Photo and Video Contests
Christmas Tree Photo Contest
Norfolk Daily News | Norfolk, NE
In the fifth year of the contest, the Norfolk Daily News hosted a Christmas tree photo contest. To drive participation, they structured the contest to include three categories; Designer’s Choice, Most Votes, and Most Unique. A local home decor company sponsored the campaign and provided prizes for each category. This year more than 55 people submitted photos of their decorated tree and over 500 people voted for their favorites.
Best Holiday Decorations Photo Contest
WWAY-TV | Wilmington, NC
This fun photo contest from WWAY was a big hit for their advertiser, a local real estate company. The promotion collected nearly 30 photos and 540 votes. And, utilizing a lead-generation on the registration form, the promotion led to five sales for the advertiser, a $30,000 value.
Christmas Star Jingle Jam Video Contest
WPOR-FM | Portland, ME
WPOR invited listeners to submit a video of them singing their favorite Christmas song for a chance to be the years’ Christmas Star! The campaign sponsor, a local credit union, provided one $200 gift card for the winner and two $100 gift cards for the two runner ups. Plus, all three winners each sing a Christmas carol on stage at the WPOR Jingle Jam event. The contest collected over 1,200 votes and more than 600 opt-ins for each of the stations’ two email lists.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our list of holiday photo contest ideas!
Quizzes
Do You Remember These Popular Christmas Toys?
The Deseret News | Salt Lake City, UT
The Deseret News used this turnkey trivia quiz to test their audience’s knowledge of Christmas toys through the years. A local credit union sponsored the promotion and provided a $100 gift card for a prize. The quiz was taken more than 1,830 times by 320 people, and 65 of those users entered the sweepstakes.
Can We Guess Your Go-To Christmas Food?
Belleville News-Democrat | Belleville, IL
The Belleville News-Democrat engage their readers with this fun turnkey personality quiz. They included a sweepstakes for a Target gift card to one random lucky winner to drive participation. More than 365 people took the quiz, 254 entered the sweepstakes, and the Belleville News-Democrat collected about 170 opt-ins for each of their two email lists.
For more ideas, check out our list of 22 Christmas quizzes!
Polls
First Christmas Song on CHYM
CHYM-FM | Kitchener, Ontario
The team at CHYM kicked off the holiday season by inviting their audience to vote for which Christmas song would be the first played this year. The poll drew more than 370 entries and brought in $1,000 in revenue for the station.
Which Christmas Tradition Could You Do Without?
Clarksville Now | Clarksville, TN
Clarksville Now engaged their readers with this fun twist on a Christmas traditions poll. They asked users to select the tradition they like the least, and their audience was eager to voice their opinions. The poll collected 200 responses and the paper gained 70 opt-ins for each of their two newsletters.
Ballots
Christmas Choir Competition
WJBR-FM | Wilmington, DE
To spread the joy of the holiday season, WJBR hosted a Christmas Choir Competition highlighting local choir groups. 12 choirs from the community were nominated and the songs from the top ten semi-finalists played on the WJBR to promote voting. The competition ended with 11,000 votes and collected nearly 2,100 opt-ins for the station.
Best Local Place to See Christmas Lights
WSLS-TV | Roanoke, VA
This ballot from WSLS asked viewers to vote for their favorite local place to enjoy Christmas lights. Nearly 200 locations were nominated and over 1,190 votes were collected. It was a hit promotion with their community. Many beautiful displays competed but the winner came out on top with 43% of the total votes. Plus, WSLS gained 200 opt-ins for their email list!
Sweepstakes
24 Days of Giving
Chattanooga Times Free Press | Chattanooga, TN
For the Christmas season, the team at the Chattanooga Times Free Press ran this month-long campaign highlighting local sponsors. Each day they ran an individual sweepstakes for one sponsor, with a prize from that sponsor. The campaign collected 14,500 entries across the 24 individual sweepstakes.
A Christmas Story the Musical Sweepstakes
Atlanta Journal-Constitution| Atlanta, GA
Christmas is the perfect time for shows! They’re a perfect family activity and some families even make them annual traditions. So the Atlanta Journal-Constitution partnered with Broadway Atlanta to run a sweepstakes giving away tickets to the performance. With a grand prize of a family four-pack of tickets to show and a four-pack of tickets to Zoo Atlanta (and a runner-up prize of two tickets to the show), the promotion collected over 2,000 entries, 970 opt-ins for the advertiser, and over 1,080 opt-ins for the paper
For more ideas on how to drive engagement, entries, and opt-ins this Christmas, check out our Winter Revenue Guide.
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Liz is the Senior Director of Customer Success and has an extensive background in media. She is a huge advocate of the power of promotions for every department within an organization, including sales, marketing, audience development, and editorial.