Top 10 Types of Sweepstakes to Run in 2023

By: Sync Marketing | In: Ask Sync, Best Practices, Contests, Instant Win, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, SMS Campaigns, social sweepstakes, Sweepstakes, sweepstakes company, sweepstakes marketing, User Generated Content

Sweepstakes have long been a popular marketing tool for businesses as they produces a tremendous return on investment (ROI). In 2023, there are many different types of sweepstakes that brands (and their agency partners) can run to engage with customers, build brand awareness, and generate leads. Here is list of the top 10 types of sweepstakes to run in 2023: 

1. Social Media Contests:  

With billions of people using social media every day, running a sweepstakes on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Twitter is a great way to reach a large audience and interact with consumers. Brands can ask customers to like, comment, and share their posts to enter the sweepstakes, and can even require entrants to follow their social media accounts to participate.  

This can have two positive impacts: 

Increased Brand Awareness: The ripple effect is real. The more people know about you, the more their friends and followers will know about you. 

Increased Engagement: Social media sweepstakes can also help businesses increase engagement with their existing followers. By offering a chance to win prizes, it can increase engagement and help to build a stronger relationship with customers. Additionally, the excitement and anticipation of the sweepstakes can encourage customers to visit a business’s social media channels more often, which can lead to increased engagement overall. 

2. Referral Sweepstakes:  

Referral sweepstakes incentivize customers to refer their friends to your business. Entrants can earn additional entries for each friend they refer who also enters the sweepstakes, which can help brands build their email lists and reach new customers. Referral sweepstakes can create a greater likelihood that those referrals will turn into new customers because they are being referred by a friend. That’s an instant vouch of support for the brand.  

These types of sweepstakes can be achieved in different ways. You can have a simple enter to win sweepstakes where entrants can refer up to five friends after entry for extra chances to win or they can refer friends by tagging on a social media sweepstakes.  Our client Wealthfront just finished a campaign where they gave away $25,000 to three different Wealthfront members. Entrant received extra entries for doing a number of different tasks including referring friends!

3. Instant Win Sweepstakes:  

Instant win sweepstakes allow customers to enter and find out immediately if they have won a prize. This type of sweepstakes can be especially engaging for customers, as they don’t have to wait for a drawing to find out if they’ve won. It also allows them to feel like they have a great chance to win. Sync recommends offering daily entries for instant win campaigns as it will keep customers coming back and engaging with your brand. 

4. Survey Sweepstakes:  

Surveys are a great way for businesses to gather feedback from customers, and adding a sweepstakes component can help incentivize customers to participate. Businesses can offer prizes to random survey participants, or even offer a larger prize to the customer who provides the most helpful feedback. 

5. Photo or Video Contests:  

Photo and video contests can be a fun way for customers to engage with a brand and show off their creativity. Businesses can ask customers to submit photos or videos related to a specific theme, and then award prizes to the best entries. Sync can help guide you on what type of judging criteria to include in the official rules. We also offer a judging platform for to score entries. 

6. Daily Sweepstakes:  

Daily sweepstakes allow businesses to keep customers engaged over an extended period of time. It’s best to offer a different prize every day to keep entrants coming back. Then offer a lager overarching grand prize to anyone who entered through the sweepstakes entry period. 

7. Essay or Writing Contests:  

If you want to engage with customers who are passionate about something, offering an essay or writing contests can be a great option. Brands can ask customers to write about a specific topic, and then award prizes to the entries that best matched the judging criteria. 

8. Treasure Hunt Sweepstakes:  

These are fun! Treasure hunt sweepstakes can be a fun way to engage with customers and build brand awareness. Businesses can hide clues or information about their brand or products throughout their website or social media channels, and then award a prize to the customer who finds all of the clues. If it’s within the budget you can include it on your website, but if you want to do smaller scare, we recommend running these types of campaigns on your social channels.  

9. Instant Discount Sweepstakes:  

Instant discount sweepstakes offer customers a chance to win an immediate discount on their next purchase. We typically recommend the discount to appear after entry and still offering a larger overarching grand prize. This type of sweepstakes can help drive sales for businesses while also providing customers with a fun and engaging experience. 

10. Charity Sweepstakes or Contests:  

Charity campaigns allow businesses to give back to their communities while also engaging with customers.  

Sweepstakes: Businesses can donate a certain amount to a charity based on the number of entries they receive. Allowing entrants to vote on the charity they want to donate to, is another great option. 

Contests: Going back to the essay contests, brands can ask people to nominate deserving people for the chance to win. The person nominated would then money for themselves and the cause they donate their time to. Sync recommends background checks for this and can provide this service for you.  

In conclusion, there are many different types of sweepstakes that businesses can run in 2023 to engage with customers and build brand awareness. Whether you choose to run a social media contest, a referral sweepstakes, an instant win sweepstakes, or any of the other options on this list, a well-executed sweepstakes can be a powerful tool for driving sales and building customer loyalty. 

top 10 types of sweepstakes to run in 2023

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How to run an effective sweepstakes

By: Sync Marketing | In: Advertising, Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Instagram, Instant Win, Marketing, Prize Fulfillment, Turnkey Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

There are many ways to run a sweepstakes, but which one is right for you? From straight forward enter-to-win’s, to UGC collection sweepstakes, to photo contests, the possibilities are endless. Today we will discuss the questions you need to ask first on how to run an effective sweepstakes that will produce the best return on your investment.

