Promotions are one of the best tools to procure high quality leads for your clients. We have created a checklist to help you run the BEST lead-generating promotion campaign for your customers. This checklist will provide you with the best practices to deliver the highest participation and best results and ROI for your advertisers!
Prospect Advertisers That Value Leads
What are the types of business that value leads? They are the types of businesses that understand that it’s more important to them to generate 10 quality leads than 1,000 entries into a contest.
These businesses will usually tell you one or all three of these things are important to them in an advertising campaign:
- Gain email permission
- Collect consumer data
- Have a trackable ROI
Types of businesses that value leads are usually in Home Services, Healthcare, Legal and Real Estate. Click here to download the Sellers Guide that will help you determine which advertisers to target!
Conduct a Thorough CNA (Customer Needs Analysis)
When talking to customers about a lead-generating campaign, it’s important to conduct a Customer Needs Analysis. You won’t be able to ask the necessary questions about their Company or Business without knowing what is most important to them and how they want to attract customers. Here are questions you should be asking:
Business:
- What are your main goals for the next 6 months?
- What differentiates you from other businesses like yours in the market?
Ideal Customer/Client/Patient:
- Who is your target audience?
- What are 3 things you want to know about a potential customer/client/patient?
Pipeline/Sales Strategy:
- What is the average amount spent per visit?
- How many leads do you need to convert to one paying customer/one new client or patient?
CNA questions for each advertiser category can be found in our Seller’s Guide!
Pick the Right Promotion Type
Using their answers from the CNA, you should align your client’s sales cycles and profit centers with the right promotion type. Based on their goals, you should choose the promotion type that aligns with delivering the highest ROI. Here are promotion types for driving leads.
Sweepstakes
These are the lowest barrier to entry for a user. They are a simple enter to win contest, with a customizable registration form that allows you to capture first party data, ask lead gen questions, and collect email opt-ins.
We offer four different types of sweepstakes contests:
- Sweepstakes – Users enter the contest for a chance to win. The winner is determined by a random draw.
- Codeword Sweepstakes – Users must obtain a specific word or phrase in order to enter the contest. The winner is determined by a random draw.
- Photo Sweepstakes – Users upload a photo for a chance to win. The winner is determined by a random draw.
- Video Sweepstakes – Users upload a video, for a chance to win. The winner is determined by a random draw.
Quiz
Quizzes educate and engage your audience around a subject or product. Users get to test their knowledge and learn something new. There is an optional sweepstakes and registration that can be customized, allowing you to capture first party data, ask lead gen questions, and collect email opt-ins.
We offer two different types of quizzes:
- Trivia – Users receive an outcome based on how questions they answer correctly
- Personality – Users receive an out based on how they answer each question. There is no right or wrong answer.
Voting Bracket
This is a dead-to-head bracket in which the entrant with the most votes will move on to the next round of the bracket until a final winner is determined. Brackets engage audiences around people’s passions, whether that is doughnuts or sports teams!
- Supports up to 64 entrants
- Optional entrant photo & description
- Built-in ad unit within bracket
- Customizable registration form that allows you to capture first party data, ask lead gen questions, and collect email opt-ins.
Photo/Video Voting Contest
Photo or video contests allow users to submit photos or videos, and the winner is determined by the most votes received. Photo/Video voting contests are highly shareable as entrants will campaign among their friends and family to register to vote for their photo or video.
- Supports separate submission and voting phases
- Optional sweepstakes feature for everyone who enters and/or votes
- Customizable registration is required for both submission and voting phases, allowing you to capture first party data, ask lead gen questions, and collect email opt-ins
Ballot
Ballots allow users to nominate and vote for entrants within specific categories to determine a winner within that category.
We offer two different ballot types.
- Voting Ballot – Single phase ballot that supports both seeded entrants and a write-in option
- Nomination & Voting Ballot – A two-phase ballot that has separate nomination and voting phases
Both ballot types offer the below features:
- Multiple built ad units within the ballot
- Optional sweepstakes feature for everyone who enters and/or votes
- Customizable registration form that allows you to capture first party data, ask lead gen questions, and collect email opt-ins
Choose the Right PRIZE
The prize is the hook! It can make or break a promotion’s success. When deciding on a prize with your client remember, R+V= P. Relevance + Value = Participation. In Lead – Gen Campaigns, the prize should be directly related to the advertiser’s business.
