Category: Social Media

How to Prevent Contest Voting Fraud

Eric Grimm, Senior Programmer, wrote this piece about voting fraud — and how to stop it. Online contests are all the rage with the kids these days. After the initial entries are judged, frequently the finalists’ submissions are opened up for voting by the public at large to determine a final winner. If the prize is tantalizing enough, this creates a rather large target for voter fraud. This is

January 19, 2016 No Comments

Native Ad Guidance from the FTC: 3 Things to Know

UPDATED: NOVEMBER 6, 2019 The FTC released their updated native ad guidance for business (Native Advertising: A Guide for Businesses) on December 22, 2015. With it came a stern warning about upcoming FTC enforcement in the coming year. There hasn’t been much response in the press, and we have not seen a ton of enforcement since then, but there have been crackdowns. Ad Week published an article citing the

December 29, 2015 No Comments

Promotional Marketing Predictions for 2016

What will be the new thing in 2016 that will drive promotional marketing? Here are our predictions (with a bit of Zoltar’s help): Native ads will be booming – and promotions are part of that mix. As ad blockers become more of an issue for advertisers and brands, the only logical solution is to turn to more creative ways to get a product in front of people. And that

December 9, 2015 No Comments

50 Reasons to Run a Sweepstakes or Contest

Looking for a reason to run a sweepstakes, contest, instant win game, rewards program or loyalty campaign? Here are 50 of them! To create an email opt-in list. To create a mobile opt-in list. To give away your products. To build your brand. To encourage brand loyalty. To encourage product try-on. To encourage product usage. To encourage product trial. To reward your loyal customers. To introduce your customers to

November 4, 2015 No Comments

Holiday Contest Planning Guide

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Time to run a holiday contest that will reengage your customers, create brand loyalty and have everyone talking about you in the coming year. No, you don’t need a Kardashian spokesperson to make that happen. Nor do you need a 7 figure budget. What you need is a great idea, a goal and a plan to get you there! We can help!

September 24, 2015 No Comments

2015 Digital Marketing Survey Results

In May of 2015 we ran a Digital Marketing Survey and asked respondents to answer thirteen questions about their company’s digital marketing practices, both current and in the near future. For completing the survey, we offered a chance to win $100. Our survey winner was Ruby L. Congratulations, Ruby! A few things we discovered that we weren’t expecting: 1. Snapchat may be big, but brands aren’t ready to

August 11, 2015 No Comments

YouTube Updates Contest Policies AGAIN

In March we published a post about YouTube’s changing contest policies. The changes at that time outlined specific age and platform guidelines. These changes have since been revised again, but no official date that the changes went into effect was published by YouTube. As of 8/7/15 these are the new guidelines: They can also be found here. Basically they have done away with three of the requirement we last

August 7, 2015 6 Comments

Planning a Rio 2016 Olympics Promotion

Update: See our updated guidelines for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The next Summer Olympic Games will be in Brazil in August of 2016. The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), in tandem with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have already lined up sponsors of the games. If you are not a Worldwide TOP Partner already, like Coca-Cola, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, General Electric, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble, Samsung, Toyota and

July 31, 2015 No Comments

Fall into an Autumn Promotion

With the official start of fall coming up, it is the perfect time to put on your (warm) thinking cap and reach out to your consumers with a great promotion. The cooler weather will be bringing them back inside the house and onto your website or Facebook page where they will start to accept the fact that summer is over. Keep them in good spirits by reminding them how great the fall

July 21, 2015 No Comments

If You Build It, Will They Come?

So you launched a Sweepstakes or Contest yet no one is entering. While there could be multiple factors for this lack of consumer response, the first thing to check is your media plan. If you do not promote your own Sweepstakes or Contests, chances are no one else will. You must use media to drive awareness and traffic to your website or Facebook page. Here are some examples of

July 7, 2015 No Comments