Is your company thinking of running a sweepstakes or contest for the first time? Here are some tips for sweepstakes success from the seasoned promotional marketing experts at Marden-Kane!
Do one thing well, not ten things poorly… focus on one type of promotion, ensure marketing messages clearly communicate the call to action, create an easy to enter means of entry, and promote participation to meet the established goals.
Beth, Account Executive
Keep it simple and don’t set your goals too high. Make sure the theme of your promotion is relevant to your audience.
Peggy, VP
Make sure the prizes are engaging and appropriate for your audience. If you are, for example, promoting an upcoming movie, try not to give out Home Depot gift certificates. A framed movie poster signed by the cast would be much more enticing.
Eric, Senior Programmer
Start with clear and realistic objectives so you can define the resources, tactics and budget that will be required to implement the promotion and support those objectives. Make sure that the tactics align with your objectives. Allow sufficient time for planning to make sure that the tactic(s) are legally compliant. Don’t forget that proper execution is a critical part of the process.
Rosemary, VP/GM of our Chicago Office
My advice would be to ask yourself these five “Who, What, Why, Where and When” questions.
Who is your target audience? To ensure success you should be able to define the age, demographics, and geographic locations of your customers or future customers you are trying to attract.
What is it you want to promote? Is it a product, brand, idea, service, campaign, or something else?
Why do you want to promote this? Do you want to increase purchase, introduce a new product, increase your data base, obtain exposure of your brand or service, or something else?
Where do you promote to reach your audience? You must be visible, so promote via one of the following platforms or a combination thereof: in-store, brand website, social media, mobile, text, email, articles in local publications, commercials, ads, press releases, event marketing, or word-of mouth.
When do you run the promotion and for how long? The timing of the promotion could coincide with a store opening, new product or service launch, holiday, special occasions, etc. Keep your promotion running for a period of 1 to 3 months; six weeks is ideal.
Once you have these questions answered you can be on your way to running your first successful promotion!
Fae, SVP
It is extremely important to know your target audience when running a promotion, that way you can create loyal customers. Whether you are attracting current customers or new customers, you want to establish a relationship with them to produce positive word of mouth.
Mariah, Promotion Coordinator
My advice is simple: to be sure that they partner with a company such as Marden-Kane who will provide guidance and expertise for execution of a successful promotion. When you use an independent judging organization, it takes the burden off the Sponsor to ensure that the promotion is legally compliant with federal and state lottery laws. It also helps to deter any consumer concerns of collusion especially pertaining to the drawing of winners. Sponsoring a Sweepstakes or any promotion should not be difficult and we are here to make your promotion a success!
Cheryl, Account Director
To contact Marden-Kane to help you on your first promotion, contact us!
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