Here at Prizeshark our love is sourcing prizes for you. Whether you are running a promotional scheme, an employee rewards program or a good old-fashioned competition, whatever your prize needs, we are the people to see!
Today we’re going to have a little look at what makes a good competition, and some of the things you can consider next time you’re planning a fun filled event for all your amazing customers!
Know Your Audience
Knowing who you are trying to target through your competition should always be your first thought. Without this it can be difficult to narrow in on the prizes and structure of the competition you will be putting on.
In other words, this means to know your current customers, or to know the demographic you are aiming to bring to your business.
Running a competition for students is a different affair to running a competition for retired professionals, which are both different to running competitions for kids or families.
Get to know the people you would like to target with your competition and put yourself in their shoes, allow the way they see the world be what determines your eventual design of the competition and the prizes that you offer.
Stay Relevant
There’s always something happening in the world, whether it is global news or local holidays, make your competitions line up with events that your customers will already be interested in.
At this time of year using Christmas as an excuse to run a competition is a great idea. Everyone knows Christmas to be a time of giving, and from a business perspective we know it’s more so a time of spending!
Using a competition to entice customers to your business around Christmas time will be attracting people who are willing to spend, who feel compelled to spend, and who may not yet know just how wonderful your business and products are.
And in this particular year people are feeling hard times, and some are worried more about whether they will be able to keep the heating on than how many presents might be under the tree. But that’s where you get to stay relevant, by running a competition at this time of year you are helping to give back to a family, or a person who may not have much this year. And that can only be good for your brand awareness and our sense of community in the world.
Stand Out From the Crowd
So, once we have our audience and our topic or theme to match, we can then ask ourselves how we stand out from the crowd. Lots of people will be running competitions and using incentives to vie for the same customers attention that you are, and so what is going to make you different, special?
Have you ever considered gamifying your competition?
Gamification is to turn something into a game and here at Prizeshark we have had excellent success turning competitions into games for businesses all over the world.
A gamified competition attracts more people simply due to the interactive nature of the competition. It encourages people to share information about the competition with each other, talking about the new little game they played, or the interesting event taking place in your store.
We have run competitions and promotions such as the ’12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar’ which is an amazing idea tying in with the holidays people know and love, and offering something to your customers consistently over 12 days.
With the advent calendar you can give your customers access to it by fulfilling some target you set, to spend a certain amount of money or simply input a valid receipt etc.
And then on each day the customer uses the app or webservice, they get to open a new door behind which is a new game, video, or interactive piece of media. The reward for fulfilling the requirements to open the door can be points at your store, money off vouchers at the end of the 12 days or simply discount codes for their next shop, the choice is yours!
But in this way customers are engaged, they always want to see what they might get next, and their view of your brand increases along with the happiness and joy you have created for them through running this type of prize promotion or competition.
Prizes People Want To Win
So once all is said and done, giving back to your customers is what it’s all about, and ensuring that people have prizes they want to win is what we are all about.
From sourcing prizes, to organizing delivery and distribution, Prizeshark can handle all the behind the scenes work whilst your customers simply enjoy their winnings. We tailor our prizes to each competition and specific goal you might have. Our philosophy is to listen first, understand your needs and the needs of the customers you want to reach and then to create something completely bespoke and unique just for you.
Whether you have prize ideas already and just need to source them, or whether you need help deciding on the prizes too, we at Prizeshark are happy to help, and look forward to hearing from you to assist in running your next successful competition!
