Sweepstakes Vs. Contests: How to Use Them for Your Marketing Efforts

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Sweepstakes Vs. Contests: How to Use Them for Your Marketing Efforts

There is a wide variety of making promotions employed by marketing professionals to increase brand reach and awareness. However, the term “promotion” is so broad that you can fit almost any marketing tactic within its realm of boundaries, including Contests, Sweepstakes, Instant Win Games, Loyalty Programs, or Continuity Programs. Among those mentioned, Sweepstakes and Contests are the most popular choices. Sweepstakes refer to any game of chance that relies solely on the consumer’s luck, while contests are games of skill where contestants get to fight for a winning spot using hard work and talent. 

The Differences Between Sweepstakes and Contests

The most significant difference between the two is the selection of winners. For contests, judges who are experts in the industry of the contest genre pick the winners. For example, with an art contest, the judges would need to have some background in criticizing art. However, sometimes, contest winners are chosen by public vote—or whoever gets the most exposure wins. 

Contests are also a great marketing tactic because they are essentially free marketing for the company for contestants to actively market themselves to the public. Sweepstakes winners are different because marketers use random selection tactics either through traditional methods like draw lots or modern approaches like electronic randomizers. 

Companies typically use sweepstakes to grow their customer database because they’re relatively easier to execute and plan. The mechanics are super easy for contestants to join. Everyone interested should willingly give their personal information like name, address, and contact details to receive a chance to win a prize. Remember that not everyone can join, however, because the law requires all contestants to be of legal age to gain access to sweepstakes.

Everything About Sweepstakes

Smart marketing involves the use of opt-in pages to receive consent from consumers to market promotions to them via email marketing. With that said, the benefits of online sweepstakes do not just stop when the event ends. You can freely send email promotions to consumers as long as they stay subscribed to your newsletter. 

Another benefit of sweepstakes is the hype that it brings to consumers. When people get excited about winning a prize, they mindlessly share the opportunity with their loved ones too. When this happens, you can expect at least a portion of their family and friends to join your sweepstakes to try their luck in winning the prize. 

Everything About Contests

Contests are a battle of skills, talents, and hard work. Since contestants invest more time and effort to win a prize, they’re more interested in your brand, which imprints on their minds subconsciously. However, you need to be extremely careful when organizing the contest you want to create. Each contest offers a different kind of benefit, which can either be helpful or worthless for your business. 

The secret is to determine your business goals for the contest. If you clearly define your goals, you can quickly formulate and strategize your next steps with ease. If you’re having a hard time, ask yourself, “What are the objectives that I want to achieve for this promotion?” to help you establish your goals. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending money on a marketing promotion that does not support your brand growth. 

Are you in need of help with sweepstakes management or contest administration services in Boston, MA? Reach out to us today to see how our promo contest managers can help you.

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