites over the years. When companies ask their consumers to upload photos or videos, those companies have unique user generated content directly from their consumers that can benefit them in the future. Check out the 2016 contest here. 

Sweepstakes build a good relationship between the company and the consumer

The common thing that all sweepstakes share is that they give away a prize. Whether it’s thousands of instant win prizes, an unforgettable family trip, or a brand new car, rewarding your consumers with prizing will always leave them with a good feeling about you that will hopefully translate into future sales.

If you are sold and would like to consider adding a sweepstakes or contest to your marketing plans, be sure to consult the experts at Sync to get started. We will formulate a plan to make sure you have the most successful campaign and ROI.

Running Sweepstakes and Contests on Social Media Channels

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Instagram, Marketing, Sweepstakes, Twitter, User Generated Content

This month’s Ask Sync Marketing is all about social media. We are address common questions relating to running sweepstakes and contests on social media channels.

Is one social platform more effective than another when running a sweepstakes or contest?

This really depends on the goals of your campaign and your target demographic. Ask yourself, “Do you want to gather user generated content?” “Do you want to appeal to a younger demographic?” If so, Instagram would be a good medium to choose. This way, you will gain UGC by capturing their uploaded photo. In addition, you will hopefully in turn get them to follow your page in the process. Here is an example of a winning social media campaign that we created. It was even highlighted in Chief Marketer. Lastly, here is an article on the benefits of running an Instagram sweepstakes.

Next we need to cover the ever popular Twitter. When running a sweepstakes Twitter, you will find that it’s an effective way to increase your odds of getting word out about your sweepstakes your mass demographic. It will also help increase your followers. However, if your goal is to encourage consumers to opt-in to your email subscription list, you may consider running a sweepstakes on Facebook. Running a sweepstakes on Facebook will allow you to collect user information and collect opt-ins. While Facebook is for all ages, if your demo skews older, this might be the best social media platform for your campaign. Regardless of the platform you choose, it is important that your entrants have access to the official rules.

Do I have to include a Hashtag in my social sweepstakes or contest?

If your only method of entry is via Twitter or Instagram for example, a hashtag will need to be included in order to identify your entries. For example, if you are running a sweepstakes where you are asking entrants to upload a photo of their pet in a Halloween costume, you might consider asking them to include the hashtag, #Halloweenpetparadesweepstakes with their upload. By doing this, you will be able to recognize all of your entries into the sweepstakes.

One thing to keep in mind is that you will need to make sure to clearly outline that your entrants’ Instagram, Twitter and/or Pinterest profiles must not be set to private during the sweepstakes entry and selection period. It’s also extremely important to add the term, “sweepstakes” or “contest” to the end of your promotion’s hashtag. This is a recent required ruling made by the FTC. It needs to be included in order to help consumers identify that others are posting as part of a sweepstakes. You can learn more about the rule change here.

Am I able to let my customers enter on more than one social platform?

Certainly! As long as it is clearly outlined in the official rules, you can give entrants more than one way to enter. We also recommend that you make it very clear to entrants if they are allowed only one entry total in the sweepstakes. Or, if they are able to earn one entry per method.

The next time you consider running sweepstakes and contests on social media channels, feel free to reach out to Sync. Our expert team will guide you on the best platform to use to achieve your goals. In addition, our legal team stays up-to-date on all of the changes to the rules of social. If you would to some example of Sync’s social media campaign’s check out or work page, here.

Sweepstakes and Contests on Social Media Channels

Common Questions asked by Sweepstakes Entrants

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

We receive many inquiries during our sweepstakes and contests from entrants who want to know the answers to their questions pertaining to the promotion before entering. First and foremost, the official rules are your friend. The majority of the answers to most questions regarding a sweepstakes or contest will be found here. Below we will go over a few of the most common questions asked by sweepstakes entrants.

Can I enter more than one time per day?

This varies by promotion, but if you attempt to enter more than one time in a day and you receive a message stating that there is only one entry allowed per day, then you have your answer. And, no, this doesn’t mean you can sign up with a different email address to try to enter again as that is against the rules and you will be disqualified.

When will I be notified if I am a winner?

