Social Media
How to Run a Legal TikTok Contest or Sweepstakes
TikTok does not currently have any posted contest guidelines, but that doesn’t mean that there are no rules. To keep your TikTok Contest or Sweepstakes legal you should adhere to these seven basic recommendations for running a promotion on a social platform: Use a unique hashtag to track entries. The best way to track entries for a TikTok contest is by using a unique hashtag. Any post that is made during the posted timeframe of the promotion that has the pre-determined hashtag is considered an entry. Include official rules. Official rules are what protect you in court should … Continue reading
Avoid Clickbait Tactics to Make Your Social Sweepstakes a Success
Take a look at your social feed right now. Look on any platform — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat — and start scrolling. How long does it take for you to find a post or story or tweet running a “giveaway?” The “giveaway” is everywhere on social. Mommy bloggers, Instagram dogs, major brands, and influencers are all running giveaways. And while the chance to win some swag might be appealing to some, the giveaway sponsors need to avoid clickbait tactics as social platforms have had so many bad actors and fake giveaways that a legal social sweepstakes could get … Continue reading
Content Moderation: A Requirement for Social Posts and Contests
Content moderation has made the headlines lately as social channels like Facebook and Twitter tried to deal with “fake news” stories and inappropriate content. There is a torrent of video and written content being produced and distributed through the various social platforms, and content moderators work around the clock, deciding what needs to be taken down and what can remain. But what about content moderation for your brand’s social channels, or for your sweepstakes and contests? The overwhelming volume of social interaction on most brand social channels may have us believe it is impossible to keep watch over it … Continue reading
5 Ways to Improve How You Run a Giveaway on Social Channels
Do you want to know how to run a giveaway on social channels, but are looking for how to do it legally and using best practices? Here are 5 things to consider when you run a giveaway. 1. Include rules. While a good many “giveaways” on social do not seem to have a legal set of rules, that doesn’t mean you don’t need them! Official rules are what protect you in court should anything go wrong and you need to defend yourself. A good set of rules will outline who can enter, how to enter, what the prizes will … Continue reading
10 Ways to Promote Your Sweepstakes or Giveaway
Here are 10 ways to promote your sweepstakes, giveaway or contest. It’s up to you, and your budget, to find the best way to reach your current and future customers. When you use any of these methods, please remember to use the correct disclaimer language and include a way to access the full rules, either in print or online. 1. Posting to your social channels FREE Posting about your sweepstakes on your company or brand’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn and Pinterest, is a no-brainer way to reach your current customers. Try to be creative with your post and be sure to … Continue reading
Trick or Treat with These Halloween Contest Ideas
Fall is almost here and we have heard rumblings about Halloween decorations and pumpkin spice already being in stores! Don’t get left behind; it’s time to start your Halloween contest planning. Here are a few Halloween contest and prize ideas to help celebrate the new season: Pumpkin Carving Contest: Fall is the time to head to the farm for pumpkin picking, hay rides and fresh apple cider donuts – yum! You can challenge your customers to take their freshly picked pumpkins and carve them into something unique and fun. Then ask them to upload a photo of their creation to Instagram or … Continue reading
Teen Trends for Back to School Promotion Planning 2018
Can you hear it? It’s the school bell ringing. Time for your back to school promotion planning! So what trends should you know about as you plan for this back to school season? Here is where it’s at for kids, tweens and teens this year: Snapchat. Snapchat is still a top social app of choice for today’s teens, even though popularity seems to be waning a bit. Why do they keep using it? Maybe it’s because no one wants to break a snap streak, a fire or number emoji next to a friend’s username that shows how many consecutive days you have been … Continue reading
Taming Your #Sweeps with an Approved Instagram Tracker
Once upon a time, Instagram had no need for an Instagram tracker to gather your promotion entries. People did whatever they wanted because there were no promotion guidelines. It was like the wild, wild west in promotion land: no rules applied. Brands did whatever they wanted. Hashtags were untamed and unfiltered, and people wildly tagged anyone and everyone in their posts for fun. Until the law came to town to clean Instagram up. #TheresANewSheriffInTown Instagram quietly formalized their promotion guidelines and their process for allowing you to search and gather posts by hashtag over the past few years. Here is … Continue reading
What is a Sweepstakes?
What is a sweepstakes? A sweepstakes is a chance promotion, where a winner is randomly selected from all eligible entries. Entries into a sweepstakes must either be free for all, or if you want to encourage purchase for entry, then an alternate, free method of entry (AMOE) must also be available. Luck determines a sweepstakes winner rather than any skill or payment. For a sweepstakes you typically collect only the information you need from an entrant to award the prize, but sometimes more information is gathered to generate user content (such as in a qualified entry sweepstakes) or to add an entrant to a mailing … Continue reading
10 Questions to Ask Before Partnering with a Promotion Agency
A contest, sweepstakes, instant win game or other promotion concept may be a great way for your client to increase sales and build their branding efforts, but if you have never done a promotion before don’t try to do it alone. You will need an experienced, knowledgeable promotion marketing agency to partner with you to make sure you run a legal, compliant, successful promotion. But what should you look for when partnering with a promotion agency? Here are ten questions you should be asking before you select a promotion agency to partner with for your next contest or sweepstakes: How well … Continue reading
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Recent Articles
- From the MK Promotion Archives: Tigerino – the First Scratch-Off Game Card
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