30 Contest Ideas in 30 Minutes

How to Succeed with Contests
Plus 30 Proven Ideas

New York Press Association Conference
April 2013

DRIVING REVENUE | BUILDING DATABASE | GROWING AUDIENCE

New York Press Association Conference 2013

Presenter

Matt Coen
President & Co-Founder
matt@secondstreet.com
314.880.4902
@mcoen
@secondstreetlab
secondstreetlab.com


Agenda

• Why Contests?
• Prospecting
• Pitching
• Planning
• Post-Contest
• 30 Contest Ideas


Who We Are


UPICKEM

• 2,000 partners
• 100,000 contests
• 12 million players


Our Partners
2,900 media companies


secondstreetlab.com
secondstreetlab.com


Why Online Promotions?
In Billions

Source: Borrell Associates

A White Label Platform

• We host the contests
• You own all the data
• You keep the page views
• You keep 100% of revenue
• You can run an unlimited
number of contests


Case Study: Gatehouse Media
2012 Contest Calendar
Marketing Revenue Initiative Market Initiative Date Revenue
Cutest Babies January $315,000
Big Game Challenge January-February $115,505
Red Carpet Challenge February $58,674
College Basketball March $267,100
Salute to Nurses April-May $214,000
Mother’s Day April-May $65,000
The Pet Show June $71,547
Football August-October $966,000
Reader’s Choice September-November $964,000
Paint it All Pink October $275,000
Total Revenue $3,311,826


Case study: The Statesboro herald



The Statesboro Herald



Results: Cutest Couple Contest

•4 weeks
•7 sponsors
•890 new registered users
•10,990 votes
•25,000 page views
•$3,500 in Revenue



Case Study: Cutest Kids
•10 sponsors
•491 Submissions
•2,424 registered users
•134,000 page views
•Acquired over 2,000 email addresses
•$10,000 in Revenue



Results
•9 contests + “Best Of”
•$50,000 + $50k in “Best Of”
•20,000 email addresses


Contest Types
Managed Turnkey Custom
Branded locally, You manage Any contest you dream of
managed nationally
Template design with Dozens of contest types
Prizes supplied for most room to customize i.e.
‘Cutest Couple’ You create and manage the
Sports, Entertainment contest
Webinars, Sales kits
Webinars, sales kits

Advertiser You create and manage a contest on a client’s behalf, i.e. host
on their Facebook page; also referred to as the ‘Agency Model’

All contest types are Facebook-friendly


UPICKEM Managed Contests

Sports
Pro Football Season Pro Football Big Game College Football Season College Football Bowl

Golf Auto Racing Pro Basketball College Basketball Pro Hockey

Awards
Shows
Movie Awards Music Awards Television Awards

Reality
Television
Race to the Finish Voted Off the Island

UPICKEM Template Contests

UGC
Photo
Cutest Couple Mother’s Day Father’s Day Halloween

Sweeps

Holiday


UPICKEM Custom Contests

Photo Video MP3 Essay

Sweepstakes Multiple Choice Embedded Media Two Photos

All contest types are Facebook-friendly


Prospecting



Identify the Sponsorship Type

• Exclusive
• Category Specific
• Multiple Sponsor


PItching



The Pitch

• But what is it about being a sponsor of a contest that you
should be pitching to the client?


Maximize Sponsor Exposure

• Contest Page


Maximize Sponsor Exposure


Maximize Sponsor Exposure: Emails


Maximize Sponsor Exposure: Your website


Maximize Sponsor Exposure: Traditional Media


Maximize Sponsor Exposure: Deals + Contests


Case Study: The Wichita Eagle

Fourth Year Results:
•Earned $100,000 in revenue in
2012


Keys to Success

• Sold as an integrated print
and online promotion
• Multiple Advertisers and
Sponsors
• Advertisers participated as
VIPs
• Heavy promotion of the
contest


Program Details

Print Advertising Details
• 22 consecutive weeks
• Headshot printed weekly with
latest picks and performance
to-date
• Relevant NFL coverage flows
over top of environment
• Double truck of sports
• Single box: 2 col. X 4”
• Double box: 4 col. X 4”


Program Details

• Online Advertising
Details
• Drove audience to unique
URL
• Advertiser coupons
• Additional promotion for
partners


Program Details

• Online Advertising
Details
• Rotating 900x300 and
211x126 banners link to
special offer coupons


