With the overwhelming number of new Web sites being added to the Internet on a daily basis, how do you distinguish yours from the rest? 

More and more companies are using sweepstakes promotions as a way to attract people to their Web sites. Holding a legitimate sweepstakes is an excellent way to attract attention to your company and its products. It's also a way to reward customer loyalty to your established client base. 

Major companies such as Kellogg’s, Proctor & Gamble, Clairol, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, M&M Mars, Taco Bell, Johnson & Johnson, Better Homes & Gardens, Visa, and Disney have used sweepstakes successfully for decades to attract new customers and to reward their loyal customers. Typically, sweepstakes have been used with more traditional printed media methods, but with the explosion of the Internet, many companies now enjoy the ability to promote their sweepstakes online. Whether you choose to establish your sweepstakes online, through more traditional print methods, or a combination of both, there are things you need to consider before you begin. This article focuses on those things you need to consider before creating and promoting an online sweepstakes. 

Planning Your Promotion

As with any good marketing promotion, you need to plan the event carefully. To have a successful sweepstakes promotion, you need to:
· Consider your goals
· Target your audience
· Determine the structure
· Promote your event

Considering Your Goals 

First, consider your goals for having a sweepstakes. That's easy--you want to generate traffic to your Web site, correct? Sponsoring a legitimate sweepstakes is one way to do that. If one of your goals is to get feedback for a new product, instead of sponsoring a sweepstakes, you might want to consider offering a small gift or sample to those who would try your product in return for giving you feedback. If one of your goals is to get feedback about your Web site, then you can build questions into a sweepstakes entry form that will accomplish that. If you want to expose consumers to a new product, offering a sample as a sweepstakes prize is an excellent way to generate interest. If one of your goals is to increase your hit counter to maximize advertising potential for your Web site, then sponsoring a sweepstakes will accomplish that, too. 
 

Targeting Your Audience 

You should match the offer of your promotion to the goals you are trying to achieve and the audience you are trying to attract. If you are trying to attract a general audience, then you can give away a general prize such as cash, gift certificates, or general merchandise such as a TV, stereo, bikes, and so forth. Do you sell a product? Do you perform a service? Offer a sample of your product or a trial period of your service as a prize. The people who enter your sweepstakes will be targeted more towards your product or service. You will most definitely attract fewer entrants, but those people will be more likely to purchase your product or service in the future. 

Take some time to really think about what you offer as a prize. You don’t have to give away large prizes to get a good response, but don’t skimp on the prizes, either. There are hundreds of sites giving away T-shirts, mousepads, coffee mugs, and free Web pages. Your promotion will get lost in the myriad of other sites giving away similar prizes. 

Once you decide the prize offerings for your sweepstakes, you can begin to form the structure of your promotion. 
 

Determining the Structure of Your Sweepstakes 

There are different types of sweepstakes and contest promotions that you can sponsor. The type you choose depends on how you would like your promotion to be handled. 

Sweepstakes are those promotions in which the sponsors do not require any purchase or monetary exchange to enter. Any legal sweepstakes must provide a way for people to enter without purchasing anything. This is typically when sponsors require entrants to mail their names, addresses, and phone numbers on a 3x5 piece of paper or index card. Online, you can provide an e-mail address to which entrants can send their entries or you can have them fill in an online entry form. 

Raffles are those promotions in which you would require entrants to purchase tickets for a set amount of money. Raffles don’t attract as much attention as sweepstakes, for obvious reasons. 

Contests are those promotions in which the sponsor requires the entrant to submit more than just their name and address, such as a recipe, photo, jingle, answers to questions, and other creative information. 

There are also other types of promotions such as instant-win games on specially marked packages of a sponsors products, but handling this type of promotion is not within the scope of this article. If you are interested in sponsoring a game of this type, any respectable marketing agency should be able to help you set one up. 

No matter which type of promotion you choose to sponsor, every promotion needs to include certain information. You should include the following information at your Web site regarding your promotion:
· Information about the company holding the sweepstakes. Who are you? This should be covered at your main Web site, but you would be surprised at the number of sites that sponsored an online sweepstakes and forgot to link the sweepstakes page back to their main site.
· A full description of the prizes that you are offering. Make sure that the entrants know exactly what is included in your offering. If you are giving away a cruise as a prize, is the airfare included? Transportation?
· A contact name if entrants have any questions about your sweepstakes. 
· A set of the official rules. The official rules need to address the items that further make up the structure of your promotion.
 

