Driving User Engagement: A Roadmap to Online Sweepstakes Success

Before you embark on your journey to a successful online promotion, take some time to map out the checkpoints that will help you along your way! A solid roadmap in the form of a scoping document is crucial to the overall success of your promotion and will ensure your arrival at your intended destination without lost time and money.

• First, figure out where you’re going – what are your success metrics? Is the goal of your promotion to increase page views? Click-throughs? Average length of time spent on the site? Are you looking to gain more Facebook friends and fans? Would you like to see increased user engagement with your brand? Gauging your company’s expectations before you hit the road will help your chances of arriving at your destination successfully.

• Don’t throw up roadblocks – create an entry method that is as straightforward as possible for your consumer. Make it easy to use, but relevant and engaging.

• Yield to pedestrians– too many steps, difficult rules and boring content will deter through-traffic from entering. While the overall aim may be to increase brand awareness, avoid utilizing a direct sales pitch to your consumer, keep it subtle to keep their interest!

• Offer exciting new vistas to your consumer – the site experience should be fun! Not copy heavy, but rather like a road sign: direct and to the point. Provide the required legalese, no more and no less on the entry site but be sure to point the user in the direction of the official rules/terms and conditions.

• Determine what is the carrot driving your horse – is there something unique/different about your promotion? Is the prize relevant to your brand? Is the prize something a consumer would be interested in winning? Turn on the high beams; make sure it’s clear for all to see why they want to be involved in your promotion AKA, what’s in it for them. Whether it’s fame or fortune – it should be fun!

• Detour regular traffic to your entry site – use media outlets your target audience interacts with on a daily basis. If your target demographic uses social media such as Facebook and Twitter, it will serve you well to advertise your promotions directly on those platforms.

• Get their plate number! – collect all of the information necessary for you to contact the winners. Some agencies believe that collecting "PII" (personally identifiable information) such as mailing address or phone number will discourage users from entering but asking a user to provide additional contact information assures that they are entering a legitimate promotion and will not be spammed. Provide a link to your privacy policy so entrants can see how their information is being used. Complete contact information will make notifications and prize fulfillment more timely and cost efficient down the road!

• Signal before changing lanes – include relevant messages throughout the experience such as thanking entrants for coming as they exit the site. Remind them that they can come back anytime, whether it is to enter again tomorrow or check back for a new content and features.

• Never take your eyes off the road –just because your promotion has launched does not mean you can operate on cruise control. Select backseat drivers to champion the QA effort throughout the promotional period. It is a good idea to have mechanics on-call should the entry site malfunction after-hours.

• Watch your speedometer – use market data you collect daily to measure your promotions performance.

• Check your blind spots – work off of your market data to optimize the promotion’s goals. If your promotion is not meeting your expectations, jump start it with a PR push through your company’s social media channels or remarket to those who have already opted-in. Offer additional entries for every new friend, fan or follower referred by your original entrant to drive traffic to your entry site.

It is important to run diagnostics for your promotion after it has completed its journey. Be sure to backtrack through this roadmap during your project evaluation to gauge your mileage. Did you meet your final destination? If not, where were the bumps in the road? This debriefing process will help you better navigate any challenges your next promotion may experience.

MK calls “Shotgun” on your next marketing adventure!

Guest post by Jenna Hanlon, Promotion Coordinator in Marden-Kane's NY Office. Jenna can be reached at jhanlon@mardenkane.com

Cause Related Marketing = Social Media

Easily extending the reach of a consumer promotion has been the goal of marketers for years. Now, the leading Social Media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, allow marketers to do just that.

The question posed is how? Create a promotion-centric Facebook Fan Page or Twitter Page or utilize the brands’ (if one is available)?

For a Sweepstakes, Instant Win Game or Special Offer (e.g., coupon or BOGO) which is designed to raise awareness for a moment in time, incorporate the promotion into the current Fan Page and Twitter Page.

However, for a cause-related program which will be in the marketplace for months, and perhaps years, it makes sense to create its own “identity” and related Fan Page and Twitter Page.

Some tips:

1. Define objectives, key performance indicators and ensure consensus amongst all stakeholders!

2. Provide value. Give a reason for people to visit and to become a Fan or Follower!

3. If you are also including a contest as a means to raise awareness, provide guidance on entry submission dates and remember to merchandise your winner and finalists. If entry submission is also available on the Fan Page make sure that you have obtained Facebook permission - www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php. Guidelines change often and without notice!

4. Promote the Fan Page and Twitter Page via URL mentions, virtual gifts, Facebook ad buy, social media integration on the campaign microsite (incorporating Bookmarks, Share and Facebook connect)

5. When utilizing a celebrity spokesperson, ensure that the celebrity utilizes their Fan Page news feed and Twitter feed to spread “the word”. You also want the celebrity to add the campaign’s Fan Page to their Favorite Pages!

6. Create an editorial calendar to ensure new content is published on a regular basis. This includes relevant tweets. Ensure that the Fan Page and Twitter page are tightly integrated.

7. Moderate and respond to Fan and Follower comments and messages in a timely manner. The goal is to ensure that the communication flows in a 360 degree manner. For Pharmaceutical companies, the FDA has yet to provide regulations on social media usage, so you should work with your legal department to determine the appropriate strategy.

8. Continually measure and optimize your efforts.