I’m continuing this week with the zombie theme that I started with last week’s post titled “Celebrate Halloween with these two zombie inspired promotions”. This new campaign from PostNet aims to help small businesses survive the zombie apocalypse and ties into the very popular TV series, “Walking Dead” that just premiered its 6th season on Sunday.
PostNet is a franchise corporation with locations throughout the U.S. that offer small and medium size business services such as printing, shipping, marketing, graphic design and wide array of other services. They position themselves as a nurturing partner for all marketing, printing and shipping needs and ensure that whatever business challenges may come about, they’ll provide personalized solutions.
As part of this campaign, PostNet created a series of videos on BeatZombies.com, their promotional website, that warns people of the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse and explains how PostNet can partner with business to help them survive and thrive through this.
They also developed a couple of tools that can be downloaded from the website, the Small Business Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide and the Zombie Classification guide. Each offers tips on how to thrive in any situation and how to identify the “walking dead”.
There is an entry form on the website that invites small business owners to enter the Zombie Apocalypse sweepstakes for a chance to join a coalition to fight the undead. One Grand Prize winner will win a trip to London to battle the zombies. Participants also may gain one additional entry for sharing on Facebook and one additional entry for sharing on Twitter.
The prize package includes round trip airfare for winner and a guest, 7 nights hotel accommodations, tickets and transportation to attend a Zombie Apocalypse event taking place in Leicester, UK, the week of February 14, 2016, along with $1,000 cash to help cover other expenses.
Here’s some metrics PostNet shared with us on how the campaign has done during its first 12 days:
MICRO-SITE Unique Visitors: 18,092
Sweepstakes Entries: 5,991
Video Views: 1,087
Facebook Shares of Sweepstakes (using plug-in on Microsite): 686
Twitter Shares of Sweepstakes (using plug-in on Microsite: 999
Online Printing Center Button Clicks: 200
SOCIAL MEDIA (aggregated Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram)
Total Impressions: 21,421
Total Engagements: 492
New Fans: 20
This is a very different campaign for PostNet since their target audience is small to medium size business owners. However so far they are very impressed with how well it is doing so far. All of us Walking Dead fans can definitely relate, and it appears that the small business owners can as well!
Just in time for Halloween, Bawls Guarana has partnered with Paramount Pictures in anticipation of the upcoming theatrical release of “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse“. The movie will be out on October 30 which is about three Boy Scouts who join forces with a tough cocktail waitress to save their once-peaceful town from an all-out, zombie invasion.
For those not familiar with Bawls Guarana, they are an energy drink manufactured here in the United States who have a pretty dedicated fan base. I know since my daughter collected the bottles during her high school days and made a pyramid out of them in her bedroom. They collected dust for a number of years before we recycled them!
We are administering a sweepstakes for them that ties into the movie. To enter participates just need to visit the Bawls Guarana Facebook Page and click on the link to open up the entry form page. The Sweepstakes is accepting entries up until October 25.
One Grand Prize winner will receive a BAWLS Guarana/“Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” movie prize package that includes 2 cases of BAWLS Guarana along with 20 reward codes each valid for a certificate to see the movie. It also includes a year’s supply of BAWLS Guarana and a BAWLS Swag Pack that includes a sweat shirt, t-shirt, Coozies, backpack, key chain, mints and stickers.
They also are awarding one First Place prize winner four cases of BAWLS Guarana and four reward codes each valid for a certificate to see the movie. Ten Runner-up Prize winners will also each receive two movie reward codes and one case of BAWLS Guarana.
Another Halloween inspired promotion we are administering through our sister company, Alliance Sweepstakes, is for Colonial Williamsburg and their Haunted Colonial House Contest. Colonial Williamsburg is known as one of the “most haunted places in America”. So for the first time ever, they are allowing one lucky person. along with their family or friends, to spend Halloween night in one of their haunted Colonial Houses.
Participants are invited to click on their Facebook post and upload a photo of their favorite Halloween costume into the comments. They have until October 9. Then the Sponsor’s judges will select the top 5 finalists based on creativity, originality, inspiration and quality and post their album for viewers to vote on their favorite. Here are a few old photos of costumes (back from the ’80) that they posted on their blog to help inspire people.
