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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4 Reasons to Run a Contest Now

By: Julie Link | In: Ask Sync Marketing, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Marketing, sweepstakes company, User Generated Content

The last 12 months have been unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. 2021 is the year for companies to give back to consumers more than ever before. One of the best ways to give back is through running contests. Today I will discuss 4 reasons to run a contest now. 

People want to feel connected

Now more than ever, people want to share their experiences as a way to connect. This is a great opportunity for brands to ask their customers to share their story for a chance to win something truly helpful to them. Crate and Barrel is currently asking engaged or recently married couples to share their story for a chance to win everything in their registry (up to $2,500). In addition, Crate and Barrel will make a $1,000 donation to Feeding America® on behalf of each couple.

Feel-Good Content

People are ready to start getting good news again! What better way than to run contests that help share good news and create positive change. Aerie is continuing their Changemakers initiative for a second year to celebrate consumers who are making a difference and reward them with the necessary funds to continue their work. 20 amazing applicants will win $20,000 towards their personal missions. This campaign spreads good vibes while celebrating the efforts of people making changes in their community.

Consumers are on their phones now more than ever

Since you already have a social team trying to drive awareness and followers, why not add a contest? It’s a win for you and a win for consumers.  A social contest is a great way to garner user-generated content and followers. With consumers on their phones now more than ever, having them upload content all while promoting your brand along the way is a no brainer. This also builds awareness for your brand, allows you to learn more about your consumer, and leaves them feeling seen and rewarded. As stated in outgrow.com, companies who run contests get an average of 17,500 new followers through a contest: 

Have some Fun

Did you see the Big Game this year? If so, you probably saw the commercial for Mountain Dew’s Major Melon Bottle Count contest. Viewers were asked to tweet out how many bottles of Mountain Dew appeared in the ad for a chance to win $1 million dollars. Within minutes, there were thousands of tweets. Not everyone has Pepsi’s budget, but you get the idea. Offering consumers a fun contest will get them excited, engaged and will leave them with a good taste in their mouth about your company or brand (pun intended). 

I hope these 4 reasons to run a contest now, were helpful. There are an assortments of ways to run a contest, and this year is the time. Let’s give back to our communities and let their voices be heard. Contact Sync today for help brainstorming your next campaign.

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Including Sweepstakes in Your 2021 Marketing Budget

By: Julie Link | In: Ask Sync, Ask Sync Marketing, Best Practices, User Generated Content

So, 2020 just happened…Let’s try to quickly put it behind us and begin planning for all the positives 2021 will hopefully bring. With more certainty of a better year ahead, marketers can now put more of their focus on finalizing a marketing plan and budget for the new year. Today I will discuss three reasons why including sweepstakes in your 2021 marketing budget is a good idea. 

1. Effective ROI

With a turbulent 2020 in the rear-view mirror, you should look forward to what will give you the best return on your investment in 2021. Low cost, high reward campaigns are a great starting point. Sweepstakes are known for being an affordable yet effective marketing strategy. Sweepstakes and contests allow you to engage with your consumers, obtain new email subscribers, and leave them both feeling appreciated. 

“… marketers might prioritize ROI over other metrics and avoid high-risk options. Flexibility is key, and it’s time to reevaluate your marketing budget so that it actually meets your company’s needs.” – Hope Horner from Business2Business

2. Social Reach

Running a social media sweepstakes or contest can greatly increase your follower base, create buzz and produce usable UGC. And in a year people are using social media platforms to connect now more than ever, it’s a simple and effective way to build your base and connect with those already in your base. In the article, 23 Mindblowing Statistic on Giveaways and Contests in 2020, Outgrow mentioned that 34% of new consumers are acquired through social contests and brands gain an average of 17,500 new followers through organizing these campaigns on their page. 

For 2021, I would recommend running social media campaigns where you ask your consumers to tell their story. People want to share and want to connect, so give them a platform to do so. If you’re still in need of ideas for what type of social media sweepstakes to run, check out this Sync article where we discuss the top 5 social media sweepstakes ideas to engage consumers.

3. Consumer Loyalty

There’s never been a better time to reward your loyal and dedicated consumers than after a year where a majority of people’s budgets were stretched thin. If they have stuck with you, now’s the time to give back. When running a sweepstakes or contest, we always recommend giving away many smaller prizes and a larger overarching grand prize. The large prize will attract consumers and the smaller prizes will give back to more people. In addition, for 2021 we highly recommend surprise and delight offers to every consumer who participates. This is the time to give back and thank your consumers for hanging in there with you. Here, Clickz discusses why customer marketing is important for 2021. 

