THAT WAS FUN!

As much as I like winning, I also like making others winners. It was a lot of fun sending out winning emails and awarding prizes.

LEARNING

I decided it was a fantastic opportunity for me (as a marketer) to test out a variety of contest management programs. I have been using Rafflecopter for years, but they are not the only players in the game. I choose to try also hosting giveaways with KingSumo, WishPond, and Gleam, learning the pros and cons of each platform. (I am thinking of doing a review blog post  and/or video for each on my marketing website.) Not only did it give me a chance to learn, but for you to try entering via different contest widgets.

WINNERS

Occasionally, I had errors as I learned the ins and outs of each platform, so I cannot post the winner’s names within each widget. Therefore, I chose to post the names of the winners on each blog post. You will note I have a few stragglers. (See next paragraph as to why.)

HURDLES

Near the end of the Win-niversary celebration my computer began to die. I ordered a new Chromebook to tie me over until the Black Friday sales in November. As it has yet to arrive, I am using an old netbook (that I won!) to stay connected, but the email is a bit wonky so it took me longer than I would have liked to complete the drawings.

However, the delay wasn’t all mine. I am surprised at the number of people that didn’t respond to my congratulatory emails. If you are not winning, are you checking your emails and spam regularly? Therefore, I have a few stragglers, but I didn’t want to wait to blog any longer.

Also, a lesson I have learned working as a marketer for Robert Ohotto, there are some providers at block emails outright from certain senders. I highly recommend you change to Gmail if you are experiencing issues.

THE NEXT 20

I have experienced an extraordinary number of changes to the hobby in the past 20 years. I began right when online started to ramp up and mail-ins began to deminish. After a few years, social media giveaways began to make an appearance. Now they seem to be the majority. At the rate the changes are occurring, I can barely fathom what entering sweepstakes will look like in 20 years, but I do know some things will never change:

  • Companies will always want to create fun and excitement around their products and services.
  • All legitimate sweepstakes will have official rules.
  • There are always people that love to win.

What changes do you envision for sweepstakes in the next 20 years?