5 Steps to Run the Perfect Lucky Draw Campaign

Lucky Draw or Sweepstakes campaigns are one of the classic consumer promotion tools utilised across industries. They grab attention of consumers and influence purchase decisions for sure. But there are a lot of things which can go wrong in lucky draw campaigns which are counterproductive by alienating customers rather than attracting them. Providing superior customer experience in such campaigns is necessary to derive any kind of success from them. Following are a few pointers to take care of, when running a lucky draw campaign.

• Step 1: Select the right rewards
  • One of the biggest mistakes done by brands in such campaigns is having a winner-take-all structure. While it might sound better to give a very expensive reward to the winner, it usually doesn’t leave any room for rewards for anybody else. It is always advisable to keep budget aside and have various grades of rewards. Ideally at least 1 in 100 participants should be winning some reward or the other. This goes a long way in building trust in such campaigns and a lot of consumers having positive experience with the brand
• Step 2: Get the word out
  • The best of the lucky draw campaigns tends to fail because of lack of advertising. If customers don’t come to know about the offer, then you can safely say goodbye to any traction that is to be generated through these campaigns. Such campaigns need to have multi-platform communication plans with exceptional focus on point of sale communication. In store promoters, Packaging changes, POSM deployment, etc are useful tools in running such campaigns
• Step 3: Use technology
  • The actual process of the draw itself might flummox lot of people especially when in case of large scale programs with lot of participants and winners. It is also advisable to have a video recording of the actual process of the draw. To simplify all this, it is best to use technology. There are a few open source lucky draw softwares available and one can easily be built using Excel. By deploying such technology, the actual process of the draw is simplified.
• Step 4: Follow the law of the land
  • Lucky draw campaigns are unlike any other consumer promotions and are regulated through special provisions of law dealing with gambling. In some states, it is actually illegal running such campaigns. Stick to the word of the law and do not try to circumvent it in any way. Deploying technology to record the lucky draw process is also a step in this as that provides auditable proof of the process. On top of all this there is Section 194b of Income Tax Act laid down by Government of India clearly states that for rewards worth more than INR 10000, a gift tax of 30.9% needs to be collected from the winner before giving any reward. Following the law to the letter ensures that there are no unnecessary hassles at a later date.
• Step 5: Utilise multi-platform communication with winners
  • The real work in such schemes starts from announcing the winners. There are multiple documents that need to be collected from the winner (ID proof, Address proof, Proof of purchase, etc) and all of them go through validation steps. There are DDs that need to be collected from winners towards gift tax. It is really important to have continuous communication with the winners at various stages to ensure that they are aware of the exact status of their reward. To do all this without appearing intrusive is truly an art. Utilising phone calls, couriers, SMS, Whatsapp, etc to communicate with winners at various stages ensures that the reward logistics are quickly closed and everyone comes out with a positive experience.