As I sit down to come up with ideas for this one I suddenly remembered how much I miss New Orleans. And that unless you have witnessed the French Quarter during Mardi Gras, you may not understand some of these. But trust me, anyone who has ever laissez le bon temps rouler at a parade will love to participate in one of these quick promotions.

And what does your brand have to do with Mardi Gras? Well, maybe nothing. But everyone likes to have fun. So have a little fun. Kick off your shoes and join the fais do-do.

1. Best costume, anyone?
Run an Instagram photo contest. Remind people to keep it clean! Mardi Gras is sort of a no-holds barred kind of thing. So ask people to add your hashtag and tag your brand on their Mardi Gras photos for a chance to enter. Give away your own product, or go all out and offer up a trip to next year’s celebration to the winner.

2. Virtual King Cake: Find the Baby Sweepstakes
A King Cake is a traditional party cake that is eaten in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. The cake is like a giant doughnut with purple, green and gold sugary icing, and there is a tiny plastic baby baked inside. Tradition says that if you get the piece with the baby you have to buy the next party cake.

Post a photo of a “hidden King Cake baby” somewhere on your site. Then post on your social media channels that people will need to find the King Cake baby photo on your site for a chance to win. Once they find the baby, they click on it you can either give everyone a small prize or coupon, or you can enter them in a Sweepstakes for a larger prize – you decide what you want to give away! This one requires some back end work with your web team to put into place, so plan accordingly, and don’t forget that simpler is always better!

3. Show Us Your Tat(too)s Sweepstakes
OK. Not even explaining this one. If you have experienced New Orleans you will understand. If not, you really should go. You will pass a good time!

On this one you will need a REALLY BIG DISCLAIMER in your call to action to keep it clean. Then ask people to follow your brand and send you photos of their best “tats” and the story behind them on Snapchat. You pick a winner at random. Winner gets a something along the lines of a gift certificate to a Tattoo Parlor. And you should increase your Snapchat following quickly! (Note: It will be interesting to see how long it takes before my boss gives me a talking to for this one….)

4. Share Me Something, Mister!
If the last ideas seem a bit too much, then this one might be a better fit. Mardi Gras parades are all about beads and doubloons (coins). You stand along the parade route and shout at the people on the floats to “throw me something, mister!” So try a Facebook timeline sweepstakes out by posting bead and coin photos of and asking people to like the posts for a chance to win.

5. Not in New Orleans? Create Your Own Mardi Gras Scavenger Hunt in your town!
Tweet clues to where your brand will be hosting an impromptu Mardi Gras party and give the first people that make it free swag and food. And drinks. Because it’s not Mardi Gras unless there are drinks.

And here is one last lagniappe (a little something extra) of an idea: Tweet your fans asking about if they celebrate Mardi Gras and how. Don’t say they will get anything – just ask the question. Then reward the people that posted the best answers with some free swag. Nothing like a little lagniappe to build your brand!

As always, pay close attention to the platform guidelines for promotions when executing any promotion, and make it legal! We can help you with any and all aspects of your sweepstakes — from rules to execution. Call or email us for help.

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Also check out our ideas on Easter Contests or St Patrick’s Day Sweepstakes!