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.

What was cooking at this year’s PMA Law Conference

Recently, I attended the PMA Law Conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.

The conference itself was very Digital/ Internet/ Mobile focused, with traditional sweepstakes and contests placed on the back-burners. One presentation however, given by Linda Goldstein (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP), offered a “what if” look at a merge of the old and new.

Surrounded by one-click solutions and “There’s an app for that.” messaging, Linda’s presentation showcased a hypothetical “Promotion Risk Assessor App” – push the button, input some specs, and voilà: a quick and easy recipe for a legal promotion is served. A tour of the App gave some insight into its different features: laws, regulations, and even a smart function that would create the entire promotion for you…just push the button.

The idea was intriguing to say the least. Being in the industry, it’s easy to fantasize about how much time could be saved if all we had to do was drop in a few details, sprinkle in some eligibility, and add a dash of winner announcement. In a microwave world, authoring rules (and the successive versions thereof until they’re “FINAL”, “FINAL_REV”, and, of course, “USE THIS ONE_FINAL_REV_REV”) can sometimes feel like crock-pot cooking.

In the end though, everything boiled over when Linda pushed the button – it turns out there was a glitch in the program. The fictional App had created a promotion that was completely illegal (on a number of fronts) and would surely end up with the Sponsor in some hot water.

The moral of the story: “There is no App” for promotions. Promotions require knowledge, guidance, and experience. Each new ingredient has the ability to change the entire flavor of the promotion; and knowing how to combine those ingredients so that everything mixes together correctly is critical for all parties involved. Now, here at Marden-Kane, we’ve been cooking for over 50 years making promotions our bread and butter.

Guest post by Matt Bonatti an Account Executive in Marden-Kane's NY Office. Matt can be reached at MBonatti@MardenKane.com.

Newly Revised Puerto Rico Sweepstakes Regulations

Thanks to the recent amendments to the Sweepstakes and Games of Chance Regulation in Puerto Rico, effective November 27, 2009 promoters and advertisers will be able to conduct promotions in Puerto Rico without the previously restraining legal barriers. Until now marketers were forced to void promotions and exclude residents of Puerto Rico in participating in stateside promotions. This benefits both the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico and promotion marketers.

Changes in Puerto Rico’s Sweepstakes and Games of Chance Regulation align the Commonwealth’s rules and definitions with regulations in the United States promulgated by the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and individual States.

Highlights of the new regulation include:
• Rules certification by a notary is no longer needed.
• Notarized certification of drawing procedures is no longer required.
• Notarized certification of game piece security codes is no longer needed.
• Odds statements have been simplified to conform to typical odds statements.
• Tax liability, which was placed on the promoter, is now on the entrant.
• Requirement that full rules appear in print ad that covers more than two-thirds of the page is no longer needed.
• The requirement that the rules be published, announced and disseminated into Spanish is no longer needed. Now, you just need to publish the rules in the same language that the advertising appears in.
• An express provision defining "abbreviated rules" has been added, the regulation provides for the use of abbreviated rules in advertising as long as they point to where the full rules are published.
• Although rules still need to be published you can now satisfy that requirement by posting them to a website.
• The timing of which a winner must claim prize (from which he/she is notified) is still listed as 30 days, with and added exception of ”unless otherwise specified in the official rules”.

To view the full Regulation, please visit the Department of Consumer Affairs in Puerto Rico (DACO) at: http://www.gobierno.pr/daco/inicio.

Guest post by Gina Staffa an Account Supervisor in Marden-Kane's NY Office. Gina can be reached at Gina@MardenKane.com.