It’s very important to know this information as sometimes potential winners only have 24-48 hours to respond to the initial notification regarding their prize. If you enter a sweepstakes or contest that you’re really interested in, set your calendar to be ready for the call or email from the sweepstakes administrator. At a minimum, the date of winner notification will be listed in the Official Rules in the winner notification section. It’s also a good idea to check your spam folder of the email account that you used to enter on the posted date of winner notification as sometimes email carriers may inadvertently mark the notification as spam.

Why can’t I provide a P.O. Box as my address?

Typically this is because if there is a physical prize to be won, some carriers do not ship to P.O. boxes. Also, it allows administrators, like Sync Marketing, to help prevent cheaters from entering their client’s sweepstakes. You can learn even more about this here. 

Was my entry received?

Sometimes entrants have a computer glitch or their internet goes out during entry. Typically it’s not the sponsor or administrator’s responsibility to look into this as the issue occurred on the consumers end and the hosts of the promotion are not responsible for the entrant’s internet problems. However, if the administrator offers good customer service, and it is something that they can identify, they will look into the entry to see if it has been received, but this process is not legally required in most cases.

How much is the trip worth?

You can find the approximate retail value, also known as ARV for a trip in the prize section of the Official Rules. To learn more about ARVs, check out our post here.

If you’re an entrant or a company planning an upcoming sweepstakes or contest and have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Sync Marketing at inquiries@syncmarketing.net. Come back next month for another Ask Sync feature!

Touchdown! Fall Football-Related Sweepstakes and Contests!

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

As the summer begins to wind down, football season kicks off (pun intended). Pro football, college, high school, pee wee, you name it, ready or not, here it comes. With that also comes the frenzy of fantasy football leagues. For those of you not familiar with this phenomenon, imagine the process of coming together with your friends (or fellow football fans) and drafting your dream team to compete during the football season. It’s even so popular that there’s a TV show coming into its seventh season called The League which, through tongue and cheek humor, showcases the great lengths people take to win their fantasy football league challenge. Check it out here. For those of you who aren’t quite at this level, but still want to get in on the fun, here are a few fall football-related sweepstakes and contests where you can try your luck.

PEPSI® “FANTASY FOOTBALL” PROMOTION AT BUFFALO WILD WINGS®

Enter this sweepstakes for the chance for you and 11 friends to visit New York to pick your fantasy football teams at the NFL Headquarters in their Fantasy Football Sweepstakes. This fantasy prize is valued at over $21,000.  Enter now through September 9, 2015

2015 CBSSPORTS.COM FANTASY FOOTBALL SWEEPTAKES

Fantasy Football is so popular that even the major television networks are getting in on the fun. CBS is offering their own draft sweepstakes where the winning league is in a drawing for $10,000 at the end of the season. Here is a link with all of the detailed instructions and rules.

SNICKERS® BRAND NFL 2015 GAME & SWEEPSTAKES

Snickers® Brand is giving away tons of great prizes including season tickets to see your favorite team play in 2016, plus thousands of instant win Xbox One prizes.  Enter daily through December 18, 2015 for your chance to win.

You can’t win if you don’t play so get out there and try your luck at these fall football-related sweepstakes and contests! If you are thinking of running a football-related sweepstakes in 2016, don’t hesitate to check out our website and reach out to us for a quote. 

Best Practices for Running Instant Win Sweepstakes

By: Sync Marketing | In: Best Practices, Instant Win, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, Sweepstakes

Instant win sweepstakes are becoming increasingly popular with brands due to the ever changing habits and valuable input of their consumers. We are in an age where people love instant gratification so what’s better than winning a prize instantly? There are certain best practices for running instant win sweepstakes that we will go over today to make sure you’re running one that will tie into you brand or service and enable you to have the most successful campaign possible.

Prizes that matter: When running an instant win sweepstakes, you first want to make sure you have relevant prizes to give away and a lot of them. If there is only one instant prize winner a week, your instant win game will not be as popular as say one that gives hundreds or even thousands of prizes per week. So be sure, if your budget allows, to give away a substantial number of prizes. If budget is an issue, think of connecting with a suitable partner to offset some of the costs. 

If you can’t partner with another company, it’s important to provide prizing, like branded swag for example, that relates to your product so you know you’re getting entrants who truly care about your brand. Lastly, it is recommended that you offer an overarching grand prize that relates to the theme of the campaign. In the Mopar campaign, they are also giving away a trip to a Sandals Resort, which ties in perfectly with the Smooth Summer Travels Sweepstakes.