Now historians have been unable to track down the original owners of the house, mainly due to wars and fires that occurred between the 18th century and today. Without records of who lived there, they also haven’t been able to identify the apparition that has been spotted in the house several times. The ghost is described as a woman in a dark, full dress sitting in a rocking chair on the lower level of the cottage. She appears to be observing what’s going on around her. Other times, while she isn’t spotted, the rocking chair itself will start rocking…. back-and-forth. You can read more about the history of this house on their Making History Now blog.
The winner will be announced on October 25 and has to be available to stay in Colonial Williamsburg on Halloween night. In addition to lodging accommodations for a party of four, each guest will receive an all-access pass to their Haunting on DoG Street as well as a $75 gift card to use toward dinner, souvenirs, and haunted carriage rides. They’ll also have the option to get professional zombie make-up done for the night and some super cool skeleton mugs! What fun!
Quite often we get asked whether or not “Official Rules” are need for a specific promotion. Some clients and prospects think that it’s only a small “giveaway” and it doesn’t include a major prize, so why not?
Recently I was asked this question from a long-time client and when I reviewed what they wanted to do, it was quite complicated. It didn’t offer a major prize, but it did include two different ways to enter, on Facebook and Instagram, along with photo upload.
So the answer is always yes. Whether you are planning to run a sweepstakes (giveaway) or a contest, there are rules and regulations that you must follow in order to be compliant. Therefore you need to have a set of Official Rules that outlines the promotion and is your contract with the public.
Back in June I wrote this post that reviewed the differences between sweepstakes and contests and what the major objectives are for running either of them. To summarize, sweepstakes are a game of chance where the winners are normally randomly chosen. Contests on the other hand are a game of skill and participants usually are invited to submit some content (photo, video, essay, etc.). A panel of judges then chooses the winners based on criteria that are defined in the official rules.
Also you need to know that any promotion that contains all of these three elements: Prize, Chance and Consideration (Purchase, Payment or Time) is an “Illegal Lottery” in the U.S. The Time element is the grayest area of all these. If you are planing to run a promotion that does include Consideration, then you must allow an alternate means of entry (AMOE). Most social media promotions do not usually require consideration. However, writing about a product or taking a photo or video of the product in order to enter may be consideration.
For example, if the participant can take a photo of themselves with a product in a store, then a purchase would not be required. Or for example, if you’re asking them to take a photo of themselves with a pair of shoes “out and about the town” that would most likely require purchasing the shoes and therefore, Consideration. There is a fine line between the two. Another example is asking participants to take a photo while taking a bite of a doughnut or sipping a drink. They can’t return the doughnut or the drink then, so wouldn’t that require purchase? You need to ask if the participant can effectively compete without actually making a purchase.
Also a very popular trend on social media is inviting participants to earn extra entries by performing different tasks and challenges on various platforms. Not only do you need to follow the guidelines of each social media platform, you also need to keep in mind the degree of effort that you are asking participants to perform to gain an entry. So how much time is too much and what can you really require? The Supreme Court did rule that watching a 30 minute TV show wasn’t too much time, so that’s a guideline to follow. But keep in mind that while awarding bonus entries for sharing/referring may not likely fall under consideration, it may be against Federal CAN/SPAM regulations.
Another thing to keep in mind is the FTC’s Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines. They recently published a list of Q&A’s that state that when it comes to sweepstakes and contests, any incentive, no matter how minimal, such as an entry for making a post on social media sites, may be an endorsement. Thus it requires a disclosure. The use of the promotion title alone is not adequate, and they are encouraging including #Contest or #Sweepstakes or #Entry or a similar designation in a hashtag. The recent updated Q&A’s now states that using #sweeps as the hashtag is not enough and instead it should be #sweepstakes.
Another rising trend today on social media is running a sweepstakes or contest utilizing only a hashtag with no entry form. Entrants may be invited to post a tweet on Twitter or upload a photo on Twitter or Instagram utilizing a promotional hashtag. Many marketers like these types of promotions since it creates buzz and makes it easy for entrants. However, hashtag entries do not collect data on the entrants since there is no entry form to fill out. Data collection is the number one reason why marketers run sweepstakes and contests. Without collecting data this also can make it more difficult to contact winners. There are however, applications that you can utilize that include both such as what was discussed in this post.
