How to advertise sweepstakes?

▶ What are sweepstakes?
▶ Sweepstakes types
▶ How to promote sweepstakes
▶ Advertising tips
▶ Analysis and optimization
▶ The bottom line

In this guide we are going to go into detail about running sweepstakes offers and provide you with some useful tips. Sweeps are perfect for rookie affiliates as it doesn’t require serious investment and knowledge. Let’s start from the basics.

What are sweepstakes?

Sweepstakes or Voucher offers are giveaways in a nutshell. Users participate in the contest where the winner is drawn at random. To participate in the draw, the participant must enter their name, email address or phone number.

The most common prizes are:

• Gadgets
• Gift cards
• Cosmetics
• Travel vouchers

Sweepstakes is one of the leading verticals in popularity among affiliate marketers in ClickAdilla.

If you’re wondering what type of offers are converting well for a specific ad format, then check with your manager.

Sweepstakes types

Sweepstakes fall into two categories and 2 subcategories:
Email Submit
- SOI (Single Opt-In)
User needs to fill in the contact details (usually name and e-mail)
- DOI (Double Opt-In)

User needs to fill in the contact details and verify the email address he provided.
The key difference between SOI and DOI is that a single opt-in doesn’t require an e-mail confirmation, and a double opt-in does require it.

SOI funnel is very simple. Users don't require to buy or pay for something. They just need to insert email and some personal info to complete the conversion. Thus new affiliate marketers start with such offers. However, payouts for leads are small and rarely exceed $2. So, you would need cheap traffic to earn money. For example, In ClickAdilla with a click cost of $0.01 you can buy 200 clicks for $2. Achieve a minimum conversion rate of 1% and you will get ROI over 100%!

CC Submit
- Payment
Users need to submit their CC details, they will be charged a small amount of money at once and after some period of time they will be charged the full amount.
- Free Trial

Users need to submit their CC details, they won't be charged anything at once, only after some period of time they will be charged the full amount.

Payout for the CC-offers are several times higher, roughly $20. Also it depends on GEOs: usually affiliate networks pay more for users from the USA, France, Germany, Japan etc.
TIP: Look at the Traffic chart and Pricebox to find GEOs with the lowest competition and get the cheapest traffic. This way you can get the maximum profit.

How to promote sweepstakes

Push notifications
Web push and In-Page push ads allow advertisers to deliver messages straight to users’ devices. Create 5 or better 10 creatives to test each offer. A well-crafted push ads combined with precise targeting can give you a profitable campaign.

There are the most common phrases “Would you like a new iPhone? Enter the competition!” or “You have a chance to win a gift” and words that you can use “Win,” “Do Not Miss Out”, “Free,” “Gift,” “Prize,” “Last Chance”. But do not over-promise. Messages that guarantee a prize are misleading and prohibited.

💡 iPhone sweepstakes leading in the vertical, so if you’re running one, make sure to use the same image (model, color etc.) as the user will see on the landing page.

Popunder

Popunder doesn't require creating creatives, but you need to focus on the landing page. You can increase the conversion rate by putting a countdown timer.

Another profitable approach is putting questionnaires or surprise boxes, customized according to the product you’re promoting. As the user answers the questions or “unwraps” the box, they get invested in the process and provide their details more eagerly.

Make sure your site is mobile responsive. Since the share of mobile traffic is increasing, and its efficiency is no less than that of a desktop.

Some sweepstake offers required traffic only from specific carriers (Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, etc.). This targeting is available in ClickAdilla.

Interstitial ads

This type of ads is good for generating leads. Interstitial ads leave larger impressions on users and higher click-through rates. Since users force by clicking them out or clicking through the ad. It’s the main advantage of this ad format.

The best practice is using creatives with a “wheel of fortune”. They are the most engaging for users as they don't require complicated actions. Spin the wheel and join giveaway - what could be easier?

In ClickAdilla we have different types of Interstitial ads:

• Full-Page Interstitial ads (Desktop and Mobile devices)
• Mobile Interstitial (300x250)
• Mobile In-App Interstitial (320x480)

They differ in traffic sources, ad placements, pricing models and creative formats. So you have a lot of options to test.

Video ads

Finally, you can leverage video ads to generate leads. Many affiliate marketers underestimate the effectiveness of video pre-rolls. In fact, this ad format is excellent to demonstrate a product. In case with sweepstakes you can show off a happy winner with an iPhone or present it as a life hack. Video is the best storytelling ad format, so use it’s opportunities to maximum.

We have the following video ad placements:

▶️ In-Stream Pre-roll (VAST, VPAID or linear)
▶️ Video Slider
▶️ Native Roll

If you haven't tried video ads yet, then now’s the right time to make your first marketing video. The easiest way to create a video is Motion banner. This is a tool, which allows you to make a video right inside the advertiser's dashboard. Just add an image and a couple of catchy headlines.

Advertising tips

• Devices. Keep in mind that mobile and desktop ad campaigns require different approaches.
• Language. Make sure that the language of the landings correlates with the GEO you target.
• Multiple offers. Promote several sweepstakes on one landing page to increase your profit.
• Images. Use real photos of devices, rather than perfectly edited illustrations.
• Limited time offer. Add a sense of urgency to the message and put a countdown timer on the pre-landing page to entice users.
• Trust. Popular brands evoke trust and instill confidence in users which positively affects the CTR.
• Pre-landing page is playing a major role in any angle. Up to 50% of the success of your ad campaign depends on it.
• Use the best practices that we mentioned above.
• Keep track of your competitors using AdPlexity. This is a professional spy tool that helps finding most effective ad creatives.

Analysis and optimization

The previous tips, however helpful they might be, won’t be your silver bullet if you don’t put in enough effort into optimizing your campaigns. It should start with analyzing your traffic. Make sure you know everything about your campaign: track the OS version, carrier, browser, language etc. to know what’s bringing you conversions and what’s a waste of budget.

EPC matters. Earning Per Click is the most important metric that you should pay attention to. Scale up campaigns with the highest EPC first, since they bring you more profits.

The bottom line

If you’re just starting out in affiliate marketing, then sweeps can offer you a great opportunity to understand the industry from scratch. In case you’re an experienced marketer and looking for a new challenge, then sweeps can offer high reward opportunities too. There are many ways to run sweepstakes. In ClickAdilla you have a large field for experimentation with different ad formats in over 200+ GEOs.

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