Offer a fantastic prizes
The promotion isn’t called a BIG giveaway for nothing! You need to give away the WHOLE wedding, including the venue, flowers, jewelry, entertainment (band or DJ), attire for bride and groom, catering, honeymoon, cake, and photography. You could even take it a step further and include an event planner, lighting, bartenders, car rental, ice sculptures, a photo booth, and a videographer. After all, the more vendors you involve, the more sponsorship revenue you generate.
Secure the event venue first
Event spaces often have blackout dates, and many have in-house catering or preferred vendors. Pick the date for your wedding giveaway based on their schedule, and talk to them about their preferred partners. This information will help you fill out the rest of your giveaway lineup. As you are targeting venues to work with, keep in mind that 39% of wedding receptions are held in banquet halls or hotels, 16% are held in outdoor venues, and 12% take place at a golf course or country club.
Keep your rules clear and simple
When you write your contest rules, make sure that there is absolutely no gray area. Be sure to include both who is eligible to win (consider age, location, and so on) and how prizes are awarded. Work with your vendors to write a contract that stipulates exactly what they will be giving away. And remember – always have your legal team look over your contest rules before going live!
Align the giveaway with any existing initiatives
If you publish a wedding special section, consider putting a full page spread showcasing what people can win if they enter. If you produce a bridal show, wrap your contest promotion into the show. Think booth signage, on-site entries, and more! If you don’t have any existing wedding initiatives, you can still time your wedding giveaway strategically. The vast majority of engagements last between 7 and 18 months (67%), and the most popular month to get engaged is December, so by running your promotion in the early spring (February – April) you can catch people at the beginning of their engagement before they get serious about planning.
Promote like crazy
Your wedding giveaway is a big event, so be sure to treat it as such when you promote. Consider promoting with a mix of email marketing, online ads, print ads, POP displays, event promotion, Facebook posts, Instagram hashtags, Twitter hashtags, and any other avenues available to you.
Cover the wedding
When the winning couple gets married, put together a special piece about the wedding. If you’re a newspaper, put the story in your Lifestyle section to share it with your readers and showcase the vendors that participated in the promotion. If you’re a TV station, consider broadcasting the entire ceremony. If you are a radio station, have on-air talent do a remote from the venue and blog about the wedding. In any case, create hype for the following year’s giveaway by leave the story online with a photo gallery all year long.
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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.