It has been said that “cash is King” and nowhere is this statement truer than in the context of promotions. Of the thousands of sweepstakes, contests and instant win games that are run every year, over half of them offer some form of cash prize. Cash attracts consumers to your brand, to take a closer look and create meaningful purchase consideration. But running a large cash promotion, something in excess of $50,000, means additional vigilance on the part of the sponsor and the administrator.

Cash has universal appeal which provides pros and cons. Whereas consumers entering a skill contest generally have an affinity to your brand, consumers entering a cash prize sweepstakes attracts everyone, including those solely interested in winning the prize. So when considering the use of a large cash prize, consider running a contest first. If a contest doesn’t fit with the promotion strategy then a sweepstakes or instant win game become other options. We prefer sweepstakes promotions over Instant win games when large amounts of cash prizes are involved. Although useful for creating immediacy, instant win games can be very tempting for savvy “gamers” whose only intent is to try and beat the system. In all cases the value of the cash prize should not overshadow or worse become a complete substitute for branding elements.

With large cash prizes the number one concern is going to be tampering. Creating multiple identities is the most common form for sweepstakes and instant win games. As an experienced administrator we’ve created some preventative measures as well as programmatic solutions to identify fraudulent game play. In all cases, take an extra step and create a thorough registration form including CAPTCHA that prevents auto populating data into forms. This makes it more difficult and discourages from creating multiple identities.

Tampering in a skill contest will most likely be in the form of fraudulent public voting. Actively monitor the data for oddities in vote counts. “Runaways,” entrants that far exceed the next closest contestant could be buying votes. If necessary, use social media listening tools to monitor these conversations.

When you have selected potential winners take additional measures to qualify them before declaring them final winners. This involves additional forensics into the entry data to uncover possible violations of the official rules. Criminal background checks are also recommended for anyone winning a prize in excess of $50,000 because of the visibility and interest participants will have in knowing who won. This will give you peace of mind by avoiding potential surprises about the character of the person you have declared the winner of your promotion.

Cash certainly has earned its place as the most sought after prize in promotion campaigns. If you are considering a large cash prize you have made a determination that you are looking for high visibility and participation. Extra vigilance in the structure and the monitoring of the promotion will ensure that your campaign achieves all the upside benefit and eliminates the potential concerns. Please contact us for addition information about how to ensure the success of your next large cash promotion.