At a given time, a winner was randomly selected from those registered. That person had to be in the area to participate. We only had to select a couple of people before we had one that was present and ready to play. We’d done it before but this is the first time I was on hand to see it live.

I mention this here because the process was suprisingly easy. If you’re running a promotion at a trade show, festival or sporting event, you may want to consider a “virtual draw” using mobile phones. It eliminates the paper and speeds up the process.

One of our mobile marketing partners provided the engine to make this happen. Comment or shoot me an email though the contact page and I’d be happy to pass along the info.

Even consumers not hip on texting their every movement can receiving and view a text message on their phone, which opens up endless opportunities for motivating and incentivizing.

In order to include a mega-prize where the risk is covered by an outside firm, you will need to have a secure and auditable mechanic so a prize result can be determined.

Below are a few ideas for adding a big prize — or lots of small prizes — to your next mobile marketing campaign. Either way, a promotional risk coverage will keep the prize costs fixed.

Instant Win – Crack The Code Number Match

Consumers text a sponsor-specific keyword and receive back an invitation to play “Crack the Code.”

• Once the invitation is received, consumers send another text message with their guess for the winning combination.
• If the guess matches the winning combination, the prize vault opens and the winners are sent instructions on how to claim their prize.

Retail Traffic Builder

Send a test message and drive consumers into retail locations to check the winning number.

• Consumers send a text message and receive a unique code on their mobile phone. They bring their phone to the retail location to see if they are a winner
• If the code matches posted winning code(s), then the consumer wins the Grand Prize.

Online Traffic Builder

Consumers text a promotional code to a specified number. The reply text instructs consumers to go online to play a game or sweepstakes.