When learning about our audience, data is the most important tool, but how do we get that data? Being on different ends of the same stick, I understand the need for data from a marketing perspective. As an audience member, I want my data to be as safe as possible (it’s scary enough when my Instagram feed is filled with a product I recently spoke about). So, how do we gather this information without scaring our audience away? Promotions.
Sweepstakes
A sweepstake is a promotional drawing in which participants receive “entries” in return for purchases, sales, or a certain behavior (like filling out a form). After, participants and their associated entries are submitted into a randomized generator, and prizes are then given away to the participant winners. A sweepstake is a great option because it is low budget (much of your budget will go to prizing), and the prizes can be unique to your company and your audience.
For example, in Let the Games Begin, an automotive manufacturer utilized a Spin-to-Win Sweepstakes to increase sales and engagement. Within this program, the client’s audience, their external service managers, received “spin codes” in return for the sale of wiper blades. These spin codes could be entered into the program module. The “Everyone Wins” strategy guaranteed that the participant would either land a Silver, Gold, or Platinum prize. With this program, the manufacturer was able to capture data from its participants based on their sales of the product.
Because sweepstake promotions are on the lower end budget-wise, they are easier to implement without breaking the bank. They can be of a simpler design, where participants are taken to another landing page and are asked to fill out a form on their own website. All these features are low-budget and cost-effective.
Game of skill
The next step up would be Game of Skill. Game of Skill promotions reward winners based on accuracy rather than chance. These promotions are a great way to get your audience engaged. Sports games like Fantasy Football and March Madness are very popular nowadays, so why not use them for your company’s benefit – just be mindful of copyright infringement!
With the football season fast approaching, hosting a Pick 6 challenge is a great way to collect data while getting participants engaged. With this program, you would need an outside platform to host the event where players could make 6 picks a week throughout the regular NFL season. If a player chooses a team that wins, they will receive points, but if they choose an underdog, they will be able to receive more points. You can have weekly prize options as well as a Grand Prize for the ultimate champion.
Capturing data here could mean having them fill out a form to gain access to the platform, or in some cases, the platform you use can have bonus questions to ask each week, giving them extra points upon completing them and thus more chances to win. Game of skill is a great way to get your audience engaged with something that interests them as well as to get the data that you need to succeed.
Game of skill promotion types is more costly than sweepstakes because most of the time they require an outside platform to function. This other platform will be easier to work with due to the backend labor required to host one of these promotions.
Gamification
The third option is gamification. In short, gamification takes any boring form and turns it into an interactive game. For example, instead of just emailing your contacts to fill out a form, you could turn it into a quiz. Stitch Fix does an excellent job of this with their style quiz. Participants start the quiz by entering their email. From there, they are asked several questions pertaining to their style. They can take part in a fun interactive quiz that allows them to receive a personal response. In addition, you can collect data that can help you understand your audience better and benefit your company.
Gamification can be the most expensive out of the three options, but don’t let that scare you. This is because, to create an amazing customer experience with this promotion, a high-end platform will most likely need to be implemented. However, a clever campaign can also do the trick if you’re crafty.
Conclusion
Each program offers something different, depending on what works best for you. You can choose one or a combination of them. Data is the key to understanding your new and existing customers or clients. Collecting data through clever promotions is not only a way to provide a fun user-experience, but it allows us to receive information that our audience was willing to give, making them feel better about giving data to us.
No matter which option you decide to work with, you will be able to collect the data you need to gain a well-rounded understanding of your audience. If you’re interested in learning more about these programs and the others HMI can offer, get in contact with someone today!
