Shortstack Archives - American Sweepstakes

Entrants are invited to upload a photo showing how much they enjoy tomatoes for a chance to win in the NatureSweet Spring Sweepstakes

NatureSweet Tomatoes just kicked off their second sweepstakes that they are running this year with us. They are a new client that we will be working with throughout 2018. The NatureSweet Spring Sweepstakes is offering the chance for three grand prize winners to each receive a Yeti ® Cooler Prize Pack which has a value of $500.

NatureSweet is inviting people to enter online by visiting NatureSweetSweeps.com, filling out the form and submitting a photo that shows them, their friends, or their family enjoying tomatoes. Entrants also have the option of posting their photo to their Instagram account first and then including the Instagram URL address of the posted photo in the proper field on the entry form. The sweepstakes runs till May 21 when we will then conduct the random drawing to determine the three lucky winners.

We are again using the Shortstack Application to build the entry form and collect all the entrant’s data and the photos. All of Shortstack’s entry pages are mobile friendly from the start with Shortstack’s “One Campaign for any screen” design philosophy. They added some new features to the platform last year that make adding CSS coding very easy for those of us that don’t have much programming experience. If you would like more details on how to set up a promotion utilizing the Shortstack platform, please feel free to contact me. It’s a great tool and it also includes a great support team. We will soon be using the application to create a campaign that allows for hashtag entries and pulls in the posted photos from either Instagram or Twitter. So look for that post soon.

NatureSweet started off the year with their Snacking for the Big Game Sweepstakes which coincided with the NFL’s kickoff of the road to the Super Bowl They are promoting this new sweepstakes similar to their first sweepstakes, in various grocery stores with point of sale pieces that match the graphic above.

Since this Spring Sweepstakes just launched this week we don’t see any photos posted yet. We’ve given our client’s team accessibility to the campaign so that they can approve or disapprove the photo to be posted on the site. I recall my very first photo upload sweepstakes about 8 years ago that we did which didn’t have this capability where photos were automatically posted. You would not believe what some people posted. So no inappropriate photos with tomatoes will be seen here!

Toyota invites people to share a photo of their favorite running spot in their Rock Your Run Sweepstakes

Another promotion that I worked on right before I left on my trip to Italy was the Toyota Rock Your Run Sweepstakes. We’ve been working through REACH, one of Toyota’s experiential marketing agencies, for about the past five years. Earlier this year they came to us for assistance for the Toyota Rock ‘N Roll Marathon Sweepstakes which is a year-long promotion which started in March and runs till the end of March, 2018. This is in conjunction with 21 Rock ‘N Roll Marathon Expos that are taking place across the country.

This is Toyota’s 3rd year as the official vehicle sponsor of the Rock ’N’ Roll Marathon Series. Inspired by the pulse of music and the energy of the run, Toyota’s theme this year is ROCK YOUR RUN. Runners and their supporters can find Toyota’s footprint at the indoor, 2-day Health & Fitness EXPO and again at the Finish Line Festival. During the 3 days, Toyota offers fun games and plays upbeat music, giving out complimentary gifts like a USB fan that attaches to your phone to cool you off and cinch bags with race course that are silkscreened live on-site. Plenty to offer all those involved in the Rock ’N’ Roll Marathon Series.

Toyota will also have various vehicles on display at these Expos and attendees will be invited to perform at least three different activities with one of the vehicles to gain an entry. Each Expo awards one winner a prize package valued at $300 which includes a pair of Brooks shoes along with some Toyota and Rock N’ Roll Marathon brand swag.

The next Expo is taking place in San Jose, CA, Oct. 6-9 and all are free to attend and open to the public. Each Expo is associated with the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon Series races taking place in the same city. These races started in 1998 as a marathon with bands along the course celebrating each participant. The entertainment has made it a music festival weekend that define the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series experience. However, the fact that runners have raised more than $310 million for participating charities demonstrates how it has become so much more. This year the series is celebrating 20 Years Running. Toyota is just one of the many partners such as United Airlines, Michelob, Garmin and others.

The Rock Your Run Sweepstakes is just running in the month of September. Hilary Van Messel, Senior Project Manager at REACH stated “The goal for this promotion was simple: develop a purpose driven contest surrounding a relatable question in order to spark a response from and encourage the Rock ’N’ Roll Marathon Facebook community.” The sweepstakes is being promoted on various online social channels. Thursday afternoon the official Rock ‘N Roll Marathon Facebook page posted this on their page which helped to boost entries:

TIME IS RUNNING OUT, ENTER HERE https://rockyourruncontest.pgtb.me/QdhSst FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN. Where is your favorite place to run? Toyota USA invites you to submit a photo of your favorite running destination, trail or path for your chance to win a Toyota Rock Your Run Prize Pack! One photo will be randomly chosen at the end of the month! Good luck and Rock Your Run!