You also need to consider how you are going to set up your method of entry, certain legalities of sponsoring a sweepstakes, and whether your promotion is going to have a legitimate "look-and-feel." The following sections will address each of these areas. 

The Official Rules 

Every legitimate sweepstakes MUST have a set of official rules. The official rules should state exactly how the sweepstakes is structured and any restrictions or limitations about your promotion. For example, how many times do you want people to be able to enter your sweepstakes? Once per day? Per month? Throughout the life of the sweepstakes? Many sponsors who first held an online sweepstakes didn't specify how many times a person could enter, and realized after receiving tens or hundreds of entries a day from the same people, they should have considered that factor in the beginning. Also, remember to think globally. Are you ready to ship the prize overseas if the winner lives in Germany? If you are giving away a cash prize, we always assume that it is in US dollars, but you are always safer to state that up front so as to avoid any confusion. The official rules should contain the complete structure of your promotion. 

The official rules for the sweepstakes need to include the following information: 
· The name of your sweepstakes.
· A prize description and its value. If you are giving away 1 grand prize, 5 first prizes, and 25 second prizes, this is the place to include full descriptions plus the approximate retail value (ARV).
· Entry requirements, such as whether you are accepting online entries only, 3x5 index card or postcard mail-in options (and the address in which to send entries), and so forth. Many sweepstakes support online and mail-in methods of entry.
· Information required for entries (name, address, zip, phone, e-mail, any qualifiers, UPCs, recipes, essays, questionnaire items, and so forth). Remember not to get too personal.
· Residency eligibility (open to which states or countries). Open in US and Canada? Void in PR?
· Any age restrictions.
· Any restrictions for number of times a person can enter. Make sure this information is visible. Whether you are going to allow multiple entries per person or just a singe entry per person, make sure people know that before they enter.
· Entry deadlines.
· Drawing date or frequency if you have multiple deadlines. If you are holding a quarterly drawing, what are your entry cut-off dates and the drawing dates?
· Any other information that is relevant to entering.
· A URL of where the winners’ names will be posted, or an address if you want to provide a way for people to send a self-addressed stamped envelope for the winners’ list.
· Contact information if people should have any questions.

Make this information as accessible as possible. Sponsors generally will create a separate Web page for the official rules and post a link near the bottom of the online entry form or near the sweepstakes' name. There are many sponsors who post their official rules on the Web. Do some research and see how they set them up. Good sites for this are www.disney.com, www.kraft.com, and www.universalstudios.com. These sites constantly have sweepstakes promotions. 

Setting Up the Method of Entry 

There are typically two ways you can have people enter an online sweepstakes: by sending an e-mail message to a generic e-mail account or by submitting an online entry form. 

If you are going to collect any type of demographic information you receive from the entries, you'll want to set up an entry form and have the information ported into a database such as Access®. If you choose to have entrants send you a mail message, be prepared to enter all of the information manually into a database if you plan on recording the information for use at a later date. This will depend on your Web site and whether you have the access or ability to generate forms, have access to the CGI bin, or have the resources to hire someone to do this for you. The specifics of how to create a form is not within the scope of this article. There are many good resources on the Web that can help walk you through this process. 

Planning a good entry form for your sweepstakes will yield you better results for your goals. The information you request should be formulated from your goals. It's perfectly acceptable to ask questions about consumer preferences on your entry form, such as brand name awareness or shopping habits. Be aware, though, that if you ask for information that is too personal, such as income level, you may not get a large response. People are still very wary about giving out that sort of information—with good reason. Even if you represent a very well-known company, people aren’t going to divulge a lot of personal information. 

Also, don't arbitrarily assume that because people enter your sweepstakes that it's acceptable to contact them with other product information. Provide a check box on your entry form so people can choose whether they want you to contact them with offers, notices, or special discounts in the future. Sending them unsolicited e-mail just because they entered your sweepstakes is akin to sending spam. Your second promotion will most likely be a lot less successful, because people will know that you are just collecting names to send them unwanted mail at a later date. Also, if you do plan on sending them mail in the future, let them know where you got their names. They most likely aren’t going to remember every sweepstakes they entered a month or two ago. 

