Category: Social Media

The Value of User Generated Content (UGC) in a Contest

User Generated Content (“UGC”) are digital assets (videos, photos, essays) created by an individual. When UGC is used in conjunction with a Skills Contest, entrants become really invested in their submissions, and in turn, the brand. Contests, compared to Sweepstakes, typically see a lower number of entries. However, the quality of the entry submissions and entrant engagement often outweighs the high entry count. A “standard” UGC Contest typically consists of

May 12, 2015

Fun with Bonus Sweepstakes Entries!

Many clients want to extend the reach of their sweepstakes by adding in ways to earn bonus entries, either through social sharing or sending emails. This method of providing an extra entry for sharing about the promotion sounds easy enough, but you may want to consider all the pros and cons before implementing an incentive for entry mechanism in your next program. Pros: 1. Viral engagement! Letting

April 21, 2015

Taming Your #Sweeps with Instagram Promotion Guidelines

Once upon a time, Instagram had no formal promotion guidelines. And it was like the wild, wild west in promotion land, just like on Pinterest and Facebook and Twitter a few years ago before there were rules. 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

February 10, 2015

Implications of Not Registering a Sweepstakes in Florida

We frequently hear this from people who call us in a panic: “I didn’t know I had to register a sweepstakes in Florida. What’s the worst that can happen?” If the promotion won’t start for another 30 days, don’t stress. Review our information on Florida sweepstakes registration, and possibly getting a waiver, or contact us to get it done for you. If your promotion is less than 30 days

January 21, 2015

Run a Sweepstakes to Make Small Business Saturday A Big Win

Five years ago American Express started promoting a new concept: Small Business Saturday. The idea is simple: consumers are asked to spend their holiday shopping dollars locally at small businesses, and American Express provides incentives to those shoppers. In just those five years, the concept of shopping locally the day after Black Friday has become a holiday tradition. So how can your small business make this the best Small

November 7, 2014

Setting the Bar: Quality vs. Quantity of User Generated Content (UGC) Contests

There is no short answer on how to get your customers to create a lot of quality user generated content (UGC). But what we see over and over again in our client promotions is that if the bar is set too high, you may only get a few entries. Set it too low, you may get a ton of entries but not a lot of quality or even eligible, entries.

September 11, 2014

7 Restrictions to Include in Your Next Contest

We have seen many a contest go awry because the sponsor did not put a few safeguard in the official rules to protect themselves. Here is our short list of restrictions you should have in place: Don’t allow copyrighted materials. That means no music, copy or images of anything that isn’t original. And sometimes you have to further spell it out in the FAQs – no trademarks on your

September 9, 2014