Contest marketing is a great way for companies to drive brand awareness among potential customers and nurture customer loyalty among existing ones. They can be combined with other promotions, such as gift with purchase and loyalty programs, and can be used to promote products, events, partnerships, and more. They can even help collect insightful first-party data through forms, polls, and surveys. Sweepstakes are an especially popular type of promotion with brands and customers alike. How do sweepstakes promotions work, and how can they add value to your business and marketing strategies?

Sweepstakes are a type of contest in which people submit an entry for the chance to win a prize, and winners are picked at random. Brands that run sweepstakes promotions typically offer a “grand prize”, such as a free vacation or a cash reward, and may also offer secondary prizes of lesser value, such as a free product or a gift card. Some sweepstakes winners are selected after the end of the promotion, while others are instant wins, in which winners are still chosen at random, but on the spot. Sweepstakes can also run indefinitely or more commonly, over a specified period of time.

Consumers can enter a sweepstakes contest in a number of different ways. Traditional entry methods include drop boxes, mail-in, call-in, and radio contests. More modern methods include email, text message, blog, and online sweepstakes (i.e. website submissions). Entries typically require participants to provide their name and basic contact details. Brands may also ask for additional information through form fields, polls, and surveys, or for creative submissions like an essay or a photo. Sweepstakes can require consumers to make a purchase to qualify, can be “no purchase necessary”, or can offer both options at the same time. They also vary by entry frequency, such as one-time-only, daily, monthly, or even unlimited. Lastly, sweepstakes can also restrict entries by eligibility, such as by age group, location, or unique parameters like occupation or personal interests.

While sweepstakes are a type of contest, not all contests are sweepstakes. Additionally, brands often use “sweepstakes” and “giveaway” interchangeably, but they also aren’t exactly the same. The primary difference between sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways depends on the winner selection process:

• Sweepstakes winners are selected at random from the entire pool of qualified entries. While some sweepstakes may be segmented by certain criteria (e.g. one winner per region), every entry has an equal chance of being chosen.

• Contest winners are selected based on their skill or popularity, either by a judge or by public vote. Unlike sweepstakes, contests ask people to submit something for judgment by others in order to determine the winners, such as an essay, photo, or video.

• Giveaway winners are selected based on prize availability. The premise of a limited number of prizes helps drive consumer interest and customer engagement. For example, companies may offer cash rewards to the first 100 consumers to submit a photo, or send brand merchandise to the first 1,000 customers who complete a survey.

Offers flexibility and customization

Sweepstakes serve a number of different purposes and are customized in a number of different ways. Brands can use sweepstakes to drive sales, generate interest, or nurture awareness and engagement. Sweepstakes prizes can range from cash rewards, to products and merchandise, to vacations and experiences. Lastly, companies can merge sweepstakes with other promotion types to further encourage customer participation. For example, they can work in combination with gift with purchase promotions to guarantee consumer rewards, or limited exclusively to members of a brand’s loyalty program to entice shoppers to sign up.

Creates brand awareness and customer interest

Companies can use sweepstakes to spread awareness and increase engagement for their brand. Many shoppers are more likely to show interest in advertisements and other marketing efforts if they can potentially gain something in return. Sweepstakes help drive website and app traffic and increase email open and clickthrough rates, as customers want to learn more about what they can win and how they can win it. Brands can also spread awareness on social media by asking participants to share the sweepstakes with their network to earn an additional entry. This helps grow their business, expand their reach, and generate customer interest.

Drives product sales and event engagement

Sweepstakes help brands push sales for specific product lines, promote upcoming events, and highlight brand partnerships. To start, if businesses require product purchasing as part of their sweepstakes entry, it drives sales and, depending on the number of entries permitted, repeat purchases, leading to increased revenue. This can be especially helpful for generating interest in products that aren’t selling as well as others. Sweepstakes can also help advertise events and encourage consumers to participate. For example, bookstores can use them to promote an author signing event, or packaged food brands can use them to celebrate the launch of their organic product line. Lastly, sweepstakes are a good opportunity for featuring brand partnerships. For example, a pet food company and an animal shelter organization can run a sweepstakes promotion to increase awareness for both of their brands.

Captures valuable insights and first-party data

When designed effectively, sweepstakes entries provide brands with valuable first-party data on existing customers and potential leads. Forms, polls, and surveys can help companies capture information about their sweepstakes participants, ranging from basic contact information to purchasing insights. For example, submission forms can collect email addresses, locations, and phone numbers. Polls can ask shoppers to choose from their favorite products, to vote for what products they’d like to see in the future, and so on. Lastly, surveys can gather in-depth consumer information, such as how frequently they shop, which retailers they shop at, and what qualities they look for in a product.

Focus on creating value and engagement

As with all marketing efforts, businesses need to be precise about the details of their sweepstakes promotions in order to create value for their customers. These details include the copy, creatives, and channels that they use. For example, does your desired audience respond better to email campaigns or social media ads? Do customers prefer the sound of “win $10,000 worth of products” or “win a year of free products”? Are people more likely to share your promotion if you feature an image of your brand or an image of your grand prize?

