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Running a sweepstakes can be a great way for alcohol brands to engage with their customers and build brand loyalty. However, there are several legal and ethical considerations that adults beverage companies must take into account when running a sweepstakes involving alcohol. In this blog post, we will discuss four sweepstakes tips for alcohol companies and what they should consider.
Comply with Legal Requirements: Alcohol brands must comply with various legal requirements when running a sweepstakes. For example, in the United States, brands must comply with state and federal laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulations. Brands must also ensure that their sweepstakes are open to individuals of legal drinking age and are not accessible to individuals who are prohibited from consuming alcohol.
Hire a Sweepstakes Agency: As mentioned above there are several legal requirements to consider and these must be clearly defined in the rules and Regulations. Hiring a sweepstakes agency who specializes in sweepstakes law is key. The sweepstakes agency will structure the rules to include the eligibility criteria, how to enter, the deadline for entry, the prize, and any other relevant details. The rules and regulations must be easily accessible and prominently displayed to potential entrants.
Adhere to Responsible Marketing: Alcohol brands have a responsibility to market their products in a responsible manner. This includes promoting responsible consumption and avoiding any messaging that could be perceived as promoting excessive or irresponsible drinking. Alcohol brands should also ensure that their sweepstakes do not target underage individuals or encourage excessive drinking. In addition to handling the creation of the official rules and abbreviated rules, Sync will review all of your marketing materials to make sure that they are legally compliant.
Ensure the Prize is Relevant and Appropriate: The prize for the sweepstakes should be relevant and appropriate to the brand and its target audience. For example, a luxury whiskey brand may offer a private distillery tour as a prize, while a beer brand may offer tickets to a popular sporting event. Additionally, the prize should not actually include alcohol or promote excessive consumption of alcohol.
In conclusion, running a sweepstakes can be a great way for alcohol brands to engage with their customers and build brand loyalty. However, alcohol brands must consider several legal and ethical considerations to ensure that their sweepstakes comply with legal requirements, promote responsible marketing, and are relevant and appropriate to their target audience. By following these tips, you can run a successful and responsible sweepstakes!
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:
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Charity sweepstakes and contests can produce a great ROI.
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.
Summer is a fantastic time for brands (and their agency partners) to engage with their customers and create buzz around their brand. One way to do this is by running a summer sweepstakes or contest. There are many different types of sweepstakes and contests to choose from, but not all of them are created equal. Today, we’ll explore the top summer sweepstakes and contest ideas.
Simple Enter to Win
Running a straight forward enter to win sweepstakes is a great way to reward consumers while collecting emails. Offering a chance to win a trip to a popular summer destination, such as a beach resort, national park, or theme park will really entice consumers because summer is already on the brain.
Here are a few prizing ideas to consider:
Adventure Sweepstakes in the Outdoors
Summer is the perfect time for getting outside, and an outdoor adventure sweepstakes is a great way to engage customers who are interested in hiking, camping, or other outdoor activities. A prize package could include camping gear, hiking boots, or even a guided camping trip.
Summer Vacation Sweepstakes
People love to travel during the summer, and a summer vacation sweepstakes is a great way to tap into this enthusiasm. A prize package could include a weekend getaway, a cruise, or even an all-expenses-paid trip to a popular vacation destination. Check out this sweepstakes from Sync and our client La Tierra de Mezcal who is giving away a trip to Mexico!
Backyard BBQ Backyard BBQ Sweepstakes
Backyard BBQs are a summer tradition, and a backyard BBQ sweepstakes is a great way to engage customers who love to grill. A prize package could include a grill, grilling accessories, and even a gift card to purchase food and beverages.
UGC Contests
Running a user-generated content (UGC) contest over the summer can have numerous benefits for businesses looking to engage with their audience. Whether it is a summer cocktail recipe contest, or a world’s best guacamole contest, you’re sure to receive a lot of great content that fits with your brand.
Sync offers a variety of services when it comes to UGC contests. While we have you covered with legal and outlining the structure of your promotion, we can also track and judge the entries for you.
