One of the staples of the broadcast industry (particularly on radio) is the contest. Whether it takes the form of a telephone call, in-person enrollment, online enrollment, or text, contests have been used for many years with the goal of ginning up listener engagement. Other businesses employ contests. I see the "business card jar" at some restaurants, for example.
I must confess to be conflicted about contests. On the positive side, some kind of contest or drawing is a low-cost technique to engage with customers, one that usually permits the business to obtain very valuable contact information for use in later promotions.
On the flip side, contests can be the ultimate in phony engagement. In fact, today, I saw a presentation by a gentleman who has made a veritable science of participating in contests. He was quite proud of the assumed value of the goods and services he won. I was astonished at the detachment from the broadcasters.
Are contests worth doing? Of course. But one needs to be careful about the structuring of the contest. Be sure to collect information from the entrant in the form of an entry blank or business card. And ensure that entry is done at a physical location where the contestant can at least either engage with you or see your products or services, say, at a display booth or a storefront. Don't have a storefront? perhaps partner with an allied business that does.
Bottom Line: Use "guerrilla" marketing techniques with care. Always combine the fun and benefit to a contestant with hard benefits to your business.
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