For this sweepstakes we are again utilizing the Shortstack application in which we build the entry form and collect all the entrant’s data along with their photos. I was able to give the Reach team direct access so that they could view the entries and photos in real time. All of Shortstack’s entry pages are mobile friendly from the start with Shortstack’s “One Campaign for any screen” design philosophy. Recently they have added some new features to the platform that make adding CSS coding very easy for those of us that don’t have much programming experience. If you would like more details on how to set up a promotion utilizing the Shortstack platform, please feel free to contact me. It’s a great tool and it also includes a great team of support people.

There are some great photos that people have shared with their entries and we’re hoping to get many more before the month is out. The prize pack is worth $450. So please check out the sweeps and if you like to run, share your photo.

Instagram Mother’s Day Giveaway and a Celebrate Mum contest

This Sunday, May 14, is Mother’s Day. The Internet has been full of ads and emails with many gift suggestions for mom. Seems like everyone, retailers, brands, restaurants, all have a way on how best to celebrate the moms in our lives. It appears that they are using every media channel available, and social media has been playing a bigger role each year.

We’re assisting with the sweepstakes administration for a Mother’s Day sweepstakes that is available on Instagram. This year we started working with a company called American International Industries (AII Beauty). You probably wouldn’t recognize their name because they are more commonly known by their over 60 different beauty and skin care brands. These brands include Andrea, Ardell, Body Drench, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, ibd, ‘N Rage, ProLinc, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Tres Flores, and Youthair to name a few. They run many sweepstakes each month for their brands, most all of them on the different Instagram pages of each brand.

Yesterday the Tan Gorgeous Mother’s Day Giveaway Sweepstakes started with promotes both their Ardell Lashes and their Body Drench brands. Fans are invited to enter via the Instagram pages of either @ardell_lashes or @bodydrench. They must follow both @ardell lalshes and @bodydrench and like the Sweepstakes promotional post on each page. They must also share the post on @bodydrench and comment on the post on @ardell_lashes in response to the question: What’s your favorite memory with your mom? Each completed task on each page will receive one entry into the Sweepstakes.

One winner from each Instagram page will each receive one Tan Gorgeous Collection valued at $75 and a $100 worth of Ardell Lashes.

The team at ShortStack sent us a copy of this Mother’s Day promotion that was done for a company called The Good Guys. Shortstack is the platform that we use to create online entry pages for some of our client’s sweepstakes and contests. This #CelebrateMum contest asks participants to nominate their mom or a mother-figure who inspires them to win a grand prize worth over $1,500.

The contest also asks them to chose one of three charities – Miracle Babies Foundation, McGrath Foundation, and Ngala – to win a cash prize. The charity who gets the most votes will receive $1,000, and the other two will each receive $500. They feature a ‘Learn More’ button below each charity to help participants decide which one to vote for.

Four years ago on Mother’s Day I spent the day with both my daughters attending the graduation of our youngest daughter, Alex, from the University of Buffalo. This year I will spend the weekend after Mother’s Day with both of them again and we’ll be attending the graduation ceremony for Alex who has now graduated from the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine which is located in St. Kitts. The ceremony will be held at the University of Miami. We are all so proud of her. She is now working as a Veterinarian at Ruth Helen Wolf Animal Hospital in Libertyville, IL, just outside of Chicago.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms.

Pet Costume Contests are the buzz this Halloween

We’ve been seeing quite a variety of Halloween contests and sweepstakes running this year. Pet costume contests are especially popular and we’ve been helping one of our clients with one.

The folks at Boot Barn, America’s largest Western and Work Wear store, is running the Halloween Giddy Up Contest. Folks are invited to submit a photo of their pet in a costume by tomorrow, October 27th. Their entries will be judged on creativity and originality of the photo they submitted. A grand prize winner will receive a $200 Boot Barn Gift Card and two first place winners will each receive a $50 Boot Barn Gift Card.

In case you’re not sure how to dress up your pet, the team at ShortStack sent us a copy of this fun Halloween promotion that was done for a company called Supreme Source which is running on their Facebook page. Shortstack is the platform that we use to create entry pages on Facebook and online for some of our client’s sweepstakes and contests.

Supreme Source created the Halloween Dog Costume Generator that helps doggie parents choose a Halloween costume for their pups. Once the costume suggestion is revealed, the campaign allows users to share their results on Facebook with their friends and gives users a link to some fun and easy do-it-yourself dog costumes. Plus, when you take the quiz you’re entered in a drawing to win one of three Supreme Source® Prize Pack!

Here’s some interesting news that I just received from Talkwalker, an international social media analytics firm. When it comes to Halloween costumes this year, Talkwalker is reporting that social media is telling us that Donald Trump (9,006 mentions in the past 30 days) is the winner over Hillary Clinton (5,297).