Get Staff Buy-in

Roll Out to Staff
• Created plan book with in-depth
materials including:
– Bullet-point reference sheet
– Mini spec layout
– Sales sheet
– Customized program
agreement


Choosing the Right Contests



Align with Traditional Promotions


Sell Bundled Packages


Choosing the Right Contests
• Understand your goals
• Target the right
advertisers
• Keep it simple


Contest Follow up



Contest Follow – up

Best Practices
•Email to all participants with sponsor offer
•Story on winners online/print/on-air
•Showcase winners on contest welcome page/winners
page
•Social media mentions
•Showcase winners in following years promos


Contest Follow-up


Contest Planning



Contest Revenue Success


Why Plan?


Planning Best Practices

2013 Forecast


PLAN-IT 365 Program Steps

PLAN-IT 365 STEPS TO SUCCESS!
PLAN-IT 365 STEPS TO SUCCESS!


Contest Calendar
Contests Sweepstakes
January Kids Whole New You

February Cutest Couples Valentine’s Day

March Basketball Spring Break

April Mother’s Day

May Golf Sweeps

June Father’s Day Travel Giveaway

July Travel/Vacation Photos Concert Tickets

August

September Football (Sept-Feb) Football Tickets

October Voter’s Choice Voter’s Choice

November Holiday Shopping

December Scared of Santa Holiday Shopping


30 Contest IDeas



30 Fitness
Star-Herald (Scottsbluff, NE)
2012 Get Fit Challenge

Sponsored by Regional West Medical Center, Torrington
Community Hospital, Box Butte General Hospital & more.

• 709 Registered Users
• Total Gross revenue $14,300

“We were very happy with the results.
This was our 2nd year of the contest and
we plan on doing this contest every year
until there are no overweight people left.”
- Willy Weibert, Sales Manager


29 Recipes
WNYT-TV (Albany, NY)
NYS Apple Growers Recipe Showdown

Sponsored by New York State Apple Growers

• 3,374 Votes
• Revenue $5,000
• 25,520 Page Views

“This contest was custom-designed to suit a
client's specific needs. We built an exclusive
sponsorship and partnered with them by providing
the prize. Both the client and the station were
pleased with the results.”
- Lori Collado, Digital Media Specialist


28 Essay
KOMO-TV (Seattle, WA)
West Side Story, Share Your Love Story

• 1,025 Votes


27 Memorable Moments
KATU-TV (Portland, OR)
Disneyland Making Memories Contest

Sponsored by Disney

• 17, 729 Page Views

"The Disneyland Resort Giveaway was
sponsored by Disney and promoted in
newscasts, on our website, snipes during TV
programing, Facebook and Twitter.”
-Jennifer Shrum, Interactive News Producer


26 Prom
Truro Daily News (Truro, Nova Scotia)
Favourite Prom Photo Contest

Sponsored by Inglis Jewellers
• 2,261 Votes
• Revenue $1,000

“We ran banner ads in the paper driving
entrants & voters to our website- daily for
three weeks. For this particular package the
sponsor supplied $1,000.00 in prizes.”
- Kevin Bent, Web Editor


25 Weather/Temperature
Our State (Greensboro, NC)
2011 Fall Photo Contest
Sponsored by Mountain Community Travel Office

• 1,924 Submissions
• 1,117 Registered Users
• Revenue $2,500

“The sponsorship package included the contest, its
presence on our website, a few call outs on our
Facebook page, inclusion in our regular monthly
newsletter, as well as as a standalone promotional
email, and a mention in a print ad for ‘what's online’
with our magazine that month.”
- Laurie Weaver, Online Media Manager


24 Fishing/Hunting
New Bern Sun Journal (New Bern, NC)
Gone Fishing
Sponsored by Sportsman’s Toy Store

• 4,864 Votes

“These contests are a great way to drive traffic to
your website and expose more non-subscribers to
your product... I'm definitely seeing where
Facebook is helping spread the word in regards
to entries and voting.”
- Judy Avery, VP of Marketing


23 Brackets
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX)
DFW.com Battle of Burgers 2011
• Revenue $6,000

"There were no official sponsors, but we did generate
additional ad sales (about $6,000) from local and
participating burger joints in the contest. Some of
those ad sales turned into long-term contracts.”
- Wendy Stane, Promotions, Events, Social Media