The whole promotion idea is to get people to visit your Web site. It’s perfectly acceptable to place your entry form at the bottom of a page so that you can provide some information about your product or service before it. You can also ask a question on the entry form that pertains to your product or service if you want. Make sure the answer is easily found on your other Web pages. There are a lot of different ways you can set up an online sweepstakes entry form, so think about the information you want to receive from your entrants. 

Legalities of Running a Sweepstakes 

You now have the information you need to set up your promotion. The next step is to ensure that you are complying with local laws and regulations. Do you know that if the prize you offer is worth more than $5000, the State of Florida requires that you post a bond before starting your sweepstakes? If you don't post that bond, then your sweepstakes is considered illegal in the State of Florida. This is one of the reasons that you'll often see sweepstakes void in certain states. This is also the main reason that you find a lot of smaller prizes available in sweepstakes. 

If this is your first time sponsoring a sweepstakes, make sure you check with local laws about possible restrictions. Will liquor laws, firearms laws, or tobacco laws apply to your sweepstakes? Is the prize value significant (over $500)? Do you need to provide winners with a 1099 claim form at the end of the year? Local marketing and promotion agencies can help you with this information. Also, a great online resource for the legalities of running sweepstakes and contests is the Arent Fox Contests and Sweepstakes Law Internet Law Site at www.arentfox.com/features/sweepstakes/. They are available to answer any questions you may have about your promotion, and they are extremely helpful! 

The Appearance of Your Promotion: Legitimate or Scam Entering sweepstakes has been a viable hobby for many years. The way you handle your promotion will show people whether or not your promotion is legitimate. Legitimacy is the key. People are tired of e-mail scams, Web sites that are nothing but ads, and get-rich-quick schemes. 

Many sites hold a sweepstakes just for the sole purpose of gathering names. For example, one site chose to give away a custom designed T-shirt every month as the grand prize. It also listed 100 second prizes per month consisting of a coupon worth $5 off of any purchase at their site. Guess who won second prize? Guess who won second prize every month that she entered? If you want to offer all of the people who visit your Web site $5 off of every purchase, then just do it. Create a nice graphic, or coupon, or order form with the discount posted right on it. Don't hide it or disguise it as a sweepstakes. The last thing your business can afford is a sense of ill will! 

If you hold a sweepstakes just for the sole purpose of gathering names, you are quickly going make a lot of enemies on the Web. You might as well send bulk e-mail, because you'll get basically the same reaction. SCAM! 

The image of your offer is going provide visitors with insight as to how you run your business. You want to showcase your business in the best light possible, so don't hurry or skimp when planning a sweepstakes. 
 

Promoting Your Sweepstakes 

You probably have heard from many Web marketing and promotion companies that holding a sweepstakes will drive hoards of traffic to your site, and you'll reap huge lists of customers that you can contact after the promotion is over. It's a bit of an overstatement, but the promotion idea is a sound one. 

You announce a sweepstakes just like you would announce any new Web site. Announce it in newsgroups such as alt.consumers.sweepstakes, online sweepstakes sites such as www.onlinesweeps.com, and submit your sweepstakes page to the major search engines and directories. There are currently over 50 well-known sites (both commercial and noncommerical) that list online sweepstakes. If you have access to AOL, then you can also enjoy posting your sweepstakes information on the appropriate message boards. Press releases are also a great avenue for announcements. Sweepstakes and contest promotions make great press releases. Go to InfoSeek (www.infoseek.com) and enter the word sweepstakes. Choose the News option (not the Web) and see what other companies are using for press release material. You can structure yours in the same manner. 

Also, remember your target market? If you are offering fishing lures as a prize, go to the fishing or outdoors Web sites and discuss your prize on message boards or chat forums. Announcing a new sweepstakes will create an initial surge of traffic, and depending on the prizes that you offer and the frequency of the drawings, you could enjoy this traffic for several months. 

If you decide to sponsor more sweepstakes promotions after your first one is done, remember that different prizes will attract more attention. If you offer the same prize again, people may think they have already entered it and will not visit your site again. 
 

Summary 

Don't let visions of running up your hit counter get in the way of promoting your sweepstakes in a respectable manner. Sponsoring a sweepstakes can be a very viable way of getting your Web site the attention that it deserves, but it takes good planning and careful consideration, just like any other marketing or advertising promotion. 

Your business can attract a lot of attention by sponsoring a sweepstakes, and the way you handle the promotion is going to make an impact. Remember, first impressions are very important!
 

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Susan Donahue, Publisher
http://www.onlinesweeps.com
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