With the seamless integration of mobile QR codes into our system, it becomes really simple to attract entrants right when they’re interacting with your brand.

Retail businesses can benefit from contests in four ways:

• Lead Generation – attracting new potential clients
• Conversion – converting those potential clients into customers
• Repeat Sales – engaging with those customers and encouraging them to come back as often as possible
• Brand Loyalty  - transforming your one time customers into ambassadors of your brand.

It is the challenge contest. The name of the game is to set challenges for your entrants. They must search or do something to obtain a code to complete a challenge. For each challenge they complete, the more points they will get. Each point counts as an entry into the contest, hence the more chances to win.

How Does It Work?

Step 1 – Enter

Step 2 – Create Account Password

Step 3 – View And Complete Your Challenges

Challenges can be anything from:

• Answering a question
• Entering a code shown after watching a video or movie
• Entering text on a particular page of your website
• Entering text on an offline marketing piece
• (The options are vast)

Step 4 – View The Scoreboard

This is a simple overview of the challenge contest. We are currently working on upgrading and adding more features to this system.

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below, email, Facebook or Twitter.

1. Decide Your Contest’s Purpose

You need to focus on a contest type that will bring you the goal you are after. It is always best to focus on 1 particular goal even if what you do will boost multiple aspects.

• Higher Brand Engagement
• New Followers
• Viral Spread / Brand Recognition

2. Choose Your Contest Type

Depending on your contests focus you can pick from the following contests

Low Engagement – High Response (Low Barrier To Entry)

1. Sweepstakes (enter for a chance)

2. Sweepstakes with answering a question

Medium Engagement – Medium Response

1. Voting Contests

a. Photo

b. Answering A Question

High Engagement – Low Response (High Barrier To Entry)

1. Video Contest

a. Voting

2. Challenge Contest (multiple tasks to gain points to enter)

3. A Worthwhile Prize

It is common to see many competition and sweepstakes today and hence people are unlikely to enter unless they are very interested in the prize. This applies even more as the barrier to entry increases, depending on your contest type.

I would recommend these as a minimum but they may change in each industry.

    1. Prize Value

1. Low Barrier To Entry – $500+ prize

2. Medium Barrier To Entry – $1,000+ prize

3. High Barrier To Entry – $5,000+ prize

    2. Multiple Prizes

Everyone wants to feel like they have a decent chance to win. Multiple prizes give people more chances to win something and hence give the prospective entrant the mindset that they have a decent chance of winning at least something.

    3. State Prize Values

While I mentioned the prize values above, it is always essential to state the value of the prize package and each individual prize. You should also list the values at recommended retail price, even if you managed to get them cheaper or were sponsored. People can then readily see the value and if significant can increase entry rates.

    4. Sell The Prize

I would always recommend having a prize as something established and well-recognized such as an iPad. If you are an established brand then your products come with credibility. If you are small business and people have not yet tried your product or had friends recommend the product then you will need to sell it. This goes even more so for services as people tend to view people offering their time as a prize as something cheap they are giving away and they have no idea on the actual value.

1. You need to display high quality compelling pictures

2. Use testimonials

3. If the prize is a service then show examples of your work

4. Create compelling marketing copy

4. Establish Trust

With the mass usage of Social Media by businesses, credible and not, people look closely at who they will give their personal details to. To enhance the trust, add these factors to your contest:

1. Show your company name and identification number

2. Ensure your website address is listed

3. Social proof. Help and encourage people talk about the contest. The more people talking about the contest, the greater trust it will receive. This can be done on your Facebook page or Twitter.

4. Professionally designed theme and graphics

5. Broadcasting

Once your contest is up and running, beautifully presented and would entice anyone who came across it to sign-up, you still need to get it in front of eyeballs. Unless you have a substantial following on Facebook, Twitter and/or other platforms you may want to also implement these strategies:

1. Facebook PPC

2. Joint Ventures. Create a joint prize and have all sponsor’s who donated a prize share it with their lists as well.

3. Ask your friends

4. Advertising on niche sites

5. Asking others to refer to their networks if you have an established relationship with them already

6. Offline advertising, using QR codes or a url to your entry page.

6. Are You Legal?

Contests are a closely watched and regulated sector of most countries. To make matters even trickier, it varies from state to state and country to country. You can read up more on Contest / Sweepstakes Laws And Policies.

These legalities are more than just being Facebook compliant or adhering to the platform you are hosting your contest on.