So it all comes back to what your main objectives are for running a promotion. You need to consider what the risks may be and also be realistic in what you are asking participants to do. Most of all, be sure to cover yourself and your company by running a successful and legally compliant promotion that includes a set of Official Rules.
We’re already seeing some “Pink” promotions as we get closer to October. This year we are working with the YSC, Young Survival Coalition, a national organization that supports young women facing breast cancer.
They just launched the YSC “We Can Survive Concert” Sweepstakes that will award a trip for two to attend the “We Can Survive” concert taking place in the Hollywood Bowl on October 24. This will be the third annual concert put on by CBS Radio. The concert will feature live performances by Maroon 5, Sam Smith, The Weeknd, Calvin Harris, 5 Seconds of Summer, Demi Lovato, and Nick Jonas. The last two shows were sold out.
“In just its third year, WE CAN SURVIVE is widely recognized as a must play event for today’s biggest artists,” said Chris Oliviero, Executive Vice President of Programming, CBS RADIO. “The line-up gets bigger and better every year with hit performances, talked about collaborations, and surprise guests. Fans can expect all that and more this time around.”
In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for every ticket sold, $2 will benefit the Young Survival Coalition. This year Oakley is sponsoring the sweepstakes and covering the cost of the grand prize. The trip includes two round-trip economy airfare tickets, a two night hotel stay along with two tickets to the We Can Survive concert. Women who were diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 40 can enter the sweepstakes up until October 7. They have to visit the YSC website and answer a few short questions regarding their diagnosis.
CBS Radio is also giving away some tickets to the concert along with a trip to Los Angeles through their website Radio.com and through select CBS RADIO stations.
My mother, unfortunately, did not survive breast cancer, although she was diagnosed at one time as “cancer free”. While she was not a young woman when she was first diagnosed, she did leave us way too young. So in honor of my mom and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am very grateful to help support this cause and promote this event.
Today’s post was written by Alex Ditty, Client Operations Manager at SEEN. You can read more posts written by Alex on their blog.
Contests and sweepstakes are smart and effective ways to engage your community and promote your brand. At SEEN, there have been hundreds of brands across a wide variety of industries who have used our campaign management platform for these types of promotions.
Because of this experience, we’re commonly asked whether it’s better to have participants enter simply by sharing with a hashtag or if the brand should also include an entry form for participants to complete. In short, our answer is always, “it depends”. It depends on the goals of the contest and what you’re hoping to gain. This is a topic that has been written about on this blog before, and we’ll go into more detail on the differences and benefits of running a contest or sweepstakes with hashtag sharing versus requiring completion of an entry form to help you plan your next social media campaign.
Entry FormBenefits
Requiring completion of an entry form gives you the ability to gain more information from the participants. This benefits you in three important ways. The first is simply the ability to get in touch with the participants in order to send the winners their prizes. When you’re unable to collect contact information you’re limited to social messaging to try and get in touch with the winners, which may not yield positive results.
Along with contacting the winners, the second benefit is that you can also gain the ability to contact all of the participants in future marketing campaigns. When they provide you with contact information and opt into your email marketing, then you’re able to use the promotion as a lead generation tool. Additionally, this process can help unify your customer’s identities by creating a link between their email address and social profiles.
The third and often the most overlooked benefit is the opportunity to gain important learning. With an entry form you can have your participants share important data with you such as location and demographic information. This new touch point can help impact other marketing initiatives by gaining a better understanding of who your customers are and how you can connect with them.
With the Registration Tool in the SEEN Campaign Manager, participants verify their social accounts and enter their contact information to confirm their participation in the campaign and to link their social and email identities to your marketing.
Entry Form Drawbacks
Though you’re gaining more useful information with an entry form, you’re also slightly complicating the entry process for your participants. By adding in this additional step for participation, you may limit the involvement from your community. It is possible for this to act as a filtering mechanism to determine who is really interested in your brand, however it may also restrict the overall number of people that participate. Before implementing a mandatory entry form, consider the potential barrier that this can create and how it may affect participation.