Contest Best Practices

Want to run an online contest, but not sure what to do or where to start? This is a quick primer:

1. Bring in Marden-Kane early


2. Define objectives and select best contest "processes"


3. Keep the contest simple!


4. Offer prizes that resonate with the target audience


5. Run contest for 6 to 8 weeks


6. Have Official Rules follow process flow


7. Limit number of finalists to 10


8. Offer finalists a "tool kit" with necessary elements to generate more views / votes and free media impressions for the brand


9. Open voting for 7 to 10 days


10. Hide public vote count


11. Monitor blogs


12. Allow 3 to 5 days for winner clearance


13. Minimize legal vulnerability with appropriate release forms


14. Fulfill prizes quickly


15. Analyze results


16. Optimize


17. Repeat!

Remember the goal of the promotion should be to engage your target audience while reinforcing brand attributes.

Communication… In today’s world what does that word really mean?

Email, text and other electronic communications allow us to conduct business without ever having to speak to someone. We can delegate projects, assignments, tasks, etc., all by email. In some cases I actually feel like I participate in an entire meeting via email. When I look back at the 30+ emails that have gone back and forth between colleagues all on the same topic, I ask myself, “Why didn’t we all just call a quick 5 minute meeting to resolve this issue rather than these 30 non-emotional, non-vocal, non-face-to-face emails all flying back and forth and crossing over?”

Yes, there are benefits to email. It is instant. It gives us a chance to think about and research what we want to say. It allows us to communicate with someone even when they might not be available. You can assign projects and tasks to a group of people and everyone knows who is responsible for what. Etc…

Email has its down side as well. It gives us the ability to ignore something. To say it got lost in SPAM. It makes it easier to “pass the buck” by just forwarding the email on to someone else and asking them to take care of it. Without facial expression or tone of voice, many emails get misunderstood and/or misread.

So it makes me wonder... Will our voices become extinct? Have we forgotten the power of face-to-face communication? Eye contact, body language, and tone of voice are very powerful tools that will never come across in an email or text message!

Guest post via Peggy Seeloff, a Vice President in our NY Office who is responsible for account management and promotion administration. Peggy can be reached at Peggy@MardenKane.com.

Marketing to a Latin Beat

“Oye Como Va” (Hey what’s up?) was asked by Carlos Santana in his 1970 hit song. Now more than 46 million Latinos/Hispanics living in the US (as per the 2008 US census) are asking us marketers the same question. As they should be, especially since they are quoted as being the fastest growing consumer segment, with an annual spending power of more than $863 billion.

Although the Hispanic market can be broken down into distinct segments or national origin they are all unified by a common language. Spanish is likely to remain the language of preference among US Latinos. In fact, Univision is now the #5 network in the US behind ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. 56% of Latino adults respond best to advertising when it is presented in Spanish. They consume every type of media, but have a special attraction to television and radio. And, overall Hispanic households are 3.5 times more likely to respond to a direct mail solicitation than a non-Hispanic household. However, they only receive 1/10 the mail than the general market does.

Hispanic marketing is on the rise or it should be! Marketers shouldn’t just translate and transfer their ideas that work for their general market to the Hispanic market. Hispanic consumers are in a different category whereby more awareness and sensitivity to their brand usage, cultural, religious and market/product attributes should be taken into consideration. What is important to them may not be important to the general public and therefore that is what we should target and market.

Hispanics are becoming increasingly salient in communities all across the US. They are influencing tastes and changing the ways in which society overall enjoys and consumes products, services and media. The sheer number of Spanish speakers in communities reinforces the use of the language and its value for communication. It represents an emotional attachment to the culture. Would you believe that there are more Spanish speaking people in the US than in South America? Hence, the English message is not reaching the market, neither through broadcast or Direct Mail.

Marketing to Hispanics in Spanish and English is the smart thing to do. But knowing your target is the critical first step toward truly understanding whom you are marketing to and the basis for developing a communications strategy that will effectively deliver that audience. As the Hispanic market grows it reinforces its identity and emotional connection with the language and culture. Also, continued immigration is likely to reinforce the importance of the Spanish language in the US. Marketers are advised to consider the Spanish language as an important cultural bonding mechanism with Hispanic consumers.

