Online Competitions as a marketing ploy?

Anyone had any experience of running an online competition, as a means of a marketing exercise.

eg, "sign up and have a chance of winning an iPod" etc

Be interested to hear how anyones experiences or pitfalls.

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cheers Steve
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You Kidding.........It's what I did for 10 years!

Pluses
Comps are great for brand awareness, building up a database lists, encouragement to try or buy and can be placed on many competition related directories and websites.

Pitfalls
Competition Junkies! Some people spend all day, every day search the web for competitions to enter. They will never in a million years buy anything or use your services. Be careful you stay within the "prize draw" rules and regs otherwise you can find yourself a the edge of the lottery rules and regs and that's a whole different ball game!

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French Doors | Folding Sliding Doors | Folding Doors

Aha! Yeah I knew that

I think we can bypass the comp junkies by making it business owners only.

Been reading up on the lottery regs, now I see why brain drain daytime TV has those daft questions "what is the capital of the UK" to win a £1000... so you need to prove their is an element of skill and it is not a game of pure chance - lottery!

May have to tap you for some more info if we decide to give it a go

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cheers Steve
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We have just finished running one for a client it went mad we did it for an IPAD2 within 3 hours it was all over the comp sites and he has over 13,000 email addresses now but the likely hood is 99% are probably never ever going to buy anything

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Online Marketing Cheltenham | SEO Cotswolds

interesting feedback, key seems to be to try and ensure any entries are targeted.

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cheers Steve
Forum Admin - teaboy and general gofer...

Forum Rules and FAQ's at a glance | Find me on Google+ | or even Facebook!

My Local Services - The UK and US Online Business Directory | JobsVitae - Recruitment Help and CV Creation

If you're here to spam, then expect a ban

It also doesn't enter into the lottery rules IF it is a free to enter prize draw and they do not have to purchase anything to gain an entry. Make sure that you also have clear rules on how it will be drawn, when it will be drawn, when the winner will be notified, how other entrants can see who the winner(s) are (either displayed somewhere on the site or via writing to an address), how you will notify the winner, how the winner claims, any date of void win ( eg not claimed within 28 days of notification will mean the prize is void), any PR you will may wish to do regarding the win, any comments or photos from the winner will be your property to use as and where you please plus many more depending on how you intend to run the competition/prize draw!

Anytime Steve - happy to share my competition wisdom

That's because you have attracted competition junkies and they have posted it on all the forums.

Also you can't actually use the email addresses from these entries unless you have specifically stated in the terms and conditions that anyone entering will receive marketing mail. If you didn't do this, you will be breaking the Data Protection Act and liable if you use any of the entrants personal details for marketing purposes!.....you have been warned

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