Is it Shareable? With all sweepstakes, exposure is key. It’s important when running an instant win sweepstakes that it’s something that would be attractive to consumers to share with their social network. A lot of instant win sweepstakes incorporate games or quizzes. Often time personality quizzes are the most shared, so consider running one where entrants who take the quiz find out at the end if they’re an instant prize winner. Or, think of creating an instant win promotion which partners with a cause or charity that is important to your organization.  Your consumers will really feel compelled to spread the word which equates to a win-win situation!

Knowledge is Power: There is a lot of trial and error when creating instant win sweepstakes, including the programing, legal, registration, and security measures to name a few. To avoid mishaps, hire an agency like Sync Marketing who has extensive experience in the area to make sure you’re getting the most out of your instant win sweepstakes.

The next time you want to run an instant win sweepstakes, try to keep these best practices for running instant win sweepstakes in mind. If you have any additional questions or need help with your promotion, don’t hesitate to reach out to Sync Marketing!

Instant Win Sweepstakes

Questions Regarding Prizing ARV

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

We are often asked by our clients and blog followers alike a variety of questions relating to online sweepstakes and contests.  We thought it might be informative to highlight some of the questions here once a month in order to offer our insight on a broader scale. This month’s topic specifically relates to questions regarding prizing ARVs.

What does it mean when a sweepstakes refers to an ARV in the official rules?

When you win a sweepstakes prize over $600, you are required to pay income taxes on the amount won. The ARV stands for approximate retail value of the prize. If for instance, the sweepstakes you are entering has a cash prize, your winning income would be the exact dollar amount of the prize. If the offered prize includes non-cash items such as a television, or a service such as a trip, it’s up to the sponsor and/or administrator of the sweepstakes to determine the approximate retail value or the ARV of each prize. For more information on taxes and sweepstakes prizes, see our previous blog post here.

What determines if I need to bond and register my sweepstakes?

The rule of thumb is that if your sweepstakes has a total approximate retail value (ARV) of all combined prizing of over $5,000, you will need to bond and register your promotion at a minimum with the states of New York and Florida. There are also other factors involved where other state or federal authorities may have jurisdiction over your sweepstakes or that your organization may be exempt from this process, so it’s best to consult an expert in the field, such as Sync Marketing, to review your promotion structure and advise you on a case by case basis.

How do you determine an ARV for a sweepstakes at Sync Marketing?

There are several instances where we work with our clients to determine the approximate retail value (ARV) of a prize for a sweepstakes or contest.  If it is an item that our client sells, we will designate the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), which is the amount for which the company that produces a product recommends that it be sold for in stores. Here is an example of how one retailer, Diamond Candles, explained the ARV of prizing in their recent sweepstakes. When determining an ARV for a service such as a trip, we do our due diligence to research the average price of the trip elements to ensure that the ARV is on target.

Check back next month for another topic of interest regarding sweepstakes and contests.  If you have any additional questions regarding this topic or another sweepstakes or contest question, feel free to send them to inquiries@syncmarketing.net and they may be featured in an upcoming blog post.

Sweepstakes and Contests: Handle Internally or Hire a Sweepstakes Administrator?

By: Sync Marketing | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, User Generated Content

We may be a bit biased when it comes to whether or not you should handle a sweepstakes internally or hire an administrator, but we hope the following tips will lead you in the right direction. Whether you’re a marketing agency or an international corporation, these questions will help you determine if you’re equipped to handle a sweepstakes or contest, or if you need to call the experts.

1. Does your in-house legal counsel specialize in promotion law?

Promotion law is very specific. Just recently, Facebook changed its policy to no longer allow entrants to share on Facebook that they’ve entered a sweepstakes or contest in order to earn extra entries. Using a legal team who specializes in promotion law will allow you to stay up to speed on these types of changes so that you know you’re running legally-compliant promotions. You can read more about the policy change here.