Hashtag Sharing Benefits When you’re launching a social media sweepstakes or contest, an easy way that you can get people involved is simply by encouraging them to share with a promotion-specific hashtag. This will most often result in higher participation numbers than those that require an entry form. This ease of entry is one of the biggest benefits, and the additional social sharing that the hashtag provides can also help you increase the reach of the promotion. Participation is likely to be the most important success metric in your campaign and hashtag entries can give you confidence that you’ll have a high participation rate with its simplicity to enter.
Hashtag Sharing Drawbacks
Hashtag entry will gain you a lot more campaign entries and likely lead to higher participation rates, however ir misses out on the vital learning and marketing benefits that entry forms provide. When you simplify the entry process, you take away opportunities for the participants to also share vital information with you that can strengthen your relationship with them. When planning a contest or sweepstakes based solely on hashtag sharing, ask yourself if participation or data collection is the more important success metric for your goals.
So, which of these entry types is best for you next promotion? Well, that depends on your marketing goals. The first step is to determine your goals are and with those in mind, you can properly implement either of these participation options. Some brands don’t have the luxury of building entry forms for each of their contests, which makes hashtag entry the only option. Fortunately, there are tools like the SEEN Campaign Manager where you can easily implement either or both of these options with no development work.
Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of each participation option, we’ve designed our campaigns to simplify the process for both the social media managers and the participants. For the manager, launching a hashtag based promotion and turning on custom entry forms are very easily done with a click of a button. And when registration forms are implemented, participants are still converting at over 40% in the average SEEN-powered contest. These kinds of results help you take advantage of both worlds to maximize the ROI of your social media campaigns.
NOTE: You can read Donna’s blog post that will be posted later today here on the SEEN blog. Feel free to contact us if you’d like more information on utilizing the SEEN Campaign Manager.
I watched the much anticipated quarterfinal of the U.S. Open between Serena Williams vs. her older sister Venus last night. Serena is now only two wins away from a Grand Slam after a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win over Venus. We got to witness some high-quality tennis from both athletes, with Venus not going down without a fight.
It was the 14th anniversary of the sisters’ first-ever meeting at the U.S. Open. I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must be all these year’s competing against your own sister. Serena was quoted as saying that she has to concentrate on playing the ball and not the person. A victory for Serena this weekend would be the 22nd Grand Slam win of her career, tying her with Steffi Graf for the most wins in the Open era.
American Express is a longstanding sponsor of the US Open Tennis Championships. This year they launched a new experience to help bring the excitement of the US Open into midtown Manhattan in addition to on-site promotions at Flushing Meadows in Queens. The US Open Live at Rockefeller Center began on Saturday, August 30 and ran till Sunday, September 7. This area between 50th and 51st street was transformed into a center court with stadium seating, a Jumbotron screen where fans enjoyed broadcasts of each day’s games, concessions and a number of other “fun for the fans” activities — all free and open to the public.
“The US Open is a premier event that people around the world look forward to and this year more tennis fans, New Yorkers and American Express Cardmembers can enjoy the experience,” said Nancy Smith, Vice President Global Media and Sponsorship, American Express.
In conjunction with its US Open Live at Rockefeller Center, American Express also ran the “From Rockefeller Center to Flushing Meadows” Sweepstakes. A daily drawing was held that enabled a Cardmember a chance to win a pair of courtside-level tickets to that evening’s matches. The prize package also included limousine transportation to the USTA National Tennis Center and a Be My Guest Card for complimentary dining. Additional pairs of tickets were also awarded. Cardmembers were able to enter the drawing from 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. daily at the guest information booth.
Good luck to Serena. We’ll all be watching this weekend and cheering you on. It’s an exciting weekend in sports…US Open Finals, first week of the NFL season and the boys of September are fighting to make the playoffs.
Collecting user data if the number one reason that marketing folks run sweepstakes and contests. Most of these types of promotions use an online entry form that includes a variety of fields entrants must fill out in exchange for a chance to win. Once marketers have someone’s email address, or mobile phone number, they can then add that person to a list and begin a dialog. As long as you provide a way for that person to unsubscribe in the future you are good.
