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!

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.

Sync Marketing: How Do I Run an Online Sweepstakes or Contest?

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, Sweepstakes

You’ve finally made the decision to join many of your fellow companies by adding an online sweepstakes or contest to your future marketing plan. Since you’ve reached this point, you probably are asking yourself, “How do I run an online sweepstakes or contest?” First you need to identify your audience, outline your goals, pick a platform, and assign a budget, and then you might be asking yourself, “What do I do next?” Below is a check list of things that you will need to focus on to get your sweepstakes or contest off of the ground successfully:

• The Concept: The ideation process is very important to make sure that you grab your audience’s attention to get them interested in participating in your campaign.

• The Creative Design: What is the look and feel of your campaign? How will you incorporate your message in the design of your sweepstakes microsite? There are a lot of things to consider during this process.

• The Programming: How do you plan to collect the data entered by your consumers? Are you planning to send thank you for entering or reminder emails to your participants?

• The Legal: Although not as fun and “sexy,” this is one of the most important elements of your campaign. You really need to outline the legal parameters of the promotion and offer entrants clear and concise rules. Also, are you going to need to bond and register your promotion based on state guidelines?

• Customer Service: Did you plan to answer consumer inquiries during the campaign, or provide access to winners lists at the end?

• Winner Selection, Notification and Verification: Playing Santa Claus is definitely a fun part of the promotion, but making sure your potential winners meet all of the sweepstakes eligibility before you award the prize is imperative.

• Prize Fulfillment: The winner has been cleared and now it’s time to deliver their prize. But wait, is the prize over $600? You are planning to send the IRS and the winner a tax form, right?

• The Metrics: So, how did it go? Without setting up the appropriate metrics, how will you know?

This list is just a basic outline of what is needed to run a successful sweepstakes or contest as there is much more involved. Here is another of our blog articles that might also be helpful to get you started.

We get calls all of the time from first-timers looking for information and what steps are needed to create their campaign. It can be initially overwhelming when you hear all of the things that go into putting together a sweepstakes or contest. That’s why we are here to help. At Sync, we will put together a program for you that will clearly outline what is needed and offer services that allows us to manage all or some of your campaign based on your needs.

Sweepstakes and Contest Guidelines: Recent Changes That Could Affect Your Upcoming Sweepstakes or Contest

By: Jennifer French | In: Advertising, Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes

When running an online sweepstakes or contest that includes a social media element or endorsement feature, it’s very important to follow the most up-to-date sweepstakes and contest guidelines to make sure your company or client is on the right side of promotion law. For example, recently Facebook made a significant change to their guidelines with respect to sweepstakes and contests, and the FTC has updated a host of FAQs outlining their stance on several topics related to endorsements and social media sweepstakes and contests. Below are a few highlights, but to read the entire FTC FAQ list, click here.

FTC Recommendation for Social Media Sweepstakes or Contests
The FTC recommends that companies running a sweepstakes or contest require all entrants to make it clear that their post on their social media account was an entry into a sweepstakes or contest. They recommend including either “sweepstakes” or “contest” in the overall promotion hashtag required for entry into the promotion. Also noted is that the FTC does not feel using the word “sweeps” is clear enough as they feel that many people will not understand its meaning.

No More Facebook “Likes” for Entries
A recent change in Facebook policy prohibits earning additional sweepstakes entries by sharing on personal timelines or by using friend connections (i.e. asking entrants to share on their timeline to enter for a chance to win, or by sharing on a friend’s timeline in order to earn additional entries, and tagging your friends in a post to enter are no longer allowed). Additionally, all promotions must be administered on pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions. For a full list of Facebooks promotions guidelines, click here.

It is very important to know all of the facts before you begin planning your upcoming sweepstakes or contests. Consider hiring a sweepstakes administrator like Sync Marketing for your next promotion. Our legal team is constantly staying up-to-date on all of the many changes in the field and we will make sure that you are always informed and running legally compliant promotions. Please contact us at 323.596.7962 or email info@syncmarketing.net.

