$50K Revenue & 1,400+ Opt-ins from Home Fix Up Sweeps

Case Study Highlights

• $50,000 revenue for Entercom Portland
• 5 sponsors in single shared contest
• 1,400+ email opt-ins for sponsors
• Hundreds of hot, qualified leads

The Idea

For the fifth year in a row, the team at Entercom Portland (including six radio stations) put together the Ultimate Fix Up sweepstakes. In the past, they created a single shared sweepstakes between multiple advertisers, but this year they hoped to drive more measurable results for each participating sponsor. By providing more valuable results for our sponsors, they also had the intention of driving even more revenue for their stations this year.

The Execution

As their sales team started to reach out to potential sponsors, they had two big opportunities to pitch to the advertisers. Each participating advertiser would get the benefits of an individual contest combined with the benefit of massive branding and awareness that comes from a shared contest. Additionally, they limited participation to specific home improvement categories – this year it was for roofing, foundation repair, vacuums, appliances, and plumbing – making each category a single exclusive sponsorship.

Next the team had to tackle the challenge of shifting their Ultimate Fix Up contest from a single sweepstakes, while still giving it the appearance of a unified contest amongst all their sponsors. To accomplish this, they set up a unique contest for each advertiser, created a ballot to host the five contests, and placed it on the umbrella page of the Ultimate Fix Up contest.

Each advertiser was expected to put up a $500 credit to their business, and participants were given the chance to enter up to five times – once for every participating business. So, in total, one listener won a $2,500 credit to any of the participating stores.

In the past, with a shared single contest, it was hard to qualify the leads generated. So, while each of the five contests were set up to retrieve the same demographic information, each business was allowed an opt-in for their company and two custom survey questions. At Entercom Portland, it’s important to create survey questions that will deliver qualified leads for their advertisers.

Here’s what the five participating companies used:

• Stark’s Vacuums
  • Is your vacuum not working as well as it should be?
  • Do you plan on replacing your vacuum in the next 12 months?
• Aaron’s Furniture, Electronics, Appliances
  • Do you have poor credit or have you been turned down for credit before?
  • Are you planning to purchase furniture, appliances, or home electronics in the next 3 months?
• George Morlan Plumbing Supply
  • How old is your water heater?
  • Do you plan on replacing your water heater within the next 12 months?
• Giron Roofing, LLC.
  • How old is your roof?
  • Do you plan on replacing your roof within the next 12 months?
• TerraFirma Foundation Systems
  • During this last winter or spring, have you noticed water seeping into your crawlspace?
  • You might have a cracked foundation if: windows don’t open or close, doors get stuck, or you have uneven floors. Do any of these symptoms apply to your home?

To market the sweepstakes, the Entercom Portland team had a strong email campaign throughout the run of the contest. They sent a kick-off email to their contest database and leveraged A/B testing to pick the most successful subject line – “Own your home? You should enter the Ultimate Fix Up!”

They also sent a dedicated email from each of their five sponsors throughout the contest. In addition to email, they also promoted the contest heavily on-air, on their website, and through social media posts.

The Results

The team was ecstatic about the results of this contest. All together, the contest brought in over 2,000 entries, and they were able to collect almost 1,400 email addresses for their clients. But beyond email, they were able to deliver a list of hot, qualified leads to all five sponsors.

For the foundation repair company, 11 people requested to be contacted by phone – 10 of which showed signs of a crumbling foundation. With an average sale price of $3,000-$5,000 for foundation repair, it was important to us to showcase the immediate return on investment. Beyond the leads for their advertisers, this was also a big win for Entercom Portland as it brought in $50,000 in revenue ($10,000 for each sponsor).