What research tells us about the Hispanic consumer?
· They spend approximately $120 billion on food and beverages
· They spend 19 to 48% more than non-Hispanics on dairy products, fats and oils, beef, poultry and fresh produce.
· They also make more than twice the number of trips for grocery shopping than the average US shopper and spend 34% more on groceries than the average shopper.
· They are purchasing new cars at four times the rate of the general population.
· They frequent malls more than other ethnic groups and tend to stay the longest.
· They do more social shopping and often shop in groups
· They are avid department-store shoppers. Stores including J.C. Penney and Sears have been actively courting this segment of the market with bi-lingual Web sites and advertising.
· They depend on their cell phones as their primary means of telephone communication.
· They tend to acculturate, not assimilate, and show a strong preference for keeping their cultural traditions and language.

What can marketers do?
· With Hispanic consumers representing an increasingly larger share of food and beverage sales in the US, retail and food service operators can offer products that cater to their distinct taste and ingredient preferences.
· Commit more dollars doing original creative work in Spanish and seeking more strategic insights into the US Hispanic consumers.
· Talk to the Hispanic market in its language – there is a 61% increase in ad recall by using the Spanish language.
· Promote cross-over work (culturally relevant English advertising).
· Focus on highly populated Hispanic areas.
· Use in-store bilingual signage and communications.
· Be sensitive to Hispanic relationships, unique values and customs with brands, product, store and sellers.
· Attempt to be more contemporary, urban and ethnic.
· Use messaging that is culturally relevant.
· Recognize the role that your Hispanic consumers have in educating other consumers and setting trends.

And before I go any further, let’s not forget the Hispanic Youth, which represent 20% of the total U.S. teen population. In fact, more than one-third of all U.S. Hispanics are 18 or younger, and half of all Hispanics in the U.S. are under 26. They are an “economic force to be reckoned with” having a purchasing power of $25 billion. How do we reach them? The top three media consumed by Hispanic youth are the internet, TV and radio. They listen to 23% more radio per week than the general teen market. And, strangely enough they don’t read newspapers, rarely pick up magazines and don’t watch Spanish-language TV. Start with social and music, use multiple platforms and target often and early.

Who has stepped up to the dance floor?
Wal-Mart - is readying a new concept store aimed squarely at the needs of Hispanic consumers. Supermercado de Walmart will carry specialty foods as well as an in-store cocina (kitchen) where families can dine. Through Wal-Mart's store-of-the-community program, stores are merchandised to meet the diverse needs of local customers in each community. By listening to their consumers, they are able to design a store to include the products and services they need and want. The store will also include an in-store cocina, where traditional Hispanic food will be served with seating area for families to relax and enjoy meals together.
Best Buy – completely embraced one of the greatest benefits of the Internet -- its global distribution -- and created a U.S. Hispanic and international e-commerce success story by building sales with U.S. Hispanics and Spanish–speakers internationally. Best Buy embraced visitors from Mexico and Latin America, encouraging them to buy online with foreign credit cards and pick up in-store when they visited the U.S. While the site generated e-commerce sales, Best Buy also heard from their store associates that many U.S. Hispanics printed out pages from the site and visited and made purchase in-store with a better understanding about what they wanted.
Unilever - Their ViveMejor (“Live Better”) program now in its third year continues to evolve. This multi-brand campaign addresses the personal care and cooking needs of Hispanic women through such avenues as expert advice and valuable coupons from popular Unilever brands. As well as their ongoing beauty and food campaigns they also include national television integrations on morning and evening shows shown on Spanish-language television network Univision, public relations outreach, print advertorials in best-selling Hispanic magazines, direct mail, and retail events in the top Hispanic cities across the United States. All of the content from the ViveMejor magazine is now available online at ViveMejor.com. The newly redesigned Web site aims to enhance consumers’ online experience through a fresh, simple-to-use layout allowing quick access to recipes, cooking demonstration videos, beauty tips and high-value coupons.

Post via Fae Savignano, a Senior Vice President in our NY Office who leads our Security Printing and Seeding Team as well as our Hispanic Marketing Department. Fae can be reached at Fae@MardenKane.com.