How to Run the Perfect Promotional Contest

You might remember how we recently posted a special report about giveaways to help boost your book sales. In that article, we gave the basic steps but also promised to tell you more details about the specifics of a promotional contest. You might be able to get good results without these details, but it will be easier if you have them. (Next time, we'll talk about the details of running a promotional giveaway.)

So here’s what you need to know about promotional contests, starting with…

What is a Promotional Contest?

A promotional contest is a giveaway where entrants compete to win a prize you offer. They come in two flavors:

  • Limited contests, in which only the top performers get the prize. This could mean only one winner gets the prize, or that you have five iterations of the same thing you give to the top five performers, or a graduated system with lesser prizes for lesser performers. The main thing is there’s a cap to how much you give away.
  • Unlimited contests, in which everybody who reaches a certain benchmark gets a prize. This could be a single benchmark, or a graduated system where performing at level A gets participants one prize, while going above to higher levels gets increasingly valuable rewards. 

Promotional contests differ from promotional drawings in that the participants can influence whether or not they win. In a drawing, winners are chosen randomly from a pool of entries. 

The Hybrid Model. You can split the difference between promotional contests and promotional drawings by giving prizes in a random drawing, but allowing participants multiple entries based on their behavior. 

Promotional Contest Dos and Don'ts

Image by Arek Socha.

201222