Event Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes held at special events like festivals and sporting events provide a great opportunity to build your email database. Create some on site marketing materials with a QR code straight to your entry page to allow people to enter for a chance to win. If it’s a paid event, Sync can create an alternate means of entry (AMOE) microsite to keep your campaign legally compliant.
Overall running a summer sweepstakes or contest can increase engagement, sales and brand awareness in a cost-effective way. With a well-designed and executed campaign, businesses can capitalize on the excitement and enthusiasm of summer and create a positive impact on their bottom line. There’s still plenty of time. Contact Sync today to get a same day quote for your summer sweepstakes!
Offering big displays, entertainment and food sampling are all effective ways a company can draw people to their booth during a trade show. Today I will discuss an updated version of the typical booth raffle – an online sweepstakes. Below I will break down the three top reasons to run a sweepstakes at your next trade show.
Catch people’s attention
If you’re giving away a trip, cash or free products/services, you’re sure to turn heads and pique attendees’ interest. When Sync runs trade show giveaways, we provide the client with a QR code to put on all their POP and marketing materials that when scanned links directly to an online entry form. This makes it a seamless user experience. Users will stop, scan and go directly to the sweepstakes site and enter for their chance to win – big! And best of all, we can select winners same day and they don’t need to hang around all day for their number to be called. Go Delta highlighted the benefits in their article by saying, “A study by Exhibit Surveys Inc. found that companies that displayed promotional giveaways at their booth had significantly higher traffic than companies that did not utilize giveaways.”
Boost email opt-ins
For each entry you receive, you can also receive an email opt-in. This allows you to reach back out to all of those who attended your show. You can even send them a surprise and delight offer to everyone who entered as a thank you.
Drive sales
After entry you can provide CTA on the thank you for entering page back to your site. You could even offer discounts after entry to help boost sales. Want to take it a step further? Ask those who entered to sign up for SMS notifications for an additional chance to win!
Sweepstakes are a fast and effective way to obtain the best ROI for your next trade show. Sync provides an all-inclusive package consisting of design, programming, legal and prize fulfillment for your next sweepstakes. We even offer discounts to clients who run multiple trade shows a year. Now that’s a win for everyone! Contact us today for pricing and campaign examples.
3 Reasons to Run a Sweepstakes at Your Next Trade Show
The holiday season this year seems to have come around quicker than ever before. As brands prepare to execute their holiday plans, throwing in a last-minute holiday giveaway could possibly create your best ROI all season. Today, I will discuss five types of holiday giveaways to run.
One – Days of Giving Sweepstakes: Keep up engagement with a day of giving sweepstakes this holiday season. Award a prize every day for an extended period. Allowing consumers to receive one entry a day will increase engagement with your brand. If you promote and/or run it on social, it will allow consumers to see other featured gift items and holiday sales you are promoting because they will be returning daily to enter. In addition, consumers feel as though they have a better chance at winning if more prizes are given away. Try going for the gold and offer a larger overarching grand prize to increase awareness about your giveaway.
Two – Social Sweepstakes: We are all guilty of scrolling and buying on Instagram. Take advantage of this “lazy” way of shopping by running a social giveaway. Ask entrants to follow, like and tag a friend for a chance to win. We would also recommend giving a prize to the friend who is tagged. Need some more tips? Check out this article from Social Media Examiner.
Three – Holiday Wishlist Sweepstakes: There are many fun ways to incorporate a Wishlist sweepstakes concept into your holiday plans. Try asking consumers if they would rather have A, B or C this holiday season. List items with comparable prices and if they win, let them choose which item they want to receive. This also provides you with consumer insight on which products are most popular. Check out this article about running a sweepstakes can help sell products online.
Four – Family-Friendly Contests: If your brand is geared towards children, try running a family-themed contest this holiday season. You could ask entrants to turn one of your shipping boxes into a race car and submit a photo or have a turkey drawing contest. The possibilities are endless, and the concept will help bring families together.
