Mistakes are part of life, and none of us are perfect. Now that we have that out of the way, over the years we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) about some things to watch out for as you execute your next online promo.

 Activation, activation, activation – Deja vu, anyone?  You may have seen us talk about this before but thinking ahead about activation is about the best thing you can do to avoid a less-than-desirable outcome.  No one wants to put all the money and time into a promo, and then fall flat on entries or any other objective.  One key to avoiding that is making sure you have enough activation to get things rolling.  Furthermore, a promotion is typically short-lived, maybe 60 days or less, which means you don’t really have time to let activation be an after-thought.

Cheaping Out on the Prizes – You don’t need to have wildly expensive prizes, but you want them to be attractive enough to make the promo exciting.  Really, the bigger the prize the better your outcome…ever heard of Publisher’s Clearinghouse?  Everyone wants that giant check delivered to their door.  There are ways to deploy a big, splashy prize without breaking the bank: We’d love to talk to you about some of our promo types that will accomplish just that! 
We can help you make sure your prize matches your customers ambition when it comes to their objectives.

Overlooking Easy Opportunities – Yes, the primary objective is to collect emails for future email marketing campaigns, but a good giveaway can do oh-so-much-more.  Consider, trying to educate your audience about your brand on losing screens. How about sending coupons or even having a secondary “offer game” after the main instant win game?  One-time-use (OTU) coupons are a great way to get people into a store or onto a website.  These are all simple add-ons that can leverage your promotion for maximum value. (Shameless plug: yes, our RSP Promotion Engine does all these and more!)