However, the costumes generating the most buzz over the past 30 days are robbery victim Kim Kardashian (11,488 mentions), red sweater debate superstar Ken Bone (6,973) and the Joker’s sidekick, Supervillian Harley Quinn (5,644). During that same period in 2015, the top costumes included Batman (2,835 mentions), Donald Trump (1,773) with Hillary Clinton not even appearing in the top 25 mentions.

So whatever you and your pet decide to dress up for this Halloween, I wish you a fun holiday!

What types of user data are being collected the most from sweepstakes & contests

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.

Menchie’s Sweet Summer Getaway kicks off the summer promotions

Say hello to summer with Frozen Yogurt! To help celebrate the first full week of summer here’s a new sweepstakes from Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt that we helped launch. Their “Sweet Summer Giveaway” sweepstakes offers the chance to win a 7-day Caribbean cruise for up to four people courtesy of Princess Cruises.

From now up till July 31 Menchie’s customers will automatically receive one entry into the Sweepstakes when they use their registered Menchie’s loyalty card at any Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt store. Those that don’t have a card are invited to stop in any location and register for their My Smileage club. Participants can also enter online at a promotional micro-site and off the the Menchie’s Facebook page.

Menchie’s has locations in 37 states in the U.S.. as well as D.C., and many in Canada as well. Last summer Menchie’s partnered with Hershey on the Hershey’s Experience Sweepstakes to help promote their new Chocolate Glazed Toffee Bar flavor. The prize last year was a family vacation to Hershey’s Chocolate World and Hershey Park Attractions. This year instead they are partnering with Princess Cruises and providing them with some added exposure.

The sweepstakes is being promoted within Menchie’s locations with posters and other point-of-sale and on their social media sites. We set up the Sweepstakes entry pages for Menchie’s and again are using the Shortstack Application. Shortstack first started out as a Facebook application, but last year they broaden the capabilities of their platform and you can now not only install the app on a Facebook tab page, but you can also embed the entry form on any webpage or host online as a separate promotional micro-site which we are doing here. Both entry forms are utilizing the same graphics and all entries go into one database. Therefore this allows for only one entry per day, per person’s email address regardless of what method they entered from.

All entry pages are mobile friendly from the start with Shortstack’s “One Campaign for any screen” design philosophy. If you would like more details on how to set up a promotion utilizing the Shortstack platform, please feel free to contact me. It’s a great tool and it also includes a great team of support people.

Enjoy the summer and come back here to read about some more popular summertime promotions. Don’t forget to enjoy some frozen yogurt and ice cream. My favorite flavor has always been pistachio!

Gain valuable customer insights by offering sweepstakes

Sweepstakes promotions help to build and grow your customer database, as well as to drive excitement around your brand, which are great reasons for running these types of promotions. However, sweepstakes can offer so many more marketing opportunities.

One important goal you can achieve with a sweepstakes promotion is to gather consumer insights. You can use this promotional tool as an opportunity to get to know your customers and prospective customers, their preferences and how they may interact with your products or brand. One of our clients, Kiss Nail Products, is doing this right now with their Dream Vacation Sweepstakes.

Kiss Nail Products recently launched this sweepstakes and are running it on their website and Facebook Page.They are running this promotion for the second time in which they are including a brief survey in the entry form. There are a total of five simple questions on the entry form. First they are asking what age group and ethnic background the participant is from. Then they ask product specific questions such as “Do you use at-home artificial nail products? and if so please select which types you use from the below choices”. If the answer is yes, then the participant proceeds to answer the next two questions.

This sweepstakes if running through June 30. Once it ends we will draw one Grand Prize Winner who will receive a $5,000 Delta Vacations Gift card that they can use to book their dream vacation anywhere that Delta Airlines flies to (which is worldwide). We have recommended using Delta Vacations gift cards in the past as an easy way to give the winner flexibility on where, when, and with whom they want to travel.

As with the Zaxby’s That’s A Fact Zax Sweepstakes that I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago, we are also hosting and managing the entry form for this Dream Vacation Sweepstakes. So again we are using my favorite app for this, Shortstack. The app allowed us to install the promotion to a tab on the Kiss Nail Products Facebook page and also allowed me to provide the client with a code to embed the form directly on their webiste. Shortstack offers both these along with hosting it online on a separate micro site that the sponsor can link to.

Kiss Nails has already over 3,000 entries into the sweepstakes and it appears that the majority are answering the optional survey questions. So it may be time to consider running a sweepstakes for more reasons then just to drive traffic. Explore ways that you could integrate a sweepstakes promotion into your other marketing initiatives and turn it into a valuable marketing tool. We would be glad to discuss your needs and ideas to help make this happen.