22 Drawing/Art
OrangeCounty.Com (Irvine, CA)
Spring Cover Shot Surf Photo Contest

Sponsored by La Casa Del Camino, Dan Taylor Surfboards
• 113,815 Votes
• Revenue $5,000

"This was a fun contest for us. Revenue was
$5,000 with online exposure, banner ads, etc.
They also received banners run of site.”
- Kris Heineman, Senior Manager


21 Wedding
WCVQ-FM (Clarksville, TN)
Q Wedding Giveaway 2012

Sponsored by Clarksvillebrides.com and others
• 22,366 Votes
• Revenue $7,615

“We had 16 sponsors and were very
happy with participation from both
contestants and sponsors. We plan to do
it again next year.”
- Scott Chase, Operations Manager


20 Makeover
The Pitch and Her Kansas City (Kansas City, MO)
Make Me Over
Sponsored by KOSAMA, Lady Bird, Alignment is Life, In the Pink, Sazzy’s, Trinity Limo
& Ben Palmer Photo

• 10,343 Votes

“The makeover contest grew our Facebook fans by
about 400 likes. We gained clients by selling through
to our publication and websites. And we had an
overall glowing response from all who participated.”
- Dawn Jordan, Advertising Director


19 Travel/Vacation
WPHL-TV (Philadelphia, PA)
Apple Vacations Endless Summer Photo Contest

Sponsored by Apple Vacations

• 53,530 Votes


18 Nature
Washington County Enterprise (Blair, NE)
Enterprise 2011 Photo Contest
• 6,326 Votes

"We did this purely for our readers. We were
thrilled at the participation of the community on
this one. We do this contest every year as more
of a PR move.”
- Ali Zicheck, Digital Media Coordinator/
Advertising Associate


17 Creative
KBFB - FM (Dallas, TX)
Rihanna Red Head Hair Contest
• 8,769 Votes

“This contest generated 1,082 Facebook likes
and was a very successful campaign. We'd like
to pursue a hair product advertiser to sponsor
the contest next time.”
- Dan Shelley, General Manager


16 Big Giveaway
Newsday (Suffolk, NY)
Sands Wedding Giveaway
Sponsored by The Sands, Geo Events, Flowers by Topaz, Our Prints Charming,
DejaVu Studios, Sugar Dinning Den

• 18,780 Votes
• Revenue $25,000

"All contestants were invited to a cocktail
function at the Sands Hotel, where the winners
were selected and announced -spot prizes and
surprises were also presented.”
- Diane Aiken- Miller, Interactive Display Sales
Coordinator


15 School Spirit/Biggest Fan
U-T San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Bolt Fever – Photo Contest
• 85,225 Votes

"For this contest we ran promos on our
homepage and in our sports sections. The
promos ran on the Sports pages on Sundays,
which is our biggest print circulation day.”
- Tom Mallory, Homepage Editor


14 Mothers Day/Fathers Day
WKRG-TV (Mobile, AL)
Mother’s Day Photo Contest 2012

Sponsored by Calagaz Photo and Video

• 8,769 Votes


13 Goodwill
WCTV–TV (Fuquay Varina, NC)
WCTV’s Teacher of the Month!

Sponsored by Super-Lube, Auto Super-Service Center,
Envision Credit Union
• 9,734 Votes
• Revenue $36,000

"We put our heads together and created a
sponsorship package for the contest consisting of
a Title Sponsorship, with several Secondary
Sponsorships available. Super Lube committed to
becoming the Title Sponsor for the school season,
Sept. – May. Each sponsor committed for the 9
month school term investment.”
- Holly Spires, Digital Sales Manager


12 Cars/Motorcycles
KY3-TV (Springfield, MO)
Enter To Win $1000 From Youngblood Auto

Sponsored by Youngblood Auto

• 3,620 Votes
• Revenue $8,000

"The contest added 400 new likes to their
Facebook page, increased engagement and
sharing of the Youngblood Page. Plus, the
advertiser was extremely happy and has already
booked two more contests.”
- Brandon Welch, Internet Marketing Consultant


11 Tattoos
The Colorado Springs Gazette
Check Out My Ink!

• 855,786 Votes

”The contest generated a lot of comments and
engagement from this niche community. We have
found that finding the right niche audiences for
contests is extremely beneficial for driving page views
to our websites. This contest was a perfect example
of that.”
- Rudy Vasques, Marketing Manager