While we could list many more reasons as to why including sweepstakes in your 2021 marketing budget is a good idea, we feel that after a crazy year, simple is better. Connection is key…so connect, listen, and give back to your consumers.

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5 Ways to Increase Email Subscribers with a Sweepstakes

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

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! 

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Running a Sweepstakes to Boost CRM and Loyalty

By: Julie Link | In: Instagram, User Generated Content

One of the major goals of running any sweepstakes is to collect information about consumers. What you do with this information as a brand or company can have varying results. CRM (Consumer Relationship Management) and loyalty take on different roles with respect to brand-customer relationships. In this article, we will speak to the benefits of running a sweepstakes to boost CRM and loyalty.

Before we get into the benefits of running a sweepstakes, it’s important to know what the difference is between CRM and loyalty. Ultimately, it comes down to the expectations set between the brand and the consumer with respect to the relationship. When a brand invites a consumer to join their loyalty program, they are asking them to do more, so customers expect more in return for their efforts.With a loyalty program, a brand is looking for customers to be a  fan of the brand and is products; is willing to provide the brand with personal information, and in return wants more exclusive interactions. Conversely, when a company invites a customer to sign up for CRM, they are simply asking for an email address and the customer is promised nothing more in return than receiving non-exclusive promotional emails. Here is a great article that outlines these differences in more detail.

The tween retailer, Justice, recently ran a sweepstakes to offer their Club Justice loyalty members a chance to win a VIP trip to LA to attend their annual Club Justice Awards. This promotion was offered not only to reward their consumers’ loyalty to their program but to drive new consumers to join the loyalty program. One of the stipulations of the sweepstakes was that entrants must be enrolled in the program at time of entry. Part of Justice’s loyalty program is they offer of great perks including the opportunity to win this exclusive prize. This is a good example of a brand running a sweepstakes to boost CRM and reward consumer loyalty.

In order to help your company maximize its CRM and loyalty efforts, it is important to have a clear understanding on these two distinct disciplines. Sync will layout a plan to utilize sweepstakes to boost CRM and loyalty, maximizing the best digital consumer experience and ROI. Contact us for your next CRM or loyalty promotion. https://www.syncmarketing.net/

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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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Solutions for Running Cost-Effective Sweepstakes

By: Jennifer French | In: Marketing, Sweepstakes, sweepstakes company, Turnkey Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

When running a sweepstakes, there are a lot of factors to consider. As you start to plan, think of your objectives, target audience, timing, and theme. A major factor that can determine the entire scope of the campaign is your budget. Many marketing teams have the fortune of having large supporting budgets to run their campaigns. Some on the other hand have limited budgets. Regardless, all are in search of running a quality campaign which achieves their goals. Below are a few suggestions for running cost-effective sweepstakes.

Social Media

One cost-effective sweepstakes idea would be to offer your method of entry on one of your social channels. This will require you to create a campaign hashtag to track your entries. It will also require that a full comprehensive set of official rules be created. The benefit of running social sweepstakes is that it can increase your social following and allow you to collect fun user-generated content. These types of sweepstakes however are not ideal for a brand who is only looking to increase their email database. This is because there is no personal data collected from the entrants.

Here is an example of a social sweepstakes that is currently running for REI. In this sweepstakes, they are asking entrants to take a photo of themselves enjoying the outdoors. In order to be eligible, entrants must use both #OptOutside and #Collegesweepstakes when uploading their photo on Instagram or Twitter. Here are some additional reasons to run a social sweepstakes.

Prize Provider

You may not have the actual funds to run a sweepstakes, but you may have plenty of compelling merchandise, travel elements, or services to trade with a company who is already planning to run a sweepstakes. Companies are often looking for a partner to provide the prizing. This allows them to save money, offer compelling giveaways, and it helps their sweepstakes. A lot of time, the prizing that you can offer is at cost so it is less of an investment for your company. In exchange for providing the prizing, the company can feature the merchandise you are providing along with your company logo and link to your website. You should also ask them to collect and provide email opt-ins on your behalf. In exchange, you can promote the sweepstakes on your social media channels and marketing pushes to help promote the sweepstakes. If you are looking to utilize the cost-effective sweepstakes idea of becoming a prize provider, contact Sync Marketing today. We can put you in touch with companies who are looking for this type of partnership.

TurnkeySweeps by Sync

If you are looking for a cost-effective sweepstakes option that is full-service, you should consider our TurnkeySweeps by Sync platform. These turnkey sweepstakes are an affordable solution that can launch within one week of receiving approval on creative. With TurnkeySweeps, not only will you receive programming, design, legal and prize fulfillment at a very competitive rate, our price also includes Sync’s personalized customer service and management. They are a low-cost solution that offers exceptional ROI. Here is some additional information about TurnkeySweeps by Sync.

