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.

The purpose of this post is to provide you some tips and ideas on successfully planning and implementing your next prize promotion.  Here are a few tips to getting the word out about your promotion . . .

Promote The Offer In Store
Make sure everyone passing by your location knows about your promotion. Post banners or window posters that announce your big offer and reel in new customers . 

Make sure your promotion is adequately promoted throughout the store as well. Post counter cards, shelf talkers and other props to spread the word while customers are shopping.

Include a Call to Action
What does your customer or prospect need to do in order to participate? Clearly and succinctly communicate what is required to take advantage of your offer.

If your promotion requires registration, make it easy to do so. Prominently display registration forms or a registration box inside your store. Form partnerships with other businesses to be part of your promotion and place registration stations in their locations as well to draw in a larger audience.

Have Plenty of Stuffers on Hand
For an affordable fee, you can print full color double-sided business cards and postcards at online printing companies such as Overnightprints.com and Vistaprint.com. Print enough to distribute both in your store and to other retailers, as well as public places your targeted demographic frequents.

Rally the Media
Make it easy for media outlets to pick up your story bycreating a press release and “Q & A” that fully explanins your promotion.  If you’re giving away the chance to win big money, your event might be perfect for a radio tie in. In fact, the station might be willing to help you develop the concept and even bring in co-sponsors to offset the cost.

Submit Promotion Information to Online Sources
What are the popular Web sites in your community?   Every community newspaper has a Web site. Contact them directly with information about your promotion. They’re always looking for content, and even if the print version does not have room, they may be able to fit your story in online.

There’s a two-fold benefit with submitting your story to blogs and Webs ites: your story can get you on placed on popular  Web sites, which can then increase your own search engine ranking. Include keywords in your story that describe your product or service. Your story, with your company name, connected to important keywords in a story on a popular community site will give you a better chance to get traffic to your own site.

Promote through and with other Businesses
Is there a business out there that has a huge database of customers that fit your target market? Consider partnering so you can tap into their database and co-sponsor the event. This can work well for shopping centers and malls that benefit from the same traffic flow. The partnership could extend to advertising as well – include their logo on your advertising in exchange for helping you advertise. 

Consider Co-op Direct Mail
You may consider approaching direct mailers such as Val-Pak. There might also be an opportunity to cross promote with some of their other customers. You could offer free dinners, oil changes, etc. from another business as secondary prizes while they could promote your event in their store.

Plan Ahead
The only way to effectively leverage the “wow factor” of a big promotion is by planning ahead so you can mobilize the many outlets available to spread the word. Several months in advance, rally partners, notify the media, gather ideas from friends and family and plan an event that could dramatically impact your business success.

Get Creative!
The bottom line is to have fun and project fun. Your promotion is the perfect opportunity to build that relationship. If you’re a dry cleaner and a competitor down the street has comparable pricing and service, you can differentiate your business by the EXPERIENCE that you create for the customer.

There are dozens of ways you can get creative including decorations, flyers, banners, posters, props, balloons, streamers, audio announcements, direct mail, receipt coupons, on-hold messages, email, and much, much more.

Good Luck!

SharePlus Federal Bank, with branches located throughout the U.S., celebrated its 50th anniversary by offering customers the chance to win cash and prizes up to $50,000. The SharePlus team certainly had a lot to celebrate after their bank promotion, which resulted in 500 new customers and over $5 million in new deposits.

The 1950s-themed promotion, which ran during August, put the focus on the bank’s 50 years. Community residents received a promotional direct mail piece with a unique prize code and were invited to play for the $50,000 prize at a designated website.

The 50th anniversary was a perfect opportunity to show customer appreciation while at the same time increasing checking accounts and attracting new customers to the bank.

To extend the fun with even more chances to win, SharePlus invited the community to visit their local branch and register for FREE gas cards and vacation packages.

The promotional campaign included direct mail, web ads, newspaper print ads, and in-branch activities. A decorating contest had team members outfitting their branches in a 1950s theme. Word spread fast about the celebration and the chance to win up to $50,000 – translating into significant traffic and a successful promotion.

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