The Three New Rules Of Effective Online Promotions

The Three New Rules

of Effective Online Promotions

Eric Anderson

VP of Emerging Media

White Horse

Admit it: You think promotions are a little tacky.

The Web has broadened their appeal, but they still run the gamut….

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.

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.

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.

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.

The instant-win sweeps Business goals: traffic volume, opt-in volume Ideal 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.

The enter-to-win sweeps Business goals: traffic volume, opt-in volume Easiest to execute and administer. Generally lower volume than instant-win. © 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.

User-generated content contest – text only Business goals: Brand interaction, useable content, loyalty building Richer interactions, highly participatory, but generally lower volume © 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.

User-generated content contest – video/photo Business goals: Brand interaction, useable content, loyalty building Richest interactions, but significantly lower volume than all other methods © 2009 White Horse Productions, Inc. Content may not be reused without permission.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.