Five – Photo Contests: Another theme that has endless possibilities. Thank silliest family holiday photos, best captured moment of the year, or even ask consumers to take a photo of their space that they need upgraded. Depending on your brand this is a great way to create a custom promotion specific to your brand that will produce engagement and fun. Need ideas on what to give away? Check out this article here.
It’s the season of giving, so give your consumers what they want – a holiday giveaway! Need more ideas on types of holiday giveaways to run? Contact Sync today for a free brainstorming call.
Your company has made the decision to include a sweepstakes or contest in your marketing plans, now what? You need to find a sweepstakes administration company. There are a lot of elements to consider when running a campaign and it can be overwhelming. You may feel your team is able to handle the promotion in house, but before you make that decision, it’s wise to know some of the pitfalls of going it alone. As I reference in this article, it’s a smart business decision to hire a sweepstakes administration company to guide you through the process and ensure your campaign will run seamlessly. But there are other factors at play as well. Outlined below are 5 things to consider for when hiring a sweepstakes administration company.
Size
Bigger isn’t always better in this case. Companies tend to work with large agencies because they feel they are “safe” – they have the infrastructure, resources, and experience. Small agencies actually offer the same skills as larger ones but have the advantage that they can work more closely with you to achieve your specific goals all at a fraction of the cost. You often speak to the owners of the company who have extensive experience in the area and a pride of ownership.
Specialties
Consider working with a company that specializes in sweepstakes and contests only. Specialized agencies tend to offer focus that some larger agencies often lack. Large agencies work with a variety of clients, and, as a result, tend to use a one size fits all approach which can be diluted. A company that has a grasp on a particular specialty will lead to better results for your campaign.
Client Relationships
This is a key component when selecting a sweepstakes company. The first test is how quickly did someone respond to your inquiry? Larger firms may have bragging rights when it comes to their roster of clients, but we’ve found that sometimes this leads them to neglect their other clients that aren’t on the “A Team.” Chose a company that feels like an extension of your team and that wants to see you succeed. You should hire a company that is just as invested in your campaign and results as you.
References
Who better to give you insight on a sweepstakes company than their client references? In addition to speaking to their current clients, I would also recommend asking for a few names of clients that no longer work with the sweepstakes administration company. Also ask for a reference from a client that has or had a similar scope or size to your upcoming project. It’s sometimes helpful to ascertain performance with an apples to apples comparison. Here is an article that lists key questions to ask when talking to an agency.
Portfolio of Work
Does the work speak for itself? Who are their past and present clients? A company should wow you with their most impressive work. Set up a Zoom call and ask to see a capabilities presentation. Also, ask for any current projects that you can explore. Successful creative campaigns are not limited to agencies with a large staff and big budget. Small agencies are usually more willing to explore creative ways build your business and aren’t afraid to do things differently.
We hope the above 5 things to consider when hiring a sweepstakes administration company helps guide you to find the perfect team. Here is some additional reading to consider before you set out to find the perfect fit.
Why not consider Sync Marketing for your future sweepstakes and contest needs? Sync is a boutique, award-winning sweepstakes administration company that is ready to help guide you on all the best practices to run a successful sweepstakes.
Sweepstakes are a cost-effective tool for increasing your email subscribers. It’s important to note that not all subscribers are created equal. You want people who are truly interested in your brand to sign up. While the number of email subscribers is important, it’s also more important that you obtain subscribers who are truly interested in engaging with your brand. Today I will discuss 5 ways to increase email subscribers with a sweepstakes.
Know Your Audience
Running a sweepstakes specific to your brand will increase engagement and build your email subscribers list with authentic and quality opt-ins. A recent example of this was a dog food company that ran a photo contest where they asked entrants to upload a photo of their dog dressed up in a Halloween costume. The fact that it was very specific to dog owners and thematic to a holiday, lead to quality engagement. It also created fantastic user-generated content as well as increased email subscribers.
