- Increasing traffic to your store or Web site
- Researching the market and collecting information about customer preferences
- Generating longer-term enthusiasm about your company that will translate to more sales.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Decide what you are trying to accomplish
Do you want to get people interested in your product? Do you want to get them into the store or increase Web traffic? Do you want to increase sales? And, what message does the theme convey to contest participants? How will a contest or sweepstakes tie into your marketing and advertising strategy?I recommend: Motivation Show and HomeBizWomen.com have advice on setting some of these high-level goals.
Set up the structure
Figure out what kind of contest it will be; you can do a random drawing or have a set number of winners for each prize category, for instance. Determine the prize or prizes, establish a timeline, think about your target audience, develop the rules and pick an entry method.I recommend: Peachpit has a host of suggestions for structuring a contest or sweepstakes.
Know the law
There are many state and federal regulations dictating how companies can engage in these kinds of promotional activities. In particular, don't solicit a payment for entering the contest – that makes it a lottery and only federal and state governments can run those.I recommend: Santella & Associates offers an in-depth perspective about the legal issues you may encounter. An overview of some of the differences between a lottery and a sweepstakes can be found in Oz Magazine.
Run it from your PC
Software can organize an entire contest or sweepstakes campaign for you.I recommend: enectSweeps is a do-it-yourself, Web-based tool that lets you manage an email list and promotional site for your contest while watching the audience results in real-time. You pay the vendor ten cents for each sweepstakes response
Hire a pro
Specialized firms can take on all the marketing and operation of your contest.I recommend: Try Marketing Resources and Extra Mile.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Avoid launching your contest in the holiday and vacation seasons when your target audience will likely be too distracted.
- Use your own products or services as a prize to better your chances of attracting potential customers.
the Sweepstakes and Contests page at Business.com
Kiosks for Sweepstakes and Contests
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Contest Kiosks | Sweepstakes Kiosk
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Contest Kiosks | Sweepstakes Kiosk
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