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.

Fooled or Not? Steps to take if you have been told you won a sweepstakes or contest

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes

In honor of April Fool’s Day, I wanted to shed some insight on how to determine if you’re being “fooled” or not when you receive a call informing you that you’re a potential winner of a sweepstakes or contest. Many times when we call consumers to inform them that they have been selected as a potential prize winner, they’re often skeptical at first, which is completely understandable. Even though they took the time to enter, not many people really expect to actually win a prize.  At Sync, we take many steps on our end to make sure potential winners feel comfortable and do everything we can to assure them that the sweepstakes or contest is legit, but here are some things to consider if and when you receive this type of call.

1. Do you remember entering the sweepstakes or contest? If not, make sure that the caller tells you the exact name of the sweepstakes and the company running the promotion.  Once you have this information, look it up for yourself and see if it rings a bell.

2. Who is calling you? Is it the company that ran the sweepstakes or a marketing agency, like Sync Marketing, who was the administrator? If it is in fact an agency, be sure to look them up as well and ask for a link to or a copy of the Official Rules to be sure they are the administrator of the promotion.

3. If they are telling you that the prize you have won is $600 or more, expect to receive a W9 form. This isn’t a scam, but a requirement to report this to the IRS since you will be receiving prize winnings of $600 or more.

4. If you receive a W9 form, expect to also receive an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release Form that details your prize. Make sure that the details of the prize and total ARV match the prize description in the Official Rules.

In the age of identity theft, it is understandable that one should be cautious, but once you’ve taken the steps to look into the legitimacy of the sweepstakes or contest for yourself, you should be confident that you are not being fooled before you provide any information. 

What is the Difference Between a Sweepstakes and a Contest and Which One Should I Run?

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Marketing, Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

What is the difference between a sweepstakes and a contest? This is one of the most common questions we’re asked when working with companies or agencies who are planning to run these types of promotions for the first time. Today I am going to break down the differences between sweepstakes and contests as well as discuss which one will work best for your next promotion.

First off, what is a sweepstakes? If you were to look up the actual definition you would find that the word has many different meanings, but the following is Sync Marketing’s definition: A sweepstakes is a game of chance in which consumers are asked to provide basic information about themselves to be entered into a prize drawing. Most importantly, potential winners are selected in a random drawing. After the names are drawn, they are notified and then verified before being announced an official winner. In a sweepstakes, there can be no consideration for entry and winner selection must be completely random.

Now, what is a contest? Sync Marketing’s definition is as follows: A contest is a game of skill, where entrants are asked to complete a measurable task that is judged and scored. For example, this could be anything from a video contest featuring consumers’ pets doing their best trick, an Instagram photo contest asking entrants to submit their favorite wedding planning moment, or a Pinterest contest requiring entrants to create a board of what they think would be their dream vacation.  In a contest, the judging criteria must be clearly defined for the entrants in the Official Rules. About.com also has a nice breakdown of the differences between a sweepstakes and a contests.

So how do you determine when you should run a sweepstakes vs. a contest?

Good question! You should run a sweepstakes when your goal is to reach and engage the masses with the purpose of promoting your product or service, gather email opt-ins, and collect basic consumer data. Of course, the number of entries you receive and the popularity of your promotion will be based on a few factors; how strongly it’s promoted, the ease of entry and the value of your prizes to the consumer. For more information on what types of prizes to give away see my post here. When you run a sweepstakes expect to receive a lot more entries than if you were to run a contest, and if you provide social share it has the possibility to spread like wildfire.

You should run a contest when your goal is to create PR buzz, gather user-generated content, and gain and reward consumers who are truly invested in your brand or service.  If you’re giving away an international trip to a grand opening of a new store, maybe consider running a contest in which entrants are asked to upload a video of why they deserve to be at the grand opening. To further reinforce consumer interaction, have the top 10 judged videos posted online for consumers to vote for their favorite. You can then ask for publicity releases from the top 10 entrants and use those videos on your website and social media accounts to continue to promote your brand. Also, by asking for entrants to take the time to create and submit a video as a condition of entry, you know you’re going to award the prize to someone who truly wants to go on the trip!

