20 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Contest Vendor
Before hiring a contest vendor you should ask lots of questions. Not all vendors are created equal. Some may be technically proficient but lack legal expertise. Some have the legal credentials but can’t build a web site or do registration and bonding. Here are twenty questions you should be asking before you select your contest vendor: How well do they know sweepstakes law and advertising and mobile? A top notch promotional marketing agency is well versed in national and international laws that pertain to promotions, sweepstakes and contests. They should also have legal representation and know social, mobile and … Continue reading
Use the Marden-Kane Social Tracker Tool for a Successful Hashtag Contest
Marden-Kane’s Social Tracker tool is a quick, efficient way to run a social sweepstakes or contest. A social media sweepstakes or contest is a cost effective way for your brand to gain followers and increase sales without setting up a special web site or sophisticated data collection. The Social Tracker tool tracks hashtags, likes and comments on social media platforms. Simply let us know what hashtag to track for your promotion, what social platforms you want to track, and the dates you want the promotion to run. We take care of the rest! We send you daily reports on … Continue reading
Promotional Marketing Predictions for 2017
Every year at this time we discuss what the next big thing will be. Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes we don’t. So how did we do for this past year’s marketing predictions? Here they are so you can see! 2016 Prediction #1: Native ads will be booming – and promotions are part of that mix. Results: Native ads did turn out to be big news this year, especially because the FTC started to enforce native ad guidelines and brands became more aware of what disclosure was required. Some brands learned the hard way that disclosure is … Continue reading
Working with Third Party Brands for a Contest
You should approach working with third party brands in a contest or sweepstakes with caution. Giving away highly sought after prizes like trips, electronics or gift cards, or running promotions on social platforms, may seem like a great idea to garner interest and new followers for your brand. However, if you are naming a specific brand name other than your own as part of your contest, you may need to ensure you are using best practices for using that third party brand. Ask for permission It is a good idea to obtain permission prior to offering third party products … Continue reading
#Hashtag Contests 101
The buzzword in contests right now are hashtag contests (or hashtag sweepstakes). These types of promotions are easy to run, less expensive than setting up a contest web site, and don’t require a lot of lead time. The simplicity and low cost appeals to a lot of businesses anxious to expand their social channels, but you will still need to follow some best practices to ensure that you don’t run into any issues. What is a hashtag contest? A “hashtag contest” or “hashtag sweepstakes” is a promotion that requires users to post to a social channel using a unique hashtag. … Continue reading
Social Contest Platforms: Inexpensive, Easy…and Risky
Today I was sent a link to an article touting Platforms for Social Contests that will “launch and track your contest with ease.” The article then went on to list eleven platforms, all relatively cheap – well, really dirt cheap or even free – and all the wonderful features each one had. If I were looking for a way to run a contest and I didn’t know any better I would think that this contest business should be this inexpensive. Cough up a couple hundred bucks and we’re ready, right? But hold up. I know better. And you get … Continue reading
How to Contact Winners in Social Media Contests
Running a promotion on Twitter or Instagram or other social platform is fairly easy. You basically follow the social platform guidelines, post rules, collect entries and select winners from valid posts or tweets or pins. The hard part can be contacting and clearing winners. In a traditional contest where a form is used to collect data you typically collect address and phone or email so contacting winners is easy. A small prize can easily be mailed straight to an address. A winner of a larger prize can be called or emailed. But in a social promotion all you may … Continue reading
50 Reasons to Run a Sweepstakes or Contest
Looking for a reason to run a sweepstakes, contest, instant win game, rewards program or loyalty campaign? Here are 50 of them! To create an email opt-in list. To create a mobile opt-in list. To give away your products. To build your brand. To encourage brand loyalty. To encourage product try-on. To encourage product usage. To encourage product trial. To reward your loyal customers. To introduce your customers to a new product or service. To launch a new campaign. To gain new customers. To create a mailing list. To encourage user reviews of your products and services. To have … Continue reading
2015 Digital Marketing Survey Results
In May of 2015 we ran a Digital Marketing Survey and asked respondents to answer thirteen questions about their company’s digital marketing practices, both current and in the near future. For completing the survey, we offered a chance to win $100. Our survey winner was Ruby L. Congratulations, Ruby! A few things we discovered that we weren’t expecting: 1. Snapchat may be big, but brands aren’t ready to jump on the bandwagon just yet. Only 5% of our respondents said they used Snapchat – and only 5% were even considering using it for their brand. Why this surprised … Continue reading
Why a Facebook Ad Buy is a Must for Any Facebook Promotion
It’s happening again. Facebook is in the midst of changing their newsfeed algorithm. It’s another in a long list of unannounced Facebook changes that may result in even fewer of your followers actually viewing your posts. So what does this mean for a brand/marketer running a sweepstakes or contest on Facebook? Simply put, you must pay to play. Marketers can no longer rely on a “build it and they will come” philosophy. As a public company, Facebook needs to maintain a lightning focus on revenue. Thus, the need to prompt page owners to pay to promote posts. In some respects, … Continue reading
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