Incentivize
Incentivizing entrants to share the opportunity for more chances to win is an effective and free way to promote your sweepstakes. While this could be a separate blog post all on it’s own, it’s important to consider a few factors if you want to incentivize entrants. People inherently want to share things that tell others more about them. That share could be from a quiz result, a charitable cause they hold dear, or anything else that evokes emotion. Try to tie one of these reasons for entrants to share into your sweepstakes concept. One example is to consider running a sweepstakes with a quiz component. People love sharing their results. And if it’s for an extra chance to win, this will increase tenfold. Here is an example of a quiz Sync recently completed for Aerie.
Offer an Exclusive Opportunity
It’s often all about the prize. Offering an exclusive opportunity is a great way to get many quality entries. This could be a VIP experience at the Super Bowl, a meet-a-great at an awards show, or a red carpet experience at a movie premiere. Last year our client Paul Stewart offered exclusive prize packages. They partnered with a home rental company to give away weekend trips to different locations in New York and added on a custom fitting to their Paul Stewart store in New York.
Share Share Share
A great way to increase engagement and therefore increase the chance of signing up email subscribers is to offer multiple chances to win. Try offering weekly entry periods with an overarching grand prize. When an entrant first enters, give them the opportunity to opt-in. You can also offer them the chance to receive email reminders about the sweepstakes. Each week you will have an opportunity to tell them about that week’s prize, getting them to continuously engage with your brand.
Create a Landing Page
While running a social media sweepstakes is great to collect UGC, you won’t have the opportunity to collect email opt-ins. Therefore, we always suggest running a sweepstakes that has a dedicated landing page vs. a social sweepstakes. Whether potential email subscribers enter on your landing page or just get information about the sweepstakes, a landing page allows you to have a dedicated spot for consumers to get all of the information they need. It also increases traffic to your site. If you are running a social sweepstakes, you can still have a landing page with all of the information in one spot. On the landing page, give entrants the opportunity to opt-in directly on your page to get more information about the sweepstakes and other opportunities.
In conclusion, there are several effective ways to increase email subscribers with a sweepstakes. If you need some ideation help, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for some ideas!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As the holidays quickly approach, there’s no doubt that engagements will be abundant. As a brand, running a sweepstakes is a great opportunity to reach out to these newly engaged couples in the New Year. When running a wedding sweepstakes it’s important to know the most effective types of campaigns to run. Today we will discuss the best types of wedding sweepstakes to run that are aimed at the newly betrothed.
In addition to gathering email opt-ins, running an instant win sweepstakes is a great way to have consumers instantly engage with your brand. Try giving away a number of gift cards a day and then provide an overarching grand prize. This way, consumers will continue to come back to your sweepstakes because they will feel they have a better chance to win. To learn more about Sync’s TurnkeySweeps instant win sweepstakes, click here.
Turning these newly engaged couples into email subscribers is key. Using Sync’s platform, TurnkeySweeps by Sync, is a great solution if email opt-ins is an important goal of yours. These sweepstakes can launch within a week of receiving approval on creative and are extremely effective at retaining consumers and gathering email opt-ins. They are also a very cost-effective solution. Here’s an example of one.
Surprise and Delight Sweepstakes
If you decide to run a TurnkeySweeps promotion, add on a surprise and delight feature. After entry, offer consumers a discount coupon to your store. We can also send a “thanks for entering” email that includes the discount code in case the consumer closes the window. This is a great option to have entrants engage with your brand and will leave them feeling like a winner. The coupon may even encourage them to register with your store for their wedding gifts.
Why not encourage consumers to go into your store to take photos with product for their chance to win? This again will encourage entrants to possibly register with your store for their wedding gifts. When running a social sweepstakes, make the method of entry writing a comment that include a hashtag for their chance to win. This will make the sweepstakes go viral and you will obtain great user-generated content. Keep in mind, you will need to provide an alternate means of entry if you are requiring people to go to your store as part of the entry.
If you need additional idea for running a wedding sweepstakes, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We can provide the best plan while keeping your goals in mind.