Regardless of whether you want to run a sweepstakes or contest, please consider calling Sync Marketing to help you plan and execute your next promotion. You can find a full list of our sweepstakes and contest services here.

Sync Marketing’s Year in Review – 2014

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

2014 was a fantastic year for Sync Marketing that seemed to come and go in a blink of an eye. Not only was it a year of change for Sync Marketing, but a year of growth. Here’s Sync Marketing’s year in review:

A lot of “new” for Sync Marketing

Not only did we design a new logo, we also launched a brand new website which showcases our services, work, and introduces our co-founders, Jennifer French and myself, Julie Link. We were also fortunate to work on some really fun and exciting campaigns for a variety of new clients. Click here to “meet” some of our new clients.

Sync Marketing is now an award-winning agency

We were honored to take home the Silver in the Best Use of Game, Contests and Sweepstakes at the Chief Marketer 2014 PRO Awards. The competition was definitely tough. Jennifer French and myself attended the annual awards last June in New York City, and were able to meet the Senior Editor and Promotions Awards Director of Chief Marketer and other amazing colleagues in the field.

Sync got Social with Claire’s

Social media sweepstakes were huge this year and Sync Marketing ran everything from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest sweepstakes. As CBI’s agency of record, Sync Marketing helped Claire’s stores increase their social media presence in 2014. One of the most notable promotions we ran with them this year was in support of the launch of the Katy Perry’s Prism collection, which you can learn more about here.

We’re excited to see what 2015 has in store and we will continue to share our updates with you throughout the year!

Sweepstakes Prizing – What to Give Away

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes

It seems these days that everyone is getting in on the fun by running online sweepstakes and contests. That’s because it’s an extremely effective way of not only gathering consumer data, but rewarding consumers in return.  Today, I am going to focus on the best part; the prizing, and the most effective sweepstakes prizing recommendations for your next promotion.

1. Money, money, money: Everyone loves cash. If you choose to award cash as your prize, make sure it’s a significant amount, as with all prizing, winners are taxed on anything over $600. If you choose to go the cash route, it is recommended to always relate the cash prizes back to your product. Take Don’t Touch My Dart: The Sweepstakes…Here, Chrysler gave away $10,000 for the winner to use as they wish, but in the creative and official rules they promoted it as money to be used towards the purchase or lease of a new Dodge Dart.
2. The once-in-a-lifetime experience prize: Awarding your winners with a prize they cannot buy is the ultimate prize. Whether it’s to a red carpet event or a VIP back stage pass; offering prizing that is not available to the general public will allow you to receive entries from consumers who are truly interested in your prize and the exclusive experience.
3. A trip: Pretty much everyone loves to travel, so a trip is a great way to entice consumers to enter. Just be sure to include all of the critical trip elements; airfare, hotel, transportation, and spending money/money for taxes. And, of course, relate it back to your product or service.
4. Your product or service; Giving away an iPad is great, but if it doesn’t relate to your product or service, then you might not be getting the type of entrants you want as well as the fact that the promotion will seem disjointed. If you offer a fantastic service, give consumers the chance to win that particular service free for a year. Or, if it’s a product, why not offer gift cards or a prize pack containing your promoted items?
5. Many prizes. It’s always important to give one larger grand prize, but if you want entrants to feel like they have a true shot at winning, consider giving away several smaller prizes. 

Most importantly, make sure that the prize-winning experience is extremely enjoyable and stress-free for your consumers. By hiring an agency like Sync Marketing to handle your sweepstakes prize fulfillment, you can rest assured that your winners will understand all of the details of their prize and will be taken care of all the way until tax season. For a full list of Sync Marketing’s prize fulfillment offerings, please take a look at our Legal and Prize Fulfillment page, here.