When we create a promotional micro-site or a Facebook tab page we mainly do this by using the Shortstack application. I’ve written here on this blog about many different promotions that we have created with this app. When building these sites we normally recommend the required fields on an entry page to include the entrant’s first and last name, email address, mailing address and phone number, along with a check box that states that they have read and agree to the Official Rules.
So you need to decide what data you want to collect and what data you need in order to make your promotion run smoothly. A mailing address is definitely needed if you have secondary prizes with low value which then enables you to just ship out these prizes to the winners. A phone number comes in very handy when we are trying to contact a winner to notify them that they are a potential winner. When using just an email address you run the chances of ending up in someone’s spam folder, or just getting deleted. And if you’re building your mobile list, then of course you would ask for their mobile phone number.
The team at Shortstack recently published some findings from the many sweepstakes and contests that have been created utilizing their application regarding the types of data that is collected. They analyzed a database of nearly 1 million promotion forms that brands from around the world have created. I found their findings interesting and pretty much in line with the data collection we recommend. They also listed some key insights that they gathered from these findings. None of these insights surprised me, but it’s always good to have the documentation to back it up. To view the entire article with the findings and insights visit Shortstack’s website here.
A rising trend in the industry is running a sweepstakes or contest on social media utilizing a hashtag. Entrants may be invited to post a tweet on Twitter or upload a photo on Twitter or Instagram utilizing the promotional hashtag. Many marketers like these types of promotions since it creates buzz and makes it easy for entrants. However, they do not collect data on the entrants since there is no entry form to fill out. It also can make it a little more difficult to contact winners. So it all depends on what your main objectives are for running the promotion.
In summary, Shortstack concludes that marketers continue to run sweepstakes and contests and promote them on their social media channels. This allows them to gather valuable data about their audience. Email addresses are still the most important data that they collect. Also, Facebook has become less critical for brands when running these types of promotions. In addition to utilizing Facebook less, successful sweepstakes and contests are giving away prizes that are high value and relevant to their audience. Thanks Shortstack for the information.
I have two dogs, and two cats, I’ve spoken at or attended most all of the BlogPaws Social Media Conferences and one of my daughters is in veterinary school. Therefore, those that know me and/or follow this blog are aware that I’m a big pet lover. So I came across this pet-related promotion this week that I thought I’d share. I’m going to work on entering for the fun of it.
The promotion is from pet food company, The Honest Kitchen, who is looking for the year’s “most honest pets.” Their Honest Pet Contest is inviting people to upload a photo of their pet with a confession caption from now till September 14. Participant’s can enter on their promotional website, honestpetcalendar.com , on Twitter or Instagram using the #HonestPetsContest hashtag or on Facebook by uploading it to the promotional comment on the Honest Kitchen’s Facebook page.
There are no limit to the amount of entries, so there will most likely be many. I’ve posted a couple of my favorite entries. The public is invited to vote for their favorite on the website and can only vote on a submission once during the entire contest.
At the end of the contest five finalists will be selected as “Fan Favorites” based on which entries received the most votes. Out of the five finalists, the Sponsor will select one Grand Prize winner who will receive a pet friendly weekend getaway and be featured in The Honest Kitchen’s 2016 Pet Calendar. All five (5) finalists will receive Honest Kitchen products.
This Grand Prize winner will be based upon the quality of the content submitted and how well it fits the brand. The Grand Prize winner’s trip package to a getaway pet resort for two people and their pet includes round trip airfare to San Diego (including a pet fee) along with 3 day/2 night hotel accommodations at the superior, pet-friendly US Grant Hotel, up to $600 in spending cash and drinks with The Honest Kitchen team at Mission Brewery in downtown San Diego and an a tour of the Honest Kitchen office. The Grand Prize if valued at $3,500.
Also each entrant will receive free food samples and coupons from the Honest Kitchen, so even more reasons to enter. Plus I just learned that today, August 26, is National Dog Day! So treat your dog(s) to something special today. They bring so much love and joy into our lives!
A new mobile-optimized game and sweepstakes from the folks at Chipotle Mexican Grill is currently running called the “Friend or Faux Sweepstakes”. It not only provides entrants with a chance to win free Chipotle for a year, but also gives each entrant a Buy-One-Get-One (“BOGO”) coupon for a free Chipotle item value up to $10. This coupon is being delivered to the mobile number that the entrant provided when they initially registered for the Sweepstakes.