We know that budget can be a concern for everyone who is considering a promotion. With that in mind, reach out to a team member at Sync Marketing who will be happy to discuss your options and provide pricing that will work for you.

Cost-Effective Sweepstakes

 

 

 

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Marketing to Millennials with a Sweepstakes

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

Marketing to millennials can be a challenge. They are currently the largest living generation and that’s a lot of people to target with many different personalities and habits. So, if you are a brand, how do you get their attention and stand out among all the messaging sent their way? Surprisingly, marketing to millennials with a sweepstakes or contest is an extremely effective method. Below I will break down a few reasons why this method works.

They Love to Share

Millennials love to share with anyone and everyone who will like, retweet or view their messaging. Whether it’s Instagramming a photo of their lunch, snapchatting a reunion with their best friend, or tweeting their opinion on the election, sharing is their impulse reaction. Why not take advantage of that constant need to share by inviting millennials to share their talents by snapchatting a video for their chance to win a prize.

Here’s an excerpt from an article on Marketingland.com on the subject:

“I didn’t expect that my daughter and her friends were looking for coupons but was a little surprised that they were willing to actively engage with the brand and even enter into a traditional sweepstakes (albeit via sharing a picture).” For the full article, click here. 

They Love to Engage

This is the next step that organically occurs after asking millennials to share. They in turn engage with your brand. When running a sweepstakes or contest, think about engaging with millennials rather than focusing on selling your product or service. Have your prospective customer tell a story with your hashtag. The more you engage with them by having them organically spread content about your brand, the better your content and relationship with that millennial will be. American Eagle’s latest #WeAllCan campaign is a great example of this.

They Love to Reach People

The natural step of sharing a photo on Instagram and an opinion on Twitter is to reach the masses. Prizing is an important component when running a sweepstakes geared towards millennials. Make sure that the prizing is something that will resonate with them. If your prize is an experience trip, have your winner share their experience through social media by using the campaign hashtag. Get them excited by telling them the winner’s experience on their trip will be featured on your social media channels. This is a great way to spark the interest of millennials. Knowing their experiences will be shared with thousands to millions of people is reason enough to enter for them.

If you’re interested in marketing to millennials with a sweepstakes, reach out to 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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Questions about Running a Successful Contest

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

So you’ve decided to add running a sweepstakes or contest to your marketing plans this year, but you are not really sure where to start or which one will work best for you to reach your goals. Below are a few questions about running a successful contest from fellow marketers.

What are the benefits of running a contest?

We are always upfront when someone comes to us who is considering running a contest. The truth is, in most cases, you will not receive as many entries as you would if you chose to run a sweepstakes. The reason being is that with a contest, you are typically asking people to complete an extra step beyond just filling out a simple entry form. When running a contest for example, you might ask people to upload a photo or video of themselves completing a particular outlined task, or to write an essay, or even name your new product. If you want to run a buzz-worthy campaign, make sure you are reaching your true customers and collect fun user-generated content, a contest is the way to go. A contest will provide you with much more QUALITY entries. Here is a helpful article touching on the differences between sweepstakes and contests.

Are there any legal parameters to consider when running a contest?

Yes, and they change frequently, especially on social media platforms. That is why we always recommend that you consult an expert like Sync Marketing, when putting together any contest or sweepstakes. One of the most crucial elements is to make sure that you clearly outline the contest criteria and judging parameters in the official rules.  Here is an article that was written to give advice for contest entrants that might help give you additional insight.

Does one contest theme attract more entries than another?

Theme is certainly one of the factors for consumers when deciding if they want to enter a contest. Although it isn’t the only thing that might pique their interest. You will almost guarantee that you will have a good amount of entries if the contest is offering a new or fun twist or has a “cool” factor, but we find that prizing is what really drives entries. If you offer a fun experiential prize, or something that the consumer can’t obtain on their own, they will take the extra steps to enter. Another great option is build a contest around a philanthropic cause that is close to your company’s heart. Here is a case study of a contest campaign that Walmart and some of its vendors partnered together to run to a contest to support the cause to fight world hunger.

If done right, contests are a fun way to create positive interaction with your consumers and possibly create some exciting buzz for your company online and beyond. If you have any additional questions about running a successful contest contact us today at 323-596-7962 or info@syncmarketing.net.

Sync Marketing – The Sweepstakes and Contest Experts

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