2. Does your creative team know how to design mobile-optimized websites?

These days, a lot of consumers enter sweepstakes through their mobile devices and it’s important that your site is mobile optimized to provide the best consumer experience. More importantly, you must have a creative team that understands how to design for a mobile optimized site to ensure your site will run smoothly. It’s also important to know the difference between mobile-friendly, mobile-optimized and responsive sites, and determine which one is best to use for your sweepstakes or contests…but that’s for another post. 🙂

3. Does your ideation team know the difference between a sweepstakes and a contest?

It is not only imperative to know the difference between a sweepstakes, but it’s also important to know which one to run to achieve your goals. Are you looking to obtain user-generated content or are you looking for data capture? To learn more about the differences between a sweepstakes and contests and which one you should run, check out co-founder Julie Link’s article on the very subject, here.

4. Is your accounting team set up to handle winner paperwork and issue 1099’s at tax time?

Whenever the total ARV of your prize is over $600, you will need to obtain a W9 from your winner and then 1099 them during tax season. Your accounting team will need to gather this information during the year, submit the information to the IRS and answer all consumer calls that come after you send the 1099. Co-founder, Jennifer French, has a lot to say about this topic, here.

Hopefully we have helped make the decision of whether or not to handle a sweepstakes internally or not, a little easier. And if you have decided to hire an agency, please give Sync Marketing a call! 323.596.7962.

Feeling Blue this Tax Season? – Enter these Tax Sweepstakes for a Chance to Win Cold Hard Cash Prizes

By: Sync Marketing | In: Contests, Sweepstakes

Happy Tax Day?  If you need a distraction from the reality of what Uncle Sam might be taking from your wallet this tax season, check out these online tax sweepstakes that offer winners cash money as prizing.

PACIFIC SEAFOOD “BLUE IS THE NEW GREEN” INSTANT WIN GAME

Pacific Seafood’s Blue is the New Green Instant-Win Sweepstakes is awarding daily prizes to winners. Enter and you could win some awesome prizes including Amazon gift cards, and cash prizes worth up to $10,000!

#IAMUNEEK PHOTO CONTEST 2015

Entrants are asked to take interesting and creative shots of UNEEK shoes for a chance to win weekly cash prizes in the Keen Footwear’s #IAMUNEEK Photo Contest. Plus, one lucky grand prize winner will be chosen to receive an additional $5,000!

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES™ $100,000” SWEEPSTAKES

Enter the NASCAR Xfinity Series $100,000 Sweepstakes, you could be one of four people to win a free trip to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Darlington Raceway Race. Plus, one of the final four will receive an extra grand prize of $100,000 in cash!

Alright, we might admit that entering a tax sweepstakes with the hopes of winning cash may not be enough to take the sting out of tax day, but it’s always worth a shot.  If you are a business planning to run a sweepstakes in 2015, check out our blog article with some helpful tips to ease your winners concerns this time next year.

Are You Feeling the Luck of the Irish? – St. Patricks Day Sweepstakes

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

Tis the time of year to once again break out your best Kelly green sweater and join in on the festivities of St. Patrick’s Day.  As the saying goes, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but these Ireland-based retailers are showing their Irish pride across the pond by hosting St. Patrick’s Day sweepstakes that offer American consumers the chance to win a trip for two to the Emerald Isle.  Check out these St. Patricks Day sweepstakes below, but only those 21 and older are eligible to enter to win.

Magners Irish Cider’s St. Patrick’s Day Win a Trip to Ireland Sweepstakes

Grand prize winner will win a five day/four night trip for two to Dublin, Ireland and will receive two tickets to the Forbidden Fruit Music Festival!  Winner will also receive $1,000 in spending money.

Jameson® St. Patrick’s Day Sweepstakes

This Facebook sweepstakes will award six grand prize trips for two to Dublin, Ireland for four days/three nights. Trip includes a tour of the Jameson Distillery. Each trip is valued at $5,500!

The Guiness Hooley Ultimate Irish Adventure Sweepstakes

Guiness Hooley is offering one lucky winner the chance to win a trip for two to Ireland valued at over $14,000.  The winner and their guest will visit different cities throughout Ireland, and will take cooking classes and enjoy planned guided tours on this nine day/eight night adventure.  Plus, 50 first-prize winners will receive an Irish cooking gift pack.

If you’re planning to run a holiday-themed sweepstakes or contest, don’t hesitate to reach out to Sync Marketing. Winning a sweepstakes takes a wee bit of luck, but if you don’t enter, you won’t win, and that’s no Blarney. Sláinte!