Companies should also be careful not to run sweepstakes that hold no significance for themselves or their customers, as they risk depleting their resources and reputation for minimal results. If they run a new promotion every few months with no set intentions, consumers may be less inclined to engage with them over time. Instead, businesses can use sweepstakes as an opportunity to promote products that aren’t selling as well, drive more visitors to their website, and generate interest in their upcoming brand partnership. When there’s value and purpose behind a sweepstakes promotion, customers are more likely to participate.

Avoid significant barriers to entry

When asking consumers to fill out a submission form or answer a survey, brands should be careful not to ask for too much information at once. For example, if you want to capture your customers’ locations but aren’t planning on sending them physical mail, ask for their state or province, not their home address. Before asking for their gender or birthday, ask yourself if it’s relevant to the current promotion or your future strategies. The more information you require, the less likely they are to complete their sweepstakes entry.

Brands should narrow it down to the most relevant details to ensure a greater number of participants. They should also make it simple for consumers to submit essays, photos, and videos when asking for them. Instructions, file formats and sizes, and criteria should be easy to find and straightforward to follow.

Include bonus entries and additional prizes

As mentioned previously, sweepstakes are a great way to improve customer engagement. However, this is only possible if consumers can a) enter multiple times and b) have a strong probability of being a winner. If a sweepstakes promotion limits one entry per customer and only offers one grand prize, shoppers may feel they have a low chance of winning and choose not to participate as a result.

Companies should give customers the opportunity to submit more than one sweepstakes entry to improve their chances. As a bonus, if shoppers must make a purchase to enter, this also helps to drive sales and repeat customers. Brands should also offer secondary prizes to further increase customers’ chances of winning something, such as brand merchandise or gift cards. Combining sweepstakes with a gift with purchase promotion is another way to encourage participation, as consumers are guaranteed to receive a reward.

Offer relevant and specific rewards

One mistake companies often make when running a sweepstakes promotion is giving prizes that aren’t relevant to their brand or their customers. Even if they offer something that most people want, such as a smartphone or a car, it won’t actually capture the target audience that brands are looking for. As a result, companies end up with sweepstakes entries from people that aren’t interested in them or their products.

To avoid this, businesses need a strong value proposition and give prizes that relate to their brand. For example, a clothing store can offer a $5,000 shopping spree, or a gym can offer a free membership for an entire year. That way, their sweepstakes participants will consist of customers and qualified leads who are actively interested in forming a relationship with their business.

Set meaningful goals and measure your results

Companies should run sweepstakes promotions with a clear purpose in mind. Are you looking to drive product purchasing, increase brand awareness, or nurture customer loyalty? Do you want to capture email addresses, phone numbers, or user feedback? Lastly, when determining your audience, are you more focused on gaining depth or breadth? These answers help brands create objectives and gauge their success. For example, if they want to increase brand awareness, they can ask participants to share the sweepstakes on social media to receive an additional entry. If they want to capture feedback, they can have consumers vote for their favorite product as part of their submission.

After the sweepstakes is over, brands should analyze both their qualitative and quantitative first-party data to understand what worked and what didn’t. They can look at how many people submitted one or multiple entries, whether the sweepstakes led to increases in sales or followers, and whether they accomplished what they set out to do.

Sobeys leveraged their partnership with the 2021 Summer Olympics and Olympics partners like Coca-Cola and General Mills to launch their national Feed the Dream Olympic Contest. When consumers purchased qualifying products at Sobeys stores or via Sobeys’ online grocery delivery service, Voilà, they became eligible to receive a sweepstakes entry for the chance to win 1 of 3 grand prizes of groceries for a year, valued at $14,000, or 1 of 10 weekly prizes of $1000 in groceries. This sweepstakes program helped increase brand awareness and customer acquisition for Sobeys, and drive consumer interest and sales for their Olympics partners.

LEGO®’s ongoing Product Feedback Survey asks customers to let them know what they think of their LEGO® products, which helps them capture valuable zero-party data and gain customer insights. When consumers complete the survey, they become eligible to receive a sweepstakes entry to win a LEGO® set; LEGO® conducts a random draw on a monthly basis to select the winners. LEGO® also consistently runs limited-time sweepstakes to promote specific product lines and franchises, giving consumers the chance to win exclusive Star Wars minifigures, Super Mario sets, and so on.

While some sweepstakes prizes consist of free products, exclusive offers, and cash rewards, others give winners memorable experiences instead. Bimbo Canada leveraged their partnership with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens to launch their regional Go POM Go Sweepstakes. When consumers purchased qualifying POM products, they became eligible to receive a sweepstakes entry for the chance to win 1 of 4 Suite packages to a Montreal Canadiens game. Secondary prizes included Montreal Canadiens accessories and $500 physical Visa gift cards. Bimbo Canada also encouraged consumer participation and repeat product purchasing with the inclusion of a gift with purchase promotion, where users could make another transaction to earn a $5 digital Visa gift card.

Incorporating sweepstakes promotions into your marketing strategies

Sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways are a great way for brands to drive sales, improve brand awareness, and nurture customer loyalty. They help companies highlight product lines, promote events, and leverage brand partnerships. Sweepstakes promotions can even help businesses capture valuable first-party data and insights into their consumers’ preferences, needs, and purchasing behavior.

3 tier logic’s PLATFORM³ helps brands create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways to engage with consumers, increase product purchasing, and collect first-party data. The Data Capture & Analytics module gives businesses the information they need to make better strategic decisions and drive brand engagement. To learn more, book a demo with our team today.