Converting Contest Entrants to Customers

How can you turn a contest entry into a sales client? Many times advertisers look to contest to drive the number of leads they are able to capture. Unfortunately, many of these leads turn out to be duds. How can you fix that problem?

One marketing expert says it's all in the offer that you present.

"Doesn’t matter what the method of contacting the consumer is, the conversion rate is always a function of the offer you make after you generate the lead. We just did a contest that generated 78,000 leads. Soft offers worked (get a free catalog, try ___ for 30 days at no cost, free fertilizer application, etc…) , hard offers didn’t (SAVE 10%, $100 OFF, GET A FREE TRIP!). Funny thing is sellers don’t like soft offers because they see a risk of higher cost. Reality is that you get lower ROI on hard offers because they don’t convert as well."

Many times people who are interested in what you sell will enter your contest. It just that their interest may not translate into buy now mode. Consider your offer as a courting mechanism that could eventually lead to a happy marriage instead of asking for marriage right out the gate.

I've worked with a number of clients who maximize their offers and get maximum results with the Fish. If you'd like to hear how they did it, just send me an e mail to thecopee@gmail.com.

Good Selling!!

URL as Your Call to Action

On Interstate 15 outside Pocatello, Idaho is a billboard with a simple message.

Here it is in its entirety:

www.buyhashbrowns.com

My guess is that if you saw that you'd hunt down a free wi-fi spot and log on to find out what's this all about.

The web address happens to be owned by the Nonpareil Potato Company which happens to sell hashbrowns.

There are a lot of good lessons to learn from this particular campaign that are applicable to any form of advertising you are doing.

1. It's tell people exactly what to do. Your advertising should always tell your perspective customer what you want them to do.

2. This advertiser realized that you need to communicate your message on billboard in 3 seconds or less as drivers whiz past at 75 mph. Lesson here -- make sure you can succintly say what you need to say to your target customer.

3. The URL is memorable. If you can do something memorable in your advertising, then, you stand out from the rest of the crowd.

All in all this is a wonderfully executed campaign with an attention grabbing headline that inspires curiosity, invites interaction and sells their product wonderfully.

I have a client who has done something similiar with his online advertising. He has utilized our video pre-roll at www.thefishatlanta.com. When I checked at the end of June, his video had been viewed almost 25,000 times in 60-days. His lead count is up and he's happy with the Fish.

If this sounds like something you'd like to learn more about or if you know of a business that the Fish might make sense for, drop me an e mail at thecopee@gmail.com.

Stay strong and good selling!!

Mike Copeland
104.7 the Fish