It's a remarkably simple concept; current and potential customers answer a few questions that provide precise marketing data and in exchange, the person has a chance to win everything from an Ipod, a new car, free merchandise or even cash. Running a sweepstakes online is a fun, hip way to tackle critical issues in customer service, sales, marketing and product development.
If you've never considered using a sweepstakes as part of your marketing strategy, here are seven ways a sweepstakes can help your business:
1. Increase traffic to your web site ? Promoting a sweepstakes is a great way to get more people to visit your web site. Post your sweepstakes in targeted forums and sweepstakes b-boards with a link to your site and watch your traffic jump.
2. Build prospect lists ? When a prospect signs up to enter your sweepstakes make sure you ask for his or her email address not only as a way to contact the winner, but also as a means to build your prospect lists for remarketing. Just make sure you ask for permission to contact them again by providing a box on the entry form to be either checked (or unchecked) indicating his or her desire to receive future promotional emails.
3. Strengthen customer relationships ? Giving your customers an exclusive opportunity to win a sweepstakes giveaway or special offer shows you value their business. If you're in the services industry, offering a discount on the next service purchased is always appreciated.
4. Collect marketing research data ? Increase your response rate for your survey by offering a sweepstakes as an incentive to get feedback before rolling out a new product, logo or Web design. Just think how valuable it would be to learn the consideration for purchase or price elasticity before your product hits the market!
5. Reveal Customer Preferences ? Your customers are your greatest source of knowledge when it comes to new product ideas or service needs. So, consider offering them an incentive for their ideas with a short survey that automatically enters them into a sweepstakes. They'll respond with hopes of winning the sweepstakes and you'll be rewarded with a steady supply of fresh ideas.
6. Motivate employees ? Inject a little fun in the workplace. You don't have to spend a lot of money on a sweepstakes for your employees, yet it can be an effective way to boost moral and improve operations. For example, you could raffle off a no-strings-attached vacation day for the lucky winner or, use a sweepstakes as an enticement to receive suggestions for an internal problem.
7. Build buzz around new product launch ? How do you get people talking about your new product? Press coverage and magazine articles are standard forms of buzz generation, but the Internet enables an additional viral marketing capability. Post a sweepstakes for your company with the winner receiving your new product or service for free. An online sweepstakes can reach hundreds of thousands of people just from one posting on a sweepstakes portal. Imagine what can happen if you post your new product sweepstakes on 5, 10, 15 targeted portals.
Online Sweepstakes: Tips to help you win more. A growing number of people participate in online sweepstakes and many are winning prizes everyday. For new sweepers it can seems hard to find the secret on how to win. The Prize Scouts at one of the largest sweepstakes communities ? prizetune has made this guide to help you win more. Enter The Small Ones. It's natural to skip over the events with smaller prizes and go for the big ones. However, since they get fewer entries, the odds of winning the events with small prizes are better. A smaller prize might not be as appealing, but you'll probably have a better chance of winning it.
Enter The Hard Ones. Some events require you to ?jump through hoops? to enter. You may have to complete a survey, answer questions, or perform some other activity. Once again, fewer people will enter these types of events giving you much better odds. A few of the ?hard ones? will also allow you to mail in your entries without performing any of their online tasks.
Only Enter The Ones You Really Want. Keep in mind that sweepstakes winnings are taxable income. Don't enter an event unless you are prepared to pay taxes on the prize. Many people are so anxious for a win, that they enter sweepstakes with prizes that they don't really want. Instead, sweep smart by skipping the ones you don't truly care about winning, and focusing on the ones you do.
Follow The Rules. Be careful not to exceed an event's entry limit. If an event is restricted to one entry per day, and you enter it twice in the same day, you could be disqualified from the entire event. In fact, entering more often than an event allows is the main reason people get disqualified from winning. To make sure you are not disqualified, wait at least 24 hours between daily entries. Some event sponsors and their judging agencies are very strict. They will disqualify you for any failure to follow their rules.
Be Aware Of What Happens To The Information You Submit. Many event sponsors keep your entry information confidential, but many do not. In fact, some events are created solely to generate mailing lists. If you are not interested in receiving mailings, keep your eyes open for any opt-out information each event may provide. Usually you will have the option to exclude yourself from mailing lists when you enter an event, but with others you can only remove yourself later. If you are concerned about receiving unsolicited e-mail, you may want to consider setting up a second ?throw away? e-mail account. This way you can help isolate your primary e-mail account from unwanted mailings. If your internet provider only gives you one e-mail account, they probably offer additional accounts for a small fee. There are also plenty of places online where you can set up an e-mailbox at no charge.
Getting a free e-mail account through any of these services is quick and easy. Many of them also allow you to filter out unwanted messages.
Don't be afraid to pick up a pencil once in a while! Online entry is popular because it's so easy. There are no stamps or envelopes to worry about. But some events that allow only one on-line entry will allow multiple mail-in entries. This can give you a big advantage over everyone else who enters online only once. Check their official rules to see which events allow multiple mail-ins.
Get started with online sweepstakes. Now you just have to locate sweepstakes to enter. A good place to start is at the Sweepstakes Community ? http://www.prizetune.com or http://www.sweepswire.com they has thousands of prizes listed with prize values of more than $13,995,490.00. If you want to speed up your entries you can use a service like http://www.fastsweeper.com where you can enter hundreds of sweepstakes every day with a single click. Good luck?
Both A. Weitzel & Allan Watson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
A. Weitzel has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Desktop. April Weitzel is a recognized eMarketing expert. She has an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and has held critical marketing positions at fortune 500 companies as well as privately held organizations. She is currently the Director of Marketing for. A. Weitzel's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.
Allan Watson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Desktop, computers and the internet. Allan is an professional sweeper. Besides being an "> Support Specialist , Allan has participated in. Allan Watson's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.