There’s a lot to love about sweepstakes and contests. Not only do they attract loyal fans to your brand, they also bring in leads and sales. But what about entrants? How do sweepstakes and contests make them feel?

Here are the top things that entrants love about sweepstakes and contests.

The Build Up

The best sweepstakes campaigns keep entrants fully engaged from start to finish. From the viral advertising that attracts people to enter to the announcement of the winner, entrants never know what’s going to happen next.

Even if an entrant doesn’t win the grand prize, the best sweepstakes campaigns surprise non-winners with something special, such as a deal or discount just for participating.

Gives People Something Cool to Share

It’s actually quite rare for someone to enter a sweepstakes or contest and not share it with their friends and family members. Sometimes this is done because the entrants can gain additional sweepstakes entries by sharing the campaign.

On the other hand, as a sweepstakes company we have learned that people also like sweepstakes and contests because it gives them something cool to share online. Plus, they can enter from virtually anywhere (SMS, web, social media) so sweepstakes are also simple and convenient to share in the moment.

Pro Tip: If you want to increase the shareability of your sweepstakes campaign, make sure that you choose sweepstakes prizes that will really wow your audience.

Customers Get a Chance to Talk to You Directly

Brands always ask customers to leave feedback and reviews. However, many don’t because it’s either too time-consuming for them to do or they don’t feel that it would really make a difference other way.

However, with a sweepstakes or contest, your customers have a direct access line to you. They want to be able to share ideas for new features or changes to your products and services.

If you make someone available on social media to manage incoming messages and questions about your sweepstakes promotion, you just may find that there are at least a few customer concerns amid the sea of entrants that should be addressed.

The Prize

Last, but not least, the prize is one of the top things that entrants love about sweepstakes and contests. Whether the prize is life-altering like a $100,000 check or a limited edition action figure from their favorite movie, the prize is always meaningful to winners and non-winners alike.

It’s Fun

At the end of the day, sweepstakes and contests are all about having fun! Whether entrants love watching the sweepstakes promotion in its entirety as it unfolds or simply want to see if they’ve won a prize or not, keeping them entertained all the way is a surefire way to attract the audience that you want to target.

Need help with sweepstakes or contest management? Call 305-505-5393 or email us with your questions.

The post Here’s What Entrants Love About Sweepstakes and Contests appeared first on Sweeppea Blog.

It’s tempting to run sweepstakes and contests more often because they provide a ready list of leads. However, the ability to surprise your customers with awesome prizes is what makes them work.

As as sweepstakes company, the reality is that deciding to run a promotion will depend on a number of factors. Here is how often you should run sweepstakes or contest.

Do You Have Sufficient Resources?

While there is no standard answer for how often you should run a sweepstakes or contest, your decision will largely depend on the resources that are available to you. If you can afford to give away prizes of the same caliber on a regular basis then you might be able to handle running a sweepstakes on a weekly or monthly basis.

How Often Do Other Companies Run Sweepstakes and Contests?

Large companies that sell consumer products in stores across the country might run only a couple of sweepstakes a year if it involves in-store promotions. This is because an in-store promotion requires a significant amount of setup, including the organization of product displays and employee participation.

On the other hand, if the promotion is online only, a company may run a sweepstakes as often as once a month. An online-only sweepstakes or contest is generally only advertised in digital marketing channels, requiring significantly less coordination on the brand’s part.

It’s also a lot cheaper to reach customers since you’ll likely tap into an existing social media audience to find entrants. Online-only sweepstakes also tend to have smaller prizes which makes it easier to do prize delivery to multiple winners. 

What Are Other Brand’s Doing?

Deciding whether to run a sweepstakes or contest or also a matter of choosing to do so when you’re not in competition with other brands for the same sweepstakes or contest entrants. If you notice that another brand in your industry runs contests frequently, opting for bigger and better promotions infrequently might be a better choice.

On the other hand, if you notice that the competition never offers giveaways, then those users are ready and waiting for your brand to share an awesome promotion that they’ll be more than willing to participate in.

Here’s How Often to Run a Sweepstakes or Contest

Keep in mind though that if it happens too often, customers will stop paying attention. A sweepstakes or contest is really only valuable because of its scarcity. 

At Sweeppea, we have a lot of data on promotions run by our clients. After reviewing how entrants interact with promotions over time, we generally recommend twice a year if in-store promotion of the sweepstakes or contest is involved. If a sweepstakes or contest will not require in-store promotion, we recommend launching one once a quarter, if mostly online.

By following these rules, we think that it will help you to keep up an air of exclusivity when it comes to your promotions. At the same time, your customers will remember that you do give away free stuff on occasion!

Need help with sweepstakes or contest management? Call 305-505-5393 or email us with your questions.

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With the rise of social media in recent years, sweepstakes and contests have increasingly become an important tool for brands looking to engage their customers and raise awareness about their products and services.

If you haven’t run this type of promotion before, you may not realize just how effective they actually are (hint: VERY!).

Here are the top reasons why you should include sweepstakes and contests in your marketing plan.

1. Contests Build Your Fan Base

Whether you are starting fresh with a brand new Facebook Page or already have one for your brand, contests and sweepstakes are a proven way to increase the number of likes and fans for your page.

In fact, some of our clients have gone from as few as 50 likes to more than 10,000 in a matter of days or weeks when running a sweepstakes.

Why?

The low barrier to entry for contests and sweepstakes promoted via social media makes it easy for people to share and participate in this type of promotion.

2. Contests Help You Engage Your Audience

In addition to improving brand awareness, a contest or sweepstakes actually increases your audience’s connection to your brand.

By running a sweepstakes or contest that features user-generated content, such as a video or photo contest, you naturally tap into people’s desire to share their lives and compete against others.

If participants choose to upload their own personal content for your promotion, then they have proven that they are genuinely interested in your brand and its values.

3. Contents Help You Gather Data About Your Customers

The chance to win a prize is why your audience is willing to share personal information. By asking your audience to answer questions related to your promotion and brand at signup (i.e. how they heard about your promotion, what do they like the most about your brand), you can learn exactly who your audience is and what they want from your brand.

In addition to the data collection process, the conversation that your promotion generates about your brand will provide even deeper insights. So make sure that you’re listening.

4. Viral Contests Save Advertising Spend

With your fans spreading the word about your contest or sweepstakes for you, it means that there is a chance for your promotion to go viral. As a result, contests actually save you money when it comes to advertising because it means less money that you’ll have to shell out directly to reach your audience.

Contests and sweepstakes are often shared very quickly so you are likely to see multiples of traffic for every single share that your promotion receives as a result of the participants sharing it with their friends.

The Bottom Line

With so many benefits for your brand, contests and sweepstakes should absolutely be a part of your marketing plan.

However, before you launch a contest or sweepstakes, make sure that you familiarize yourself with the legal requirements first. Ensure that your promotion is legal and comply with all terms and conditions of the social media platforms that you use to promote it.

Need help with sweepstakes or contest management? Call 305-505-5393 or email us with your questions.

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