The Ultimate Guide to Running Effective Sweepstakes

PART II: Designing an Eye-Catching Entry Form

When it comes to design, simplicity can often be your best friend. Any design aspect of a PromoSimple entry form can be altered to create a form that fits your business’s branding. Because the entry form can be placed within any content that you choose it can be most effective to keep the focus on the prize and tasks required of the entrant.

Choosing the correct headline and image are vital to grabbing the user’s attention and enticing them to enter the promotion. Be specific without adding so much detail that it seems complicated to understand the prize or enter the promotion.

Writing Effective Entry Form Headlines

Your headline should be short and sweet, crafted to grab the user’s attention. Be as specific as possible without going overboard on details. You can include additional information within the ‘Description’ area of your entry form. Using the prize’s retail value or the brand name of the item can help to increase participation.

Selecting an image

While you may be tempted to use your logo, keep in mind that you’re hoping to attract users interested in winning the prize that you’re offering. Choosing an image that clearly illustrates what they could win will be sure to grab their attention. Keep you text simple and limited, similar to how you structure your headline. Provide the basic info in a compelling and easy to understand format. The four examples below clearly indicate what the prize is while using color and contrast to grab your attention.

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Including Thank You messages & Access to Gated Content

You can fully customize the design and content shown to users after they’ve completed the require portion of your entry form. Rather than simply being a dead-end user experience after the user has entered, this option gives you the ability to inform your entrants about your related products, services and content to funnel entrants to other areas of your website.

You can also provide access to ‘gated content’, which is accessible only after they’ve entered the sweepstakes. This content can be used as an additional incentive for users to enter the promotion, as everyone who enters will receive access to this content. Popular gated content includes discount and promotion codes that can help to increase immediate purchase conversions or downloadable content such as e-books and white papers.

To increase engagement with entrants, many sweepstakes administrators also find that offering users the option to provide feedback at this stage can generate a high volume of comments and sharing.  Adding a Facebook comment module allows you to easily accept feedback from users while increasing the viral nature of the promotion.

Official Rules

While it may be the most boring aspect of running a sweepstakes, the creation of your official rules is not a task that you should ever skip over. The legal aspect is extremely important for any sweepstakes and you want to make sure that you meet all local, state and federal laws. If your sweepstakes has a prize value that is close to or over $5,000 you should consult an attorney for drafting your official rules.

If you are including actions on third party websites, including social networks, you need to also be aware of any stipulations or guidelines specific to that website. View Promotion Guidelines for: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.