So here’s how it works. From now till August 31, people are in the contiguous 48 states, 13 years of age or older are asked to visit the Chipotle Friend or Faux website at: http://chipotle.com/friendorfaux.
There they are invited to participate in the Friend or Faux comparison quiz. The quiz is an educational game that highlights the differences between Chipotle’s ingredients and those commonly used by other fast food brands. Entrants must compare and match 20 ingredients by pinpointing which item contains each ingredient.
“There’s been a lot of talk recently about fast food companies removing artificial ingredients from their food, but most of these announcements cover only a portion of the thousands of additives used in processed foods,” explained Mark Crumpacker, Chief Creative and Development Officer at Chipotle. “Through ‘Friend or Faux,’ we are giving consumers an entertaining way to contrast the collective beauty of Chipotle’s food with the complex ingredient lists that make up many fast food and packaged food items.”
After playing the game, the Entrants are then asked to provide their name and mobile phone number. They will then also have the opportunity to opt-in to receive further mobile text communications from the Sponsor.
Chipotle is also offering an online alternate method of entry for those that wish to enter without taking the comparison quiz. They have provided this additional link http://chipotlesweeps.hit2c.com/friendorfaux that takes them to a standard online entry form.
All Entrants have the opportunity to receive an additional entry into the Sweepstakes if they Tweet about the Sweepstakes via Twitter by using the hashtag #friendorfauxsweepstakes or by sharing the Sweepstakes link via Facebook. A maximum total of 2 entries per person is allowed.
At the end of the sweepstakes 50 Grand Prize winners will receive one year of “Free Burritos for You and a Friend” and 100 first prize winners with a “Catering Party for 20″. Total value of all prizes $91,000.
The mobile game including the BOGO coupon offer is being handled by a company called Vibes Media, LLC. They are also in charge of doing the random drawings for the 50 grand prize and 100 first prize winners. We are currently discussing ways to partner up with Vibes Media in order to offer our clients these types of mobile gaming options to add to our capabilities. Studies have shown that people enjoy playing games on their mobile phones, so it is a trend that we expect to see much more of in the coming year.
More and more companies today are asking people to take a “selfie” and post it to their social media accounts in order to enter a sweepstakes or contest for a chance to win. The word “Selfie” and the art of taking a photo of yourself has become extremely popular all over the world and across every generation.
I just came back from a trip visiting several European cities and I never saw so many people taking selfies. It was quite annoying at times with many people blocking views of what you may have been trying to take a photo of. Of course, many marketers have been getting involved.
Here’s a local sweepstakes we currently are administering for the Rio Grande Valley Hyundai Dealers in Texas titled “Take Me Away”. If you are a current resident of Texas, 18 years of age or older, you are invited to take a selfie of yourself with a new Hyundai vehicle at one of the local dealerships and post it to your Instagram account. Participants are instructed to using both of these promotional hashtags, #Hyundaivaca and #Sweepstakes, along with the dealership name.
One lucky Grand Prize winner will be selected in a random drawing at the conclusion of the sweepstakes which ends on August 23. The winner will receive an Orlando Theme Park Vacation package for themselves and up to 3 guests that includes round trip airfare to Orlando, FL, 3-night hotel accommodations, a food allowance and tickets to Walt Disney World Orlando theme parks. The trip is valued at $5,000.
So if you’re in Texas, you better get your selfie taken in front of a Hyundai soon to enter. Please don’t risk your own safety by taking a selfie in the middle of the street. No one wants to admit that they were taking a selfie when they ended up in the hospital. After some of the selfies that I saw being taken while in Europe, I wouldn’t doubt that this could actually happen.
As part of this campaign, PostNet created a series of videos on BeatZombies.com, their promotional website, that warns people of the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse and explains how PostNet can partner with business to help them survive and thrive through this.
They also developed a couple of tools that can be downloaded from the website, the Small Business Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide and the Zombie Classification guide. Each offers tips on how to thrive in any situation and how to identify the “walking dead”.
