I recently shared on Facebook that Tim Hortons was launching a fall edition of their annual Roll Up To Win contest. Every time a company shifts their contests online, to social media, or now to an app, someone invertible complains they are locked out of the promotion because they do not have a cellphone.

Companies do not make their promotional decisions on the minority. They make it on the majority and their future long-term customers. They do not care if you do not have a phone or data plan. They don’t care if you don’t like social media. They don’t care if you prefer to mail in your entries.

EVOLUTION

The evolution of the hobby isn’t new. It happened when contests became sweepstakes. Sweepstakes went from mail-in to online. Online evolved to include social media. Online also evolved to include apps.

In my Tim Hortons app, I get a roll every time I buy a hot drink and even won a $25 gift card this year in addition to coffees and donuts.

McDonald’s started their Monopoly contest yesterday. Yes, you can buy a coffee and get playing pieces, but you are missing out on their annual Appstakes. If you order on their app, you are also in to win additional prizes. They are giving away five prizes of $5K each.

The Starbucks contest started this month as well. It is best to play on your phone, but computer entry is possible. You could win a trip to Seattle plus lots of instant and weekly prizes.

The sweepstakes hobby is always changing and if you do not evolve then you will get left behind. I just won my first TikTok contest, a $1000 VISA gift card. (I will be making an unboxing as soon as it arrives.) And yes, I used my phone to enter.

LATE ADOPTER

I will also state that, even though I am The Contest Queen, for some reason, I am a late adopter.

It took me over a year before I jumped on to Twitter once I heard you could win on the app. I had a Blackberry so I didn’t get an Instagram until 2013.

I joined TikTok last year but didn’t see the value in it. Then I realized I had to learn it to teach it in my upcoming sweepstakes book. After a lot of trial and error, practice, and posting daily videos, I realized it wasn’t just a great app for winning sweepstakes, as most giveaways on it have low, it’s a great app for small businesses, including mine.

Even though I am not quick out of the gate, I eventually do adapt and change, evolve, learn and grow. Therefore, I still win, 20+ years into the hobby.

How long before you learn entry methods?