Prize Examples:
- Audiologist: Pair of Hearing Aids
- Dentist: Teeth Whitening or Invisalign
- HVAC: New Furnace or AC
- Financial: Estate Planning Meeting
If the prize has a low value or isn’t related to the client’s business, you will have low participation. The more relevant and valuable a prize is to the client’s target audience, the more participation you will drive with the highest quality leads. Check out more prize ideas here!
Create the Campaign
Whether you’re creating your very first promotion or you’re a veteran, building the perfect package and pricing it correctly takes a bit of practice. We’ve put together a complete guide to packaging and pricing your promotions and tailored them to fit your specific industry. Download your kit now!
- Sample Promotions Pricing for Newspapers
- Sample Promotions Pricing for Magazines
- Sample Promotions Pricing for Radio
- Sample Promotions Pricing for TV
Craft the Perfect Lead-Generation Questions
There are 4 different types of lead generating questions you can include on your registration form. They are:
Informational Questions
- Gathering information from entrants
- e.g. Did you know that we offer financing? Yes/no
Buying-Intent Questions
- Defining
- e.g. When do you plan to purchase a new vehicle? Include a drop down of up to 4 options for users to choose from
- e.g. How much do you usually spend on ___?
Category-Specific Questions
- These questions drill down into a specific category
- How old is your current___?
- Are you or is someone you love in need of___?
Qualifying Question
- Asking for
- May we contact you to discuss our products/services?
Have An Opt-In For The Advertiser
There are two types of opt-ins:
- Checkbox – User simply checks a box agreeing to receive messages from the advertiser
- Yes/No – Users select Yes or No to a specific question. E.g. Would you like to be contacted to schedule an estimate?
Opt-In Best Practices:
- Do not pre-check your opt-ins. This can cause fraudulent emails to get into your (and your advertisers) database which could then lead to in spam traps in the future. All opt-ins should be unchecked.
- Your advertiser should have their own unique opt-in that is specific to them.
- Do not use a generic opt-in or re-use/edit an existing opt-in.
- Be careful not to overload your registration form with opt-ins. The best practice for how many opt-ins should be on a registration form is three at a maximum.
- Enable Notify & Share to securely share opt-in and lead-gen information with your advertiser in real time.
Promotion Page
- Header Graphic – Should be representative of the contest, the advertiser, and your media company.
- Call to Action – Just like the subject line of an email, it should engage users. Ex. Your baby’s chance to become a Star! The winning baby will receive $500, a studio portrait session from Photographs by Hand and become the face of the 2022 97.3 WMEE Baby Fair and Family Expo.
- Highlight the PRIZE – Relevance + Value = participation Ex. The winning baby will receive $500, a studio portrait session from Photographs by Hand and become the face of the 2022 97.3 WMEE Baby Fair and Family Expo.
Registration Page
Keep it Simple
- Collect user demo data based on media company requirements
- Email, first, last, DOB, postal code
Lead-Gen Questions for the Client (3 max)
- Questions should be crafted based on advertiser CNA to qualify/identify potential customers.
- Ex. Have you bought or sold at Kid to Kid in Glenbrook Commons Fort Wayne? Yes/No
- Ex. Would you enjoy helping others by reselling your children’s outgrown clothing, toys, shoes and maternity items? Yes/No
Opt-ins
- Core media company newsletters and a single opt-in for the CLIENT (There should be no more than three opt-ins on a registration form).
- Ex. Yes, I would like to receive event, sales, discount information from Kid to Kid?
Enable Notify & Share to securely share opt-in and lead gen information with your advertiser in real time.
Enable Extra Chances
Extra Chances incentivize users to take action to have a higher chance of winning by sharing with friends, answering additional questions, clicking on a link, or watching a video.
You can add Extra Chances within:
- Sweepstakes
- Codeword Sweepstakes
- Personality Quizzes
- Trivia Quizzes
You can apply Extra Chances to any of these field types: Checkbox (Lead-Gen field type), Drop Down (Lead-Gen field type), Opt-in, Watching a Video, Clicking a Link, Mobile App, Alexa Skill, Facebook, Instagram, Date, Multiple Checkboxes, Multiple Choice, Number, Text, Text (Long Response), Refer a Friend
Follow Along & Follow Up
Follow along during the promotion to see how it is pacing. If it isn’t pacing well, know the levers you can pull to help the promotion
- Send another invitation email
- Put out more promotional materials for the campaign
Follow up with the DATA
- Sharable Dashboard – Share the results of the promotion directly with the advertiser
- Invite Email Stats
- Core Media Promotion – Print/air/digital ad impressions etc.
- Page Analytics
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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.