The Three New Rules Of Effective Online Promotions
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The Three New Rules of Effective Online Promotions Eric Anderson VP of Emerging Media White Horse
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Webinar Download Available: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/244569688The pressure's on for marketers to make 2+2=5 in Q4 to finish the year strong. There's one tool in the marketing arsenal that's perfect for a short-term surge: the online promotion.In this presentation, you'll learn how to choose the right promotion type - sweepstakes, UGC contest, instant win, etc. - and engagement tactics to maximize your business goals with minimum cost.
Transcript of The Three New Rules Of Effective Online Promotions
The Three New Rulesof Effective Online Promotions
Eric AndersonVP of Emerging Media
White Horse
Admit it: You think promotions are a little tacky.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
The Web has broadened their appeal, but they still run the gamut….
From the wretched…
To the sublime.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
The essence of a promotion has never changed. At its core, it’s a very simple idea:
It’s about getting people to do one thing when you really want them to do something else.
People are wary of that, so you also have to give them prizes.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
But promotions are also evolving, especially now that they can be texted, tweeted, tagged, etc.
You need three new rules to make sense of all this:Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get. (But sometimes less is more).Rule #2: Promoting=branding.Rule #3: Be sociable.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
Start out with the most basic question: What’s more important to you – volume or content?
Sweepstakes = volume
Contest = content
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
There’s a basic equilibrium underlying all promotions.
Volume of Entries
Quality of Content
Instant-Win Sweeps
Enter-to-Win Sweeps
Text-Only Contest
Video/Photo Contest
Completely Unscientific and Reductive but Still Reliable Scatterplot of Volume vs.
Content Considerations in Various Promotion Types
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
At the risk of being even more reductive, it all comes down to the entry form.The number and type of fields is a very good predictor of volume of responses.
Better response rate.
Poorer response rate.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
The instant-win sweepsBusiness goals: traffic volume, opt-in volumeIdeal for generating volume in a compressed time period. Generally higher administrative burden due to higher fraud risk and daily management.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
The enter-to-win sweepsBusiness goals: traffic volume, opt-in volumeEasiest to execute and administer. Generally lower volume than instant-win.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
User-generated content contest – text onlyBusiness goals: Brand interaction, useable content, loyalty buildingRicher interactions, highly participatory, but generally lower volume
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
User-generated content contest – video/photoBusiness goals: Brand interaction, useable content, loyalty buildingRichest interactions, but significantly lower volume than all other methods
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
Most sweeps/contest entries occur during work hours. Therefore, asking participants for anything that’s not accessible at work will turn most of them away.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #1: The more you ask for, the less you get.
Equilibrium applies to the prize pool too. In general, a few big prizes won’t perform as well as many small ones.
Vacation in the Alps
50 pairs of hiking boots
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #2: Promoting = branding
The brand impact varies by promotion type, but every promotion is a brand interaction.
For better…
Or for worse.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #2: Promoting = branding
Even a simple sweeps is an opportunity to reinforce the brand by making the theme relevant and the interaction meaningful.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #2: Promoting = branding
UGC contests are the very best brand interactions you can have with your customers. What could be better than turning your brand evangelists into content producers?
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #2: Promoting = branding
But that’s also where most UGC contests fall short.Another rule of thumb: if you ask for content, use the content.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #3: Be sociable.
The most obvious way to make a promotion more sociable is to allow users to share and rate content.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #3: Be sociable.
The limitation: your promo site isn’t actually a social network.Most users will enter the contest then exit the site like a house on fire.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #3: Be sociable.
The alternative: run the promo on a social network site, where rating and sharing is what it’s all about.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #3: Be sociable.
Another major advantage to running contests on the social networks: you’re allowing users to enter content they’ve already created.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Rule #3: Be sociable.
More entries for less development cost… What’s the downside?
Traffic diversion away from your Web site.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Recession-Friendly Bonus Rule #1: Seed for free.
No matter where the promo takes place, if you’re not seeding it, you’re missing most of your potential traffic.
This includes vertical content forums…
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Recession-Friendly Bonus Rule #1: Seed for free.
…and contest/sweepstakes aggregators.
Yes, they have names like MrFreeFree. But they do work.
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Recession-Friendly Bonus Rule #2: Reskin, recycle, reuse.
Demand economy of scale from multiple promotions: develop and own logic that can be reskinned and reused.
Same engine and interface, entirely different promos
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
Recession-Friendly Bonus Rule #3: Hire White Horse.
THANK YOU.
Eric AndersonVP of Emerging Media
© 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.