What is your goal?

Let’s start with the basics. What is the goal? Do you want to capture user-generated content? Do you want to increase your loyalty program? Or do you simply want to increase your email database? Once this question is answered, you can get started on the ideation step for setting up your sweepstakes or contest.

What is your theme?

Is this campaign a one-off to drive a new product? Do you want to offer sweepstakes quarterly to attract loyalty from your consumers? Do you want to center the sweepstakes around a holiday? Themes will help give your sweepstakes or contest a focus and will feel more organic for your brand or service.

How are people going to hear about it?

Promotion is key. Do you have a large social media following? This is a cost-effective way to promote a sweepstakes, but it’s always important to put some advertising dollars behind any promotion. Depending on how much money you want to put towards the promotion of your sweepstakes will also affect how long you should run your sweepstakes. If you have a small budget, try to pack a punch and run it for only a few weeks to get the best bang for your buck.

What do you do with the information once the promotion is over?

An integral part of making your sweepstakes or contest have a lasting impression with your consumers, is what you do once the sweepstakes is over. At Sync, we always encourage our clients to share the winner information on their social media pages after the sweepstakes is over to reinforce their messaging. One idea is to send out an email to all of those who opt-ed in to the sweepstakes to not only announce the winner, but to thank them with a surprise and delight offer.

If you make sure to ask yourself these questions before putting together your sweepstakes, it will help ensure that you run an effective sweepstakes. If you need help with ideation don’t hesitate to reach out to us. 

Effective Sweepstakes

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweepstakes are Making Waves in the Digital Space

By: Julie Link | In: Facebook, Instagram, Instant Win, Marketing, Sweepstakes, Twitter, User Generated Content

It’s no surprise that the digital age is becomes more of a prominent fixture in our daily lives. This is especially true for millennials. As such, marketers are doing everything they can to break through the clutter to reach their consumers. One of the best ways for marketers to increase their ROI and engage with consumers through digital, is by running sweepstakes. This cost effective promotional tool is a win-win for consumers and brands. Below I discuss the three key aspects as to why sweepstakes in the digital space are becoming increasingly more popular.

1. Content is King

User-Generated Content (UCG) is an effective tool for marketers to gain authentic usable content for free. Once way to get UGC is with a video dance contest hosted on a microsite. Or, a cutest puppy photo sweepstakes held on Instagram. By running these types of campaign, brands are able to gather this UGC for free and use it on their website and social media channels.

Legal Alert: Keep in mind that specific language needs to be included in the official rules and winner release forms to be able to utilize this content in your future marketing. That’s why hiring an agency that specializes in promotion law is key to running a legally compliant promotion.

Some of the most memorable and talked about commercials and campaigns in recent years are completely customer created. In the past, brands shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and run a commercial spot.  Now, they can award an eager fan an exclusive experience prize and in turn receive an exceptional ad. The most well-known example of this is the promotion that Doritos ran. Here, they asked consumers to submit their own Doritos commercial for the chance to have their spot aired during the big game’s half time show.

2. Social Media

Every type of company, especially retailers, are running social media campaigns. That’s because it’s not only an inexpensive venue to run a promotion, but an invaluable tool to engage with consumers. Even if a brand is running an online sweepstakes, social sharing is a great way to spread the word about the brand. There is no better person to share your content than a consumer. That’s because they are already interested in your brand and therefore excited to share with their friends.

The use of hashtags in promotions has seen a dramatic increase this year as well. Not only is it a way to track entries, but if you create a clever hashtag (that of course must include sweepstakes in the tag), the viral possibilities are endless.

3. Mobile

For large brands, creating a well adaptable user-experience focused app is a great tool to increase brand loyalty and exposure. With apps comes the easy addition of layering on a sweepstakes component. This allows brands to reward consumers and increase engagement. Last summer Sync Marketing was a part of a Slurpee instant-win campaign that rewarded those who used the app and purchased a Slurpee to be entered for their chance to win from thousands of prizes. This was a great way to layer on a sweepstakes, drive sales and bring exposure to the app.

In addition, because digital has become a fixture in our daily lives, sweepstakes now must be mobile-optimized so that the user experience is seamless and enjoyable. As a result, this leads to a good ROI for the sweepstakes.

 “So many consumers these days are on the go so you want them to have a good user experience on their phones,” says Julie Link, from a recent Chief Marketer article.

As sweepstakes in the digital space become increasingly popular, there is no better time to add them to your marketing plans. If you’re a brand considering adding a sweepstakes to increase your digital reach, you are on the right path. This is because it’s one of the most affordable ways to spread the word, engage consumers, and create quality content.

Sweepstakes in the Digital Space

 

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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

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