Marketers are constantly looking for new and exciting ways to engage their customers in memorable and enjoyable experiences. With the hopes of educating consumers of their brand awareness and to find ways of generating more customer loyalty, marketers are looking towards using more interactive contests in the campaigns.
Interactive Contests, by definition, are promotions like quizzes and games that encourage participation in exchange for a chance to win a prize.
The idea of giving your customers a prize for spending time on your site shows your appreciation for the customer. Also, the mere act of online contests is often with the intent of getting something at the end. However, they will not only allow customers to stay on your site longer, but they will also create a positive feeling for your brand.
However, there are a few pitfalls that marketers need to avoid when creating online interactive contests on their sites in order for them to achieve the maximum benefits of what interactive contests have to offer.
10 things to consider when making online contests
When planning your online contest, be sure to keep in mind these 10 tips to find success. These tips will help you obtain more customer satisfaction that can also benefit your company.
1. Make online contests worth your customer’s time.
In order for customers to take your contest and complete it, they must first feel that the process is worth their time. Marketers need to create experiences with enough value that customers will want to exchange their time to complete. Here are a few things to consider when making online contests that will give your customers more value for their time.
Value of the prize
Customers will take into consideration the value of the prize, before deciding to take a quiz or play a game. The prize should be worth the time they are willing to give to the task. For example, if you are offering a prize of a new car, customers may be more willing to fill out more information on a form or to do many tasks. However, if the value of the prize is much less, customers might not see the need in putting forth too much effort. Making sure that the value of the prize equals the value of the customer’s time will be a very important part of the planning process.
Value of the experience
Also, customers want to know if the task that they are about to complete will be one that is enjoyable. That is why it is important that you understand your customers. Be sure that the interactive contest fits what your customer perceives to be enjoyable (value of the experience). Giving your customers an experience that scores high on their “fun meter” creates more opportunities for you to build a better relationship.
Time spent
Does your online contest take a long time to complete? Customers may want to know how much time they are expected to give in order to receive your incentive. Shorter quizzes and games have a higher success rate than ones that require more time spent on the application.
Chance of winning
Are the odds against your customer from winning? Customers may be less likely to try your online contest if they don’t feel that they have a chance of winning. You may also want to consider telling customers what their odds of winning will be in the description of the contest. More likelihood of winning could lead to getting more entries.
Consolidation prizes
Are you only offering one big prize at the end of your contest? Will each of those who participated also be receiving some sort of incentive? Consolidation prizes are great ways to get people to participate in your online contest. They offer more value to your customers. By allowing all of your customers to win something, you are showing how your company appreciates its customers which can help in building customer loyalty to your brand.
2. Match the campaign experience with your online contest type.
While you are planning your interactive contest, it is a good idea to match the best campaign experience with your test type. If your contest type is a traditional raffle, winners are picked at the end of the campaign from all of the entries. However, if you decide to use an instant-win contest, you have the option of awarding new winners every day. This is a great incentive to get customers to return to your website.
You will want to decide how many prizes you are offering, when the prizes should be given and how many times the customers are allowed to enter. Knowing this information will help you narrow down which campaign experience is best to use for the contest.
For example, in an interactive quiz, customers will only expect to answer the questions once during the duration of the contest. However, if the campaign experience is a pick-a-card game, customers may have the option of returning each day to see if they are an instant winner. The proper planning of contests will ensure that there will be a smoother flow of the process.
The key to determine which type of experience will be best to engage your audience. Dot.vu has many great experiences in their online marketplace. If you are struggling to visualize which experience could be best for your customers, have a look at the templates and examples we have to offer to help you decide.
3. Make sure your contest is legal.
Depending on where your company is located, there will be a number of different laws to keep in mind. Whether it be for marketing, contract, GDPR or Cookies policy, be sure you are aware of what you are legally obligated to do within your campaigns. Having a detailed “terms and conditions” page for your contest will help you prove your compliance to local and international laws, as well. Gambling laws may also be something to consider in your area. Overall, it is important to investigate the laws of your country in order to know which type of prize giveaway will be possible for your campaign.
4. Make sure you have a pre-signup page.
By incorporating a pre-signup landing page for your contest, you can create excitement and awareness leading up to the launch. You can promote this landing page on your social media platforms, and in turn, it will lead to customers engaging more on your channels. This is a great way to drive traffic to your site. Just be sure to tell customers how you will be using this information in the future.
5. Make sure to send out daily reminders.
After customers have signed up and participated in the contest, you now can send them daily reminders during the duration of the contest. These reminders can be scheduled as automated emails that are generated in your email program. Send links each day for customers to participate multiple times in your contest. This is a great way to generate more brand awareness and customer interest in what you have to offer. It is also something that often gets overlooked by marketers during the planning and creation processes. If you don’t send reminders, people may not visit your website every day, so be sure to incorporate this element into your plan.
6. Make sure you have continuous promotional activities throughout the campaign.
Which ways will you be promoting your online contest? Make sure your plan focuses on where and how the interactive contest will be promoted on your platforms. Will you use a specific social media platform to lead to your interactive content? Consider all of the best possible places to promote your campaign not only during the contest duration, but also before and after the contest is live on your site. This could also be a great opportunity for remarketing the campaign with a paid post or to encourage followers to share or tag friends via their own social media pages.
7. Make sure people do not need to fill out the same lead form multiple times.
For faster entry into your online contest, help customers save some time by only asking customer to fill out lead forms once. Customers want to have a good experience with your interactive contest, so don’t ask them to do something more than once. This will generate more customer satisfaction and encourage them to participate more with your content.
8. Think about how you can use the data you collect to reactivate in the future.
Marketers can use the basic, personal data they collect from lead forms to send out other promotional materials in the future. Also, during an online quiz or game, interactive contests can be created in a way that allows you to ask customers questions about their preferences or even has customers choose their favorite of one of your products. Gating their interests and preferences within online contests will help marketers in the future when they create new campaigns.
9. Remember to have a valuable end-campaign CTA.
If you haven’t thought to use a Call to Action (CTA) within your online contest, you will be missing out on a great opportunity. CTAs help you build your email list and generate conversions. Make sure that you state very clearly what it is that you would like your customers to do at the end of your online contest. This could be visiting your website, following you on social media or even using a discount code when shopping in your store.
10. Integrate with your existing analytical tools.
Always get the most up-to-date information about how your online contest is doing. Connect your campaign with the analytical tools that you already use. Your analytics will tell you more about the demographics of your visitors. This data will help you create more targeted campaigns in the future. You can also learn which traffic sources are more beneficial to use that lead to more conversion on your site!
What is the next step after planning your online contest?
After taking these 10 tips into consideration with your own plan, you are ready to start looking at templates. At Dot.vu, we have many exciting templates that you can alter quickly without needing to know anything about coding. Many of these templates have helped other companies reach their marketing goals, and they can do wonders for your campaign.
Check out all the templates on Dot.vu’s website or see the many wonderful examples we have created for our customers. Find out how Dot.vu can set you on the path to creating a successful interactive, online contest today!
Are you looking for more ideas on how to use interactive content? Get inspired at Dot.vu; you can also ask for a demo if you need further assistance. Let Dot.vu work for you!