Hosting a trade show sweepstakes offers an opportunity for you to not only get to know your existing B2B customers better, but reach a targeted audience of potential customers.

But what about the “no purchase required” sweepstakes rule? Not to worry. We’ve got a solution! Here is how to conduct a trade show sweepstakes at a trade show that requires an admission fee.

Why Offer a Sweepstakes At a Trade Show?

Before you launch a sweepstakes at a trade show, you should know you’ll automatically have a shot at a great ROI on your campaign due to the nature of this type of event. A trade show sweepstakes can help you to:

1. Reach a Motivated Audience

Most people who attend industry trade shows do so because they are on the lookout for something that they need in their business. Most want to find out about what is new and innovative or speak with experts one-on-one about problems that they are facing in their companies.

For you, this means that you will have direct access to an audience that wants to hear from you and can potentially benefit from your product or service.

2. Make Sales

Trade shows can be very lucrative when it comes to sales. By offering a sweepstakes, you give potential customers a reason to visit your booth, allowing you to advertise deals and discounts and lock in new business.

Trade shows are one of the rare opportunities to reach both existing and potential clients in person. A sweepstakes can help you to effortlessly tap into both audiences.

3. Find Valuable Partners

Offering a sweepstakes at a trade show not only gives you a way to connect customers, it also creates opportunities for you to connect with a variety of companies within complementary industries. A sweepstakes gives you a chance to find partners for further promotions and establish relationships that could improve your business and lead to further success.

How to Get Around the “No Purchase Necessary” Rule

If you know anything about sweepstakes law, you know that companies are required to have a “no purchase necessary” rule as a part of their sweepstakes official rules. So if trade show attendees have to pay to get into the trade show before they enter your sweepstakes, how can you make sure that your sweepstakes is legal?

The secret? Offer an alternate method of entry (AMOE).

The AMOE is a web form that anyone can go to in order to enter into your sweepstakes. While you provide a separate sweepstakes entry method to ticket holders for the event, the web form will serve as the means of entry to allow non-ticket holders to enter.

Limit Promotion of Your Trade Show Sweepstakes to These Marketing Channels

Now that you know how to launch a trade show sweepstakes, make sure that you limit your advertising of the trade-directed sweepstakes to channels that will likely be seen by the trade show attendees only, including the trade show’s website and social media pages.

In this way, you can make sure that your pool of sweepstakes entrants is limited to the professionals that will actually attend the trade show.

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

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Trade-directed sweepstakes do not need to be registered. If you’re planning to run a sweepstakes at an upcoming industry event, such as a trade show, business expo, seminar or conference that is only open to business professionals from your industry, then you do not need to register your sweepstakes.

Not Available to the General Public

A trade show sweepstakes, industry event sweepstakes, business expo sweepstakes or summit sweepstakes is a promotion that is not made available to the general public. Most sweepstakes laws regarding registration are in place to ensure that promotions open to the general public have been vetted by the state.

When a promotion is not open to the public, then these sweepstakes registration rules do not apply.

How to Ensure Your Trade-directed Sweepstakes Is Legal?

Although registration and bonding sweepstakes rules don’t apply to industry event sweepstakes, you are still required to follow all federal and state sweepstakes laws. That means your sweepstakes still needs to have Official Rules and Abbreviated Rules, as well as, a “no purchase required” clause.

If the there is a fee to attend the event or seminar, a free method of entry must be offered for all professionals that wish to participate in the sweepstakes but not in the event. All Sweepstakes must be “No Purchase Required”.

As Sweepstakes Administrators we can help create Official Rules for your promotion.

Limit Eligibility to Event Attendees

To ensure that it’s clear that your sweepstakes is not open to the general public, be detailed in your sweepstakes rules eligibility requirements. You must clearly define what an eligible entrant means in your sweepstakes rules that identifies them as not a member of the general public.

For example, you can require that the entrant be a member of a trade organization. You can also require that they purchase (and can provide proof) a seat or pass to attend the event as an industry professional.

Restrict Sweepstakes Entries to During the Event

Another way to ensure that only eligible entrants participate in your business expo or seminar sweepstakes is to limit the acceptance of entries to during the event itself. You can have participants submit entries via SMS and web form during the hours of the event.

Then once the event has ended, sweepstakes entries will no longer be accepted.

Why Should You Run a Trade-directed Sweepstakes?

Conference sweepstakes are a great way to get your B2B clients excited about your brand. If done correctly, they can bring you referral business and even boost your customer lifetime value (CLV) from clients who are already doing business with your company. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to draw in more business with a trade-directed sweepstakes!

Sweeppea is a full-service sweepstakes management company. Call 305-505-5393 or email us with your questions.

The post Do Trade-directed Sweepstakes Need to Be Registered? appeared first on Sweeppea Blog.