How To Use Giveaways to Get Subscribers

Sweepstakes, Contests, and Lotteries

People often mistake what a giveaway is classified as. There are 3 main types of giveaways: sweepstakes, contests, and lotteries. We felt it important to discuss the differences of these classes of giveaways, because there are different regulations in place for each.

We’ll begin by defining a lottery. In order for a giveaway to be considered a lottery, it contains the following 3 elements:

• Prizes
• Winners chosen by chance
• Consideration

Consideration means that by purchasing something, such as an additional lottery ticket, you have a better chance of winning. Because a lottery is defined by these 3 elements, a legitimate contest or sweepstakes must only contain at most 2 of the above defined elements. Sweepstakes and contests are often interchanged, but by their definition, they are not the same.

Legitimate sweepstakes are giveaways involving a prize that is won by chance and doesn’t require a purchase in order to enter.

Legitimate contests are giveaways involving a prize that is won by an element of skill (such as answering a trivia question). Because it is not chosen by chance, a legitimate contest can legally charge a fee for entry.

Laws and regulations regarding sweepstakes, contests, and lotteries are dependent upon state laws. Be sure to know an understand the regulations that your state has in place for these giveaways.

Giveaways on TXT180 Platform

We at TXT180 have recently released the ability to do a text-to-win from our control panel. This text-to-win area of our control panel will randomly select a number of contacts from a subscriber database to select as winners of a text-to-win. Giveaways are a great way of providing incentive to a subscriber to opt-in to a subscriber list. Great examples of giveaways can include cruises, electronics, gift cards, etc. Your call-to-action will specifically state what the subscriber can expect when they go to subscribe. Examples of such could be:

Text winner to 877-989-8180 to enter in for a chance to win a free iPad 2!

Very simple, yet to the point. People will be apt to subscribe to your texting list for the chance to win an iPad 2. There are state regulations that may require you to disclose that there is no purchase necessary to enter, purchasing product will not increase the chances of winning, and disclosing the odds of winning, beginning, and ending of the sweepstakes.

Text-to-win giveaways are great ways to increase a subscriber base and interest of your customers. Pick the right offer and start watching your customer base build today!

Originally Posted on: September 8, 2021

Posted in: Text Marketing Tips
Tags: how to marketing, text message marketing, text to win