10 Holiday
Shelbyville Times – Gazette (Shelbyville, TN)
Scared of Santa

Sponsored by Lowery Jewelers

• 27,231 Votes

"The trade sponsor had their name on
the contest header and house promo
ads. They also had house ads on
website.”
- Stevie Longwith, Online Advertising


9 Beauty
Winnipeg Sun (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Be the Next SUNshine Girl
• Revenue $22,000

"We sold a special print section-this
promo generated more than $22,000
for us.”
- Kevin Klein, Publisher & CEO


8 Advertisers
WDBJ - TV (Roanoke, VA)
Name the Baby Red Panda

Sponsored by Boxley Materials Company
• 533 Votes
• Revenue $3,000+

“Don’t forget deals! We decided to partner this
contest with a deal as a way to drive foot traffic to
the zoo while there was such an excitement
around the panda. The voting ended at midnight
and the next morning our deal was for a Family
Fun Pack to Mill Mountain Zoo.
- Carissa Divant, Account Executive


7 Halloween
Lubbock Avalanche Journal (Lubbock, TX)
Cutest Trick’r Treater Photo Contest

Sponsored by Spirit Halloween Superstores & The Maze

• 9,317 Votes
• Revenue $2,500+

“We were very pleased with the amount of page
views our site received as a result. We plan to
do this again in the future with more sponsors
and additional opportunities to win.”
- Craig Martin, Digital Media Sales Director


6 Talent
WPRO-FM (Riverside, RI)
Dance With Britney
Sponsored by Wendy’s and Jive

• 164,132 Votes
• Page Views 128,421


5 Couples
WLMG – FM (New Orleans, LA)
Cutest Couples Photo Contest

Sponsored by Cirque Du Soleil, Ralph’s on the Park, Fischer’s
Jewelry, Gigi’s Cupcakes
• 170,239 Votes
• Revenue $8,000

"This was the first time we’ve done this contest and
we weren’t sure how it would go, but we received
more than 200 entries – which was great! Overall
though, we got an additional 100,000 page views and
that was a great result!”
- Annette Basile, Digital Content Manager


4 Pets
WEZB – FM (New Orleans, LA)
My Pet Rox the Black & Gold

Sponsored by Toyota of Slidell, Lakeside-Pets.com, Camp Bow Wow

• 612,550 Votes
• Revenue $8,000

“This was the first year we did a contest like this,
but felt it worked out really well. It gave us a
chance to hit a listener “hot-button” (their pets),
gave us a way talk about our NFL team without
saying their name and we felt the voting results
were great!”
- Annette Basile, Digital Content Manager


3 Local Sports

Arkansas Democrat – Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Best High School Mascot
• 180,039 Votes


2 Sweepstakes

KDAF – TV (Dallas, TX)
Great Grill Giveaway
• 78,100 Votes

"This contest was fun because you never knew
what was coming next in the photos - it absolutely
wasn't going to be one cute kid after another. I
think our audience had a lot of fun looking and
laughing at how creative/redneck some people get
with a backyard BBQ.”
- Jennifer Shrum, Interactive News Producer


1 Kids/Babies

Herald News (Fall River, MA)
Cutest Baby Contest
• 243,770 Votes
• Revenue $300,000 company wide

"We generated a 20% increase in monthly page
views across our network and our advertisers
were very pleased with the traffic."
- Rebecca Capparelli, Director of Sales Training
and Development


Bonus Ideas

Contest Examples:
•Lookalikes
•Big Local Outdoor Event
•Award Shows
•Code Word
•Bartender
•Graduation
•Lifestyle
•Patriotic
•Girlfriends


30 Custom Contest Ideas

30. Fitness 20. Makeover 10. Holiday
29. Recipes 19. Travel/Vacation 9. Beauty
28. Essay 18. Nature 8. Advertisers
27. Memorable Moments 17. Creative 7. Halloween
26. Prom 16. Big Giveaway 6. Talent
25. Weather/Temperature 15. School Spirit/Biggest Fan 5. Couples
24. Fishing/Hunting 14. Mother’s Day/Father’s Day 4. Pets
23. Brackets 13. Goodwill 3. Local Sports
22. Drawing/Art 12. Cars/Motorcycles 2. Sweepstakes
21.Wedding 11. Best Of 1. Kids/Babies


Q&A

Matt Coen
President & Co-Founder
matt@secondstreet.com
314.880.4902
@mcoen
@secondstreetlab
secondstreetlab.com


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