7. Following Up Is CRUCIAL!

Running a contest to gain followers or increase engagement can lead to a few extra sales but unless you have a strategy to engage with your new leads or more engaged following you are missing out on the biggest opportunity of a contest.

1. Talk to your entrants during the contest with updates, build some excitement by releasing a few surprises during the contest such as additional prizes or more ways you can win. You can even have multiple close times for prizes, so people are winning prizes while the contest is still running.

2. Try to help or offer tips and information to your entrants and show them your expertise and willingness to help and engage

3. Ensure you give the opportunity to allow further communication after the contest is over, such as joining your Facebook page, following your Twitter account or subscribing to your newsletter. You may even have these as a requirement upon entering the contest.

For the sake of simplicity, the term promotion will be used to describe sweepstakes and contests.

1. Who Governs My Promotion Policies?

You are bound by the laws of the country your business is operating in and by US and Australian laws to an extent. The reason you are also governed by US and Australian laws is due to the fact Binkd is a company located in Australia but also has servers operating in the United States of America.

As a business you must abide by your own local laws, yet because you are running on this platform you may be required to abide by US and/or Australian contest laws due to the location of our business and servers.

2. Can I Require Payment For Entry To My Promotion?

In most countries around the world, including Australia and the US you are not allowed to accept payment for entry unless you have a permit and are not classified as a sweepstakes. This differs with each state but requiring payment for a chance to win based on luck is classified as gambling and hence it is not permitted on this platform.

Due to the possible legal implications, no payment or purchase of a product or service must be required to enter a promotion on this platform as stated in our terms and conditions.

3. What Is The Difference Between A Sweepstakes, Contest And A Lottery?

A sweepstakes is a competition run purely based on luck. The winner will be drawn randomly out of all the entries.

A contest requires some level of skill such as answering a question or entering a recipe. The winner is drawn on skill and not luck.

A lottery by definitions of the US government contains 3 elements.

1. Prizes

2. Winner chosen by chance

3. Consideration (a reasonable amount of time or effort to enter the promotion, purchasing a product or service or paying money)

Lotteries are heavily regulated and hence are not permitted on this promotion platform. In order to create a promotion that is not considered a lottery it must be missing at least 1 of the above 3 elements. For example a winner chosen by chance (make it a game of skill instead) or consideration (by not requiring money, product purchase or a reasonable amount of effort to enter).

4. Can I Require Someone To Purchase A Product Or Service To Enter My Promotion?

This area can get tricky. For example if you run a promotion where the winner is selected by chance and is only required to enter, then no, you can not in most countries and states. If you run a contest, then you generally can. Please check with your local laws for exact details.

5. Do I Need A Permit To Run A Promotion?

This varies greatly between country and state depending upon the monetary value of the amount and whether it is a sweepstakes or a contest. In the US promotions with monetary values of over $5,000 (lower in some states) may be required to register with their state.

6. Must I Provide The Prize At The End Of The Promotion?

Most if not all laws in every country states that you must provide the prize offered to the winning entrant after the contest has closed. Failure to do so can result in legal action by your state or federal government.

This is regardless of how the promotion goes. For example if you only get 1 entry and wish to run the promotion again, you are still legally required to fulfil the terms of your promotion and award that 1 entrant with what they are entitled to.

In some states and countries if a prize pool is larger than a certain sum of money (normally $5,000, lower in some states) you are required to register with your state and send them a bond (the money equalling the prize pool). Once the promotion has finished you send details of the winners to the state and they then release your bond.

7. Must I Have Official Rules Or Terms And Conditions?

Yes you must have a policy governing the terms of your promotion. Again this varies in country and state but it is recommended that you at least include the following:

1. That no purchase is necessary to run the promotion if you are running a sweepstakes
2. Start and end dates and times, including timezone
3. Eligibility requirements, such as age, location and any other exclusions or inclusions
4. How to enter that requires no purchase necessary if running a sweepstakes
5. Any limitations, such as only 1 person per household or what ever is applicable to your promotion
6. The odds of winning
7. How the winner will be notified (remember this can not be via Facebook)
8. How the winner will be selected
9. Sponsors name and address with relevant contact details
10. Any additional legal requirements that might be applicable to your country or state

Summary

If you have a small monetary prize value and ensure you stick with a contest or a sweepstakes and honor all terms in your promotion you will most likely be compliant with your local laws. If you are uncertain of anything, please contact your local government for more information to ensure you are compliant.

