Contest Marketing

Contest marketing is a way to get consumers to visit and interact with a sales site in exchange for the opportunity to win a contest. The contest can involve just one grand prize or a succession of prizes ranging from one big prize to a variety of smaller prizes of decreasing value. Once the consumer is on the sales site or interacting with the business, they are pitched to purchase the products.

The Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes is a model of contest marketing. By law, consumers are under no obligation to purchase a product in order to enter and win the contest, but as long as they are available, they can certainly be pitched.

With the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes, the contest goes on for a long time and involves a gradual process of contestant elimination. But while this goes on, contestants are pitched to buy magazines. The opportunity to win big is balanced by giving the business an opportunity to sell consumers on their products.

Car dealerships use contest marketing by offering consumers a chance to win a new car by visiting the dealership and submitting a contest entry. The process of completing an entry is paved with opportunities for salesmen to pitch the cars.

Another variation of contest marketing is for car dealerships to advertise via direct mail that a consumer may have won a new car. In order to find out, they are urged to visit the dealership, usually on a certain day. Consumers who take the time to enter a new car contest or visit a dealership to see if they've won are often in the market for a new car and become new leads for the sales staff.