Audience Data
- *First Name: Used to identify and communicate with entrants and winners
- *Last Name: Used alongside first name and email address for contact and database management
- *Email Address: Essential for winner notification and future marketing communications for participants who opt in
- *Zip Code: Include this field if eligibility is limited to a specific geographic area and to help you better target future promotional and advertising efforts.
- Date of Birth: Important if contest eligibility requires entrants to be at least 18 years old. It also provides valuable demographic insights and can support your advertiser’s future initiatives such as birthday offers or special promotions
- Gender: Ask your advertiser whether gender data would support future marketing efforts. This information can also provide audience insights that help with future sales and targeting
* = Fields we suggest to be required
Opt-Ins
An opt-in for your advertiser is essential, so be sure to include one that is specific to your advertiser. Ideally, you will craft the opt-in to include an offer that will incentivize people to check the box. If your advertiser is a clothing retailer, you could write something like this:
Yes! I would like to join the Entourage Clothing VIP email list & always be the first to know about new merchandise – before it hits the racks. Plus, get 20% off just for joining!
Here is an example of a great opt-in in action:
Also keep in mind that you can continuously build your own email databases by including your own opt-ins on the registration form as well. These could be opt-ins to receive emails about future promotions, your deals programs, breaking news, and more. Just remember not to overload your form with opt-ins – keep it at 3 opt-ins max.
Lead Generating Questions
This is the section of the entry form that will yield the most valuable (and actionable!) information for your advertiser.
We suggest adding up to 3 lead-gen questions to the entry form to drop off. Work with your advertiser to craft questions that will help them achieve their business goals.
When WBYR-FM created a custom, syndicated sweepstakes for 3 Rivers Remodeling, they included lead-gen questions on the registration form asking the following:
- What home improvements are you planning?
- How soon are you hoping to start your project?
- Would you like to receive a free, no obligation quote from 3 Rivers Remodeling?
Out of the 688 sweepstakes entrants, 55 said they planned to begin their project in 1-3 months, and 128 people said they wanted to begin their projects as soon as possible. Furthermore, 56 people said that they would like to receive a free quote. These are hot leads the advertiser can quickly turn into sales, especially equipped with the knowledge of the project they are planning and when they want to start.
To learn even more about how to craft the optimal lead-gen questions – plus see another case study that drove results for the advertiser, check out this article.
Social Media Follows
Advertisers now are looking for more than just email list growth. Social media plays a huge factor in their marketing strategy, and is also typically a goal they’ll mention in your customer needs analysis.
Include fields for any of the social media channels they’d like to grow. Focus on the one or two that they are most keen on growing.
Extra Chances
Extra chances are a HUGE way to entice your audience in taking actions that will help fulfill your advertiser’s goals. Include extra chances strategically – was social media growth a major goal they mentioned? Add social media follows as extra chances!
Bringing It All Together
By including customer data fields, strategic opt-ins, thoughtful survey questions, social media follows, and extra chances in your entry forms, you can create real value for advertisers and deliver measurable results.
That’s good news for your advertiser and for your business. Successful campaigns generate stronger ROI, create opportunities for future advertising and promotional programs, and provide compelling case studies that can help you sell similar campaigns to other advertisers.
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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.