One of the biggest problems we see with online sweepstakes and contest concepts is that they can get overcomplicated or are run on platforms that the target audience is not using. When that happens, people get confused and do not enter — or worse, start bad-mouthing your brand. It’s time to start creating contests and sweepstakes so easy anyone can enter.

As we like to say, don’t set the bar too high for entry or entrants will drop off. Here are four things to remember when planning your next sweepstakes or contest:

1. Keep it simple. Limit yourself to no more than two ways to enter, and for each of those keep the entry form quick and easy without asking for more information than you need. Don’t require people to enter on all your social channels, and like the brand on Instagram, and post a comment on Instagram, and send in a receipts, and make a video – you get the idea. The more you ask, the more confusing it gets, and people just won’t do it. Any one of those requirements would be good on its own, but piling together multiple things to gain an entry, or bonus entries, will discourage your potential customers while allowing sweepstakers (people who enter sweepstakes for a living or as a hobby) an advantage.
2. Stick to one primary goal or objective. While you might want every entrant to also follow your brand on all of your social channels, comment, like your posts, sign up for email, sign up for text messaging, and add a review of your product when they enter, making them do all of that is too much. Decide what the most important objective is (brand building, getting email opt-ins, getting mobile opt-ins, gaining new followers on a particular social channel, getting user generated content, etc.) and then make that the focus of the promotion. That will make it easier to target your call to action in your creative and copy, which will make the message clear.
3. Make sure your target is comfortable on the platform you are using for entry. Don’t ask anyone older than 30 to use Snapchat. Or for those who aren’t on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram to use those channels. Know the demographics of your audience. Do your research. And make the call to action something they are already familiar with.
4. Include an Alternate Means of Entry (AMOE). It’s important legally to not require purchase for entry into a sweepstakes. Always make sure that any entry method that requires purchase also lets people have an equal chance of entering just as many times without purchase.

Don’t give people a reason to complain by not doing the above. If you do, people will post on your social channels and flood your customer service department, wasting people’s time and making your promotion a flop.

Still aren’t sure if your promotion is intuitive enough to get the number of entries you are expecting? Ask someone who is NOT tech savvy, like your grandma, to enter. If she can’t do it without asking a lot of questions, then you need to back to the drawing board to simplify the entry process.

If you get stuck call us. We can help you determine ways to simplify your promotion, and how high you should set the bar.

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