Show Us Your Game Face – Post and Courier
*2017 Second Street Award – Best Photo Contest Winner
This contest was a big success for both the paper and their sponsor, Charleston Mix – a regional drink mix company. The paper was able to secure $19,000 in revenue, 1,368 emails for their general marketing database, and also added 1,348 for their college sports newsletter. Not only was their title sponsor pleased about their increased brand awareness, they learned valuable data through survey questions, and added over 1,200 addresses to their own database.
Family Smiles Photo Contest Bundle – Record-Journal
Working with a local dental group, the Record-Journal created a bundle of six photo contests which would run annually. To generate leads, the photo contests each had survey questions asking if users were looking for a new dentist, experiencing dental issues, and when their last visit was. To increase the value of the campaign, the paper follows up with the leads through a drip email campaign based on the survey results. The whole campaign generated over $26,000 in revenue for the paper and many new clients for the dentist.
Jersey’s Cutest Pet – WJRZ-FM
Cutest pet contests are always a winner. With more than 26,000 pageviews and 9,000 votes, this contest was a big hit with the WJRZ fanbase. By incorporating an opt-in, the station was able to add over 400 new members to their email newsletter. With five participating sponsors, the station was also able to secure $5,800 in revenue.
Backyard Makeover – WPRT-FM
Home improvement makeovers are an incredibly popular photo contest category. WPRT, The Game, found a ton of success from their backyard makeover contest. Not only did the station drive $18,000 in revenue from their four sponsors, but this was also new business for them. While each photo in the contest was a potential hot lead, survey questions also had 105 people request a free soil analysis and test from the title sponsor.
Home Inspirations Contest – Newsday Media Group
Federal Credit Union was looking to supplement their standing advertising buy and grow their email database. We secured them to be the title sponsor of our Home Inspirations photo contest. Based on the photo submissions and their captions, one grand prize winner of the contest would receive $10,000 to improve an area of their home. The contest brought in over 140 qualified entries, nearly 7,000 votes, and $20,000 in incremental revenue.
Honoring Our Heroes – Topeka Capital-Journal
The Topeka Capital-Journal was looking for a way to honor the military in their community. Entrants were asked to submit photos of local military veterans to be published in a special section of the paper. The paper was able to secure a local credit union as the sponsor of the contest and the special section for $5,000. 300 photos were submitted and the credit union and the paper both added over 120 email opt-ins to their databases.
Total Mom Moment – KNDE-FM
Mother’s Day is perfect inspiration for photo contests. KNDE-FM was able to secure nearly $5,000 from multiple sponsors including a title sponsorship from a local dentist. Through survey questions, they identified hundreds of leads and 66 people asked to be contacted by the dentist.
Photo contests are proving time and time again they can deliver big results for media companies and their advertisers. Make sure you’re incorporating photo contests into your promotions calendar.
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Julie is the Senior Customer Success Manager at Second Street and a former client in local media. Her best advice for driving the most success with your revenue and audience engagement strategy is to include promotions in every business initiative.