Tips and Best Practices for Running a Winning Online Contest

Presented to Absolute Software | May 29, 2009 Affect Strategies Affect & Strutta Present BEST PRACTICES FOR RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST

OVERVIEW RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta

OVERVIEW RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST
Today’s Webinar
I. Best practices for running online contests
Before, during & after
II. Case study: The New York Intern Project
III. Q&A with Leslie and Ben
July 2011 Affect & Strutta

Presented to Absolute Software | May 29, 2009 Affect Strategies Part I Best Practices for Online Contests

WHY ONLINE CONTESTS? RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta Why run an online contest?

WHY ONLINE CONTESTS? RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta Online contests are not “checkboxes.” Thoughtful preparation yields the best results.

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST
Check Yourself
What do you hope to gain by hosting an online contest?
Marketing goals (lead gen)
PR goals (brand awareness)
Social media goals (engagement, traffic)
Sales goals (sales)

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST Who is the Target Audience? July 2011 Affect & Strutta You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but you can please some of the people some of the time. Be specific.

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST Pick the contest type best suited to your target audience and goals. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST How will you measure success? Look to your goals for inspiration and don’t be afraid to set benchmarks. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST What does the workflow look like? Put another way: How much time is this going to take to manage? And who will manage it? July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST Timelines are your friend. They are key for managing expectations internally and externally. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

If you build it – AND PROMOTE IT – they will come.
Paid media
Earned media
Integration into existing PR, social media & marketing efforts

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST The prize can make or break your contest! It is your biggest incentive for participation. Be creative and don’ t skimp. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST Who’ s going to design this thing? Does your contest provider offer design and development support? July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST Lean on your provider for logistics like Facebook integration. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST What content works and why? Glad you asked. July 2011 Affect & Strutta

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST To moderate or not to moderate… July 2011 Affect & Strutta

You have more voting options than you think.
Popular vote, private judging or combination
Voting versus rating
Voting frequency

Don’t get caught without your papers.
Consult a lawyer or work with a promotion agency
Evaluation criteria must be well defined
Be aware of restrictions that apply to your contest type (like sweepstakes)

Communication is key.
Plan to follow up with entrants and voters consistently.

Other technical considerations to keep in mind include…
Domain set-up
User login requirements
Mobile compatibility

BEFORE RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta As you can see, 90% of what makes an online contest successful happens before the contest goes live. The other 10%?

DURING RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST
Stay on top of things by sticking to your workflow.
Moderation
Daily KPI check-ins
Communications
Promotions

DURING RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST How much time will pass before I know it’s working? When do I start freaking out? July 2011 Affect & Strutta

DURING RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST There is no freaking out. Because there is always a “Plan B.” July 2011 Affect & Strutta

AFTER RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST
You’ve made new friends. Keep them!

Presented to Absolute Software | May 29, 2009 Affect Strategies Part II Case Study: The New York Intern Project

CASE STUDY: NEW YORK INTERN PROJECT RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST July 2011 Affect & Strutta

CASE STUDY: NEW YORK INTERN PROJECT RUNNING AN ONLINE CONTEST
Our Goals
Create corporate campaign that highlights our agency’s core competencies
Lead generation – find a great intern
Brand awareness – higher probability of future great interns
Use it as an opportunity for experimentation, learning and mastery of the platform

Target Audience
Prospective interns
College students and recent grads
Intern influencers and voters
Schools, friends, family
Public relations and social media professionals
Trade and local media

Contest Type
User-generated content
Photo or video
Text
Quality could not be compromised for quantity!

Success Metrics
A great intern
Lead generation
Number of entrants, voters and commenters
Brand awareness
Media, social media and WOM activity
Traffic and follower upticks

Affect Team Workflow
Project Lead (40-50h per month)
Moderation, vendor management, account oversight and accountability, reporting
Social Media Support
Dedicated hours integrating campaign into overall Affect social media program
Public Relations Support
Dedicated hours writing and pitching media, reaching out to universities

Top-Level Campaign Timeline
October – first brainstorming call with Strutta
November – the plan comes together
December – project timeline created
January – preparations begin
February – launch
March – midway point, 6 finalists
April – in-person voting round
May – winner announced, internship starts!

Promotion Strategy
Earned media
Paid media
Craigslist!
Integration into existing Affect public relations, marketing and social media efforts

Prizing
Cash prize
Housing stipend
Detailed description of the nature of the internship

Design
Name, tagline and copywriting: Affect
Logo: THEM!
Video: Serko Artinian
Custom development and social media integration: Strutta

Strutta’s Tips
Have entries in the queue before you launch
They recommended our timeline
They also recommended our voting protocol based on our needs
And helped us to secure Guy Kawasaki as a judge!
Always available to answer questions, troubleshoot and give us advice

Results
96 entries, 165 comments, 14,360 votes
Mix of video and photo entries
60% increase in website traffic; 46% increase in blog traffic
Nearly 500 additional “Likes” on Facebook; more than 230 additional Twitter followers
Winner, Pat Gotham

What Would We Do Differently?
Build in a “Wild Card”
More aggressive media relations
Make sure judges are aligned with our rubric
Adjust the prizing to reflect what really matters to entrants

Next Steps
LinkedIn Group
Do it again in 2012?
Sponsors?
Other agencies?
Apply what we have learned to our other accounts

For more information, visit www.nyinternproject.com
affect.com facebook.com/affect techaffect.com @teamaffect
July 2011 Affect & Strutta strutta.com facebook.com/strutta strutta.com/blog @strutta

Presented to Absolute Software | May 29, 2009 Affect Strategies Part III Q&A Leslie Campisi * lcampisi@affect.com Ben Pickering * ben@strutta.com

Tips and Best Practices for Running a Winning Online Contest

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Tips and Best Practices for Running a Winning Online Contest — Presentation Transcript

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