Hosting a Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are great marketing tools that are beneficial for more than one business. Sweepstakes can be used to build awareness of a company, service or even a specific product. Often more than one company will team up to host a sweepstakes giveaway in order to reap the marketing benefits they offer. Usually one business will run the sweepstakes while another will opt to sponsor the event. Both businesses will receive prime advertising space on the giveaways promotional products and other custom products or promotional marketing for the sweepstakes.

Perhaps the reason sweepstakes are so popular among consumers is the fact that they offer them a chance to win a once in a lifetime opportunity. Whether it’s an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic location, they’ve always dreamed of seeing or a luxury car they’ve only wished they could one day own, sweepstakes allow one winner to take it all home (and literally sweep the stakes). Additionally, participants are not required to purchase anything to enter, as they would in a lottery, and they don’t have to prove themselves worthy of the grand prize by showcasing a skill, like they might have to in a contest. All consumers need to do is offer basic information which in turn becomes critical data for marketers and their partners. What seems like general information to the participants entering the sweepstakes is actually valuable data used by the hosting company to build mailing lists or collect statistics on consumer demographics.

Nowadays, most sweepstakes begin with signing up for an e mail program or other web marketing initiatives. Researchers say that nearly 41% of respondents will sign up for an e mail newsletter if a “chance to win” is used as the incentive. However, before implementing a sweepstakes you should do your research as there are federal and state laws that the host must abide by. For example, in New York and Florida if the prize value exceeds $5,000 you must register your sweepstakes with the state. You must also purchase bonds for the prize, which functions much like insurance. In Rhode Island, all sweepstakes must be registered, regardless of the value of the prize. Once the promotion ends, each state that requires you to register the giveaway must be provided a list of the winners.

All rules must clearly be stated on the promotional product or on the channel which contestants can sign up. Marketers must list the odds of winning. The actual odds depend on the amount of entries, however an estimate must be stated in the rules. All restrictions must also be listed, such as age, residency and the number of entries per household. While launching a sweepstakes can often be tedious, the marketing benefits are often worth the hassle. Sweepstakes can boost brand engagement, brand awareness, customer loyalty and customer acquisition. Of course you can always partner with a hosting company and let them do all the work for you. We will manage every aspect of your sweepstakes, including retrieving and uploading data, randomly selecting winners, notifying the winners and handling prize fulfillment. We can even set up an inbound and outbound call center campaign to supplement your sweepstakes. Whatever your sweepstakes needs, we are here to help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can ensure your sweepstakes is a winner.

Hosting a Sweepstakes was last modified: December 29th, 2014 by Kirsten
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