Sweepstakes are a popular marketing tool

Sweepstakes are a sought-after marketing tool.Whether for lead generation, image enhancement or sales promotion: sweepstakes are a popular tool. This is also confirmed by the Emirates study: 23.5 percent of the study participants use sweepstakes as a marketing tool in their companies on a regular basis, around 35 percent sporadically. Around half of the respondents consider sweepstakes to be an attractive way of raising awareness.The numerous different forms of this tool give rise to a broad scope for action. When asked "Which types of sweepstakes and Vkf promotions are most interesting from your company's point of view?" (multiple answers were possible), 39 percent of respondents indicated question-answer sweepstakes. Just under 32 percent value discount promotions. Some 27 percent voted for betting and guessing games, closely followed by money-back guarantees at 19.5 percent and safe sweepstakes at 12 percent. Around 7 percent of respondents consider scratch cards to be particularly interesting.The online sweepstakes and social media as clear favoritesAsked about the location of their sweepstakes, 77 percent of participants said they prefer to hold them online. Just under 31 percent prefer to hold their sweepstakes at an event, and 30 percent rely primarily on point-of-sale sweepstakes.Social networks are highly popular as a medium for sweepstakes. 44 percent prefer these for their company. For 41.5 percent, e-mail is the first choice. Only 5 percent rely on conducting their sweepstakes by telephone.Prizes worth up to 500 euros are the rulePreferably, survey participants offer cash and non-cash prizes. Vouchers, discounts and free tickets are other types of prize that are popular. For just under 42 percent of participants, the value of the prizes offered as part of their marketing campaigns is between 1 and 100 euros. For around 35 percent, the range is between 101 and 500 euros. Around 8 percent offer prizes worth 501-1000 euros.The better the hedge, the greater the prize offered30 percent of participants report that their company does not exclusively handle sweepstakes in-house, but also places the realization and organization in the hands of service providers. 60 percent of companies show willingness to offer higher prizes if their sweepstakes are adequately secured. Around 11 percent of participants often secure their company's sweepstakes financially via risk management companies. Just under 8 percent occasionally make use of risk hedging.Cash and high-quality non-cash prizes are particularly temptingWhen asked what type of prize would appeal to them personally the most, the survey participants predominantly named money, travel, cars, electronic lifestyle products and technical devices that are useful in everyday life. They were also asked about their personal motivation - which is mainly determined by the attractiveness of the prize, the supposedly good chance of winning, the fact that it is free to enter and the fact that it is not time-consuming. Pure fun and the competition as a form of relaxation were also mentioned.About the studyMarketing employees from companies in various industries such as insurance, financial services, marketing/advertising and IT were surveyed. The total of 124 participants were mainly from small and medium-sized companies (35 percent 1-10 employees, 31 percent 1-50, 8 percent 101-300).