I would love this page to be a resource for contest and sweepstakes policies for everyone who uses the Binkd Promotion Platform. If you have any additional information you would like to share including your specific local rules and regulations or any corrections to the above (provided you have supporting evidence) please email adam@binkd.com.

Below are some laws specific to certain countries and/or states. Please be advised these requirements could be outdated, no longer valid or misinterpreted by Binkd. Check with your local government to confirm these laws.

Canada

Potential winners of contests in Canada are subject to a Skills Testing Question (STQ).

Quebec have strict laws regarding sweepstakes and hence many Canadian contest’s skip these requirements by stating they are void in Quebec. Research laws carefully if you are expecting or will anticipate entrants from Quebec.

Next look at these interesting statistics:

70% of followers have participated in a contest or sweepstakes of a brand.

24% have generated content to participate in a contest.

So 70% of followers have interacted with a brand on Facebook or Twitter for a contest and 97% of those engaging with a brand are influenced in their purchasing decisions.

Approximately 40% of people follow brands for specials or deals on Facebook or Twitter.

Simply put, contests have a very high likelyhood in increasing your followers, generating engagement and hence generating sales.

Want to run a contest? Check out the Binkd Promotion Platform

[Source: GetSatisfaction]

If so you can install the Bind Promotion Facebook application.

1. Go to http://apps.facebook.com/binkdpromotion/

2. Press the Get Started button

3. Select the page you wish to install the application on

4. Select the new Contests tab on your Facebook page

5. Select the contest you wish to display on that tab. (If you haven’t already created a contest, press the Create Contest link to setup a new contest). While you are doing this users will only see a “There are no active contests” message until you assign a contest to your tab.

With the announcement almost a week ago of Facebook’s new promotion guidelines we could no longer use the Facebook like button as a voting mechanism. As such we developed our own. All votes from the Facebook likes have been transferred over to the new system and no action is needed by anyone using the platform.

New Contest Types

• Good promotional copy
• Physical and worthwhile prize
• Closely targetted prize to your audience

Then you are ready to get your competition seen by as many people as possible.

1. Other sites

Normally just contacting other sites within you niche and asking if you can, or they can, post details of your competition to their audience. It is a value add to their audience and you will get some great exposure. Just make sure you ask permission if you are about to post it on their FB page as this can be seen as SPAM otherwise. Endorsed posts are FAR more valuable than you doing it.

2. Your Contacts

Your friends or business associates on Facebook are a great place to start. Don’t forget your friends in real life and others on social media channels. Each endorsed mention of your competition can gain many entrants.

3. Advertising

If you are unable to get or do not have strong contacts or communications with other sites then advertising is your best approach. It’s a great approach regardless and will allow you to reach many more people than your lists combined. For advertising competitions I would only recommend 2 places

• Advertising on a particular site
• Facebook advertising

Google advertising will most likely be too expensive and you are now able to target as well as Facebook.

With the event of the Internet and the increasing competitiveness of people trying to get your attention there have been many promotions or contests offering great prizes. However with this comes a number of problems. People have been offering so many competitions yours needs to be something worth entering. People will not enter any old contest any more. You really must provide the value to entice someone to enter.

• Make sure it is highly targeted to your niche. Offering a fitness machine as a prize for a chocolate company might not be the best way to go. Instead offering a coffee machine at a cafe would be far more aligned.
• The best products are physical. Unless you are a VERY well-known person or entity, a digital product or service will be met with skepticism. Offering a physical product you have to ship to them will be far more valuable.

2. Getting It Noticed

There is no point running a competition if no one notices it. Ensure you have a sufficient list yourself or contact people who might be able to promote the contest for you.

• Ensure to place it on your website
• Send it out to your email list
• Contact others who may be able to promote it
• Host the competition on a viral platform (aka Binkd Promotion)
• Send it out via your social media channels

You can do the above things many times during the competition as you see appropriate. You should certainly promote it on your social media channels multiple times.

3. Right Conversation

The competition doesn’t start and end with the entries. Engage with your entrants during the competition. Make note of some good entries and let them know ways they can increase their chances of winning.

After the competition you may decide to hold another one or engage with them in another way. Either way after the competition you must follow-up with your entrants. You now have permission to talk to them. Engage and see how you can help them further beyond giving them free things.

We may help your contest

• Go viral
• Get more exposure
• Build your list
• Increase social media following

For more about us visit: About Us

How This Platform Works?

If you want to get started go to Binkd Promotions and sign-up it is free.

The blog you are currently reading is used to help you increase the effectiveness of your contests and let you know changes or cool upcoming features.

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