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How to Set Up a Text to Win Contest
In this article...
Overview
Step 1 - Basic Set Up
- Winners, Timeframes, and more
- Message Content
Step 2 - Analytics
Overview
Contests and competitions have been around since the dawn of man. They offer a friendly way for people to compete to win a prize and be rated as "top dog" (or dawg if you are hip). Fast forward a few minutes, and now contests are being held via SMS! Incredible.
SlickText's Text to Win Contest feature is rich both in functionality, and the results you can see from customer interaction. A text to win contest is a simple and effective way to grow a subscriber list quickly, especially on social media. Below is a simple outline to set up your very own contest. Fun!
First things first:
- Log in to your SlickText account
- Marketing Tools
- Manage Contests
- Set Up a New Contest
Got 5 minutes to spare? That's all you will need to set up your contest!
Step 1 - Basic Setup
Winners, Timeframes, and More.
Contest Name (customers will not see)
Just a good reference point for you. Place any name here you would like.
Which Textword?
Choose which textword your subscriber will text in to join the contest. Keep in mind, when a user texts in to join your contest, they are also added to that textword list.
A Contact May Enter the Contest
This is similar to putting your name into a hat using a slip of paper. The more entries, the more chances you have to win! Keep in mind though that if a user has more than 1 entry, they can win your contest more than once as well.
Number of Winners
Select the number of winners you would like for the system to randomly choose, and at which time interval. A few examples...
- 1 Winner chosen upon completion - Total Winners: 1
- 5 Winners chosen weekly - Total Winners each week of the contest: 5
- 0 Winners chosen upon completion - The system does not choose any winners. Read more on if this applies to your contest set up.
Send a message to the contest losers?
This option is always defaulted to "no" for any new contest. By switching this option to "yes," you are now able to have the system send out a losing message at the end of the contest. An effective use of this option is to re-market to the losers with a redeemable coupon of lesser value than the grand prize.
Start Date & Time - EST
Adjust the starting date and time for the contest. Based on how the contest functions, it may not always be appropriate to set your contest start time at 12am.
For example, if your contest starts at 12am, and 1 winner is chosen weekly, 1 week after any given date at 12am is.... still 12am. This means the system will send out a winning message at 12am to said winner. If your winners are chosen upon completion, only the contest end date/time will affect when the winning message is sent.
End Date & Time - EST
The time chosen here represents both when the contest ends. If you have winners chosen upon contest completion, this is when the winners will be chosen and sent their text message. Similar to the start of the contest, it may not always be a good idea to end your contest at 11:45pm or 12am, as that is when the winning message would be sent out.
If your winners are chosen at specific intervals, the normal interval rules apply. In the scenario where the contest ends before the next interval is reached, no additional winners are chosen and the losing message is then sent out.
Message Content
Auto-Reply for this contest:
The auto reply here acts in the same manner as your normal textword auto reply. This is the first message new entrants will receive when joining your contest/text list. The text to win contest auto reply overrides the normal auto reply, only for the duration of the contest. Once the contest completes, the normal auto reply is sent out.
Message that will be sent to the winner(s)/loser(s):
These messages represent the message that will be sent out to the winners our losers. Not a lot to explain here, however there are usually 3 main components to include in these messages.
- Include business name for branding
- Notify users of the winner/losing message
- Provide a call to action
- Winning Example: To redeem your prize, call us at (insert business line)
- Winning Example: We will contact you within 24-48 hours via phone call to redeem
- Losing Example: We still think you're a winner! Receive $5 OFF your next purchase with this coupon!
Step 2 - Analytics
SlickText's contest feature also offers in-depth analytics to help you better understand the results of your campaign. Our analytics show a range of information, from winners to losers, dates and times, and total entrants. And the best part? You can download this information to a CSV. file! To access your analytics for your text to win contest...
First things first:
- Log in to your SlickText account
- Marketing Tools
- Manage Contests
- Options
- View Analytics
Still have questions? Check out our tutorial video here!
