Chatbots in Marketing: Contests and Lotteries, or How to Win the Hearts of Customers and Brand Fans
Lotteries and contests are versatile marketing tools that have won the hearts of both consumers and entrepreneurs. There is no doubt that there are many benefits to organizing contests – they strengthen brand awareness, shape a positive brand image, and enhance audience engagement. As a result, not only does the online community grow, but there is also media interest and increased sales activity.
Contests are a valuable tool in virtually every industry, and their forms are diverse – from several weeks or even months-long campaigns to quick and brief additions to daily communications. Regardless of preferences, chatbots become extremely flexible support, adapting to any situation and business need.
Since 2017 we have organized over 200 contests
On average 85% of participants complete the entire contest journey
We have been trusted by brands such as Żabka, Żywiec, Semilac, Biedronka, 4FUN.TV, COTY
Easy management of competition entries
Contests in chatbots are very popular, especially those properly promoted (but more on that later 😉). To make it easier for our customers to manage even thousands of entries, we have created a unique contest panel. There is no need to search through the conversations in the inbox. We store all the entries and necessary information in one place. Furthermore, it only takes one click to mark the winners.
Our interactive panel allows for flexible column arrangement in contest entries, gathering all relevant participant information. This makes verifying data accuracy and reviewing entries according to preferences incredibly easy. Additionally, a small star on the right side allows you to mark the winners. We stay up to date with our clients’ needs, which drives our development and expands the capabilities for conducting and analyzing contests.
We have several different types of contests that can be held in a chatbot.
- First of all – participants can send us text, photos, sounds or videos, and the weight of works in web-based chatbots can reach up to 100 MB.
- Quizzes are another option. Participants answer questions, which can be closed as well as open. Additionally, you can measure the time it takes to complete the quiz, allowing you to determine the fastest participant and adding even more excitement.
- The next option is to enter codes, for example, from bottle caps. The contest code participates in the draw. I suspect that this type of contest-lottery is well known to everyone 🍻
Of course, there are many more options. You can combine all of the above, such as sending a photo and describing it, or after entering the code “unlock” additional questions that will increase the chance of winning. There are very many possibilities…
As always, we are open to new ideas and treat each contest individually. The choice of scenario depends on the vision of the contest and the intended outcomes. We are always ready to assist – you can trust our experience without fear.
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Additional activation of participants
Our platform allows sending push messages. If a user started to participate in a contest, but for some reason did not complete it, the chatbot will send him a reminder after a few hours and encourage him to continue.
Before or after the contest, we can ask users additional questions that will help us get to know them better. Surveys can be created in the chatbot to include questions such as “how long have you been using our products?” or “how did you learn about the brand?” as either required or optional questions.
A chatbot is also a valuable advertising space. You can use it both when switching between different chatbots, and by sharing the space with partners or sponsors when holding contests or presenting “sponsored blocks” with a prominent brand.
Ways to promote contests
In order for the contest to attract enough interest, users need to know about it. Due to the popularity of instant messaging, the process of reaching the fun is extremely easy from any device. We encourage our clients to take full advantage of free ways to promote themselves, as part of their daily communication with the brand’s audience. On social media (posts, memes, stories), on flyers or in emails, we can publish QR codes or m.me links, tagged to explore different sources and, based on that, continue the promotion in an optimal way.
The Meta Group (which includes Facebook and Instagram) naturally offers paid promotional methods as well. These can be click-to-messenger ads, displayed on users’ wall and leading directly to Messenger, or promoting posts under which automatic responses to comments are plugged in.
Participation in the contest itself can also take place in several ways. Participants can type a specific keyword during the chatbot conversation, click on a link or advertisement, or comment on a Facebook post. The chatbot can operate on Messenger, Instagram, on the brand’s website, or in the brand’s app, as well as on an intranet if you want to engage your employees in the fun.
Contests in practice
In front of you some examples of competition actions.
Thematic actions
Organizing contests on occasions like holidays or back-to-school events is very common. An example could be Atrium Galeria Dominikańska, which organized a Christmas contest activated by a user commenting on a post. After that, a chatbot would engage the user and guide them through the rest of the path. Gift cards were provided for the lucky winners.
Auto-reply can also be used to give away promotional codes. Such a tactic was used by Żabka, which sent a discount code for a hot dog or kebsik after a user commented on a post. In this case, the prize pool was limited, and the code was given to each person who managed to claim it before it ran out.
Unconventional contests
Heineken also opted for an interesting form of competition. The Heineken Music game involved entering contest codes from bottle caps or pins in the chatbot, followed by answering five closed questions and one open one. Prizes were provided for the two participants per day who provided the correct answers in the shortest time.
Another example of an organizer of non-standard contests is 4FUN.TV. After deciding to implement our FUNBOT, it took over almost 100% of the handling of contests. From fairly standard ones involving sending creative photos or recordings, singing, answering original questions, to ones that were made possible by our integration with their broadcast system. Some of the contests could only be participated if a particular song was playing on the air or when a contest slogan appeared on the screen, which then had to be entered into the bot.
4FUN.TV collaborated with other brands, and prizes were often funded by their partners.
- During the 3 years of operation, FUNBOT has served 160,000 users
- It has exchanged more than 8,000,000 messages with users
Storytelling
The story that ran in the chatbot was created around the name of a new collection of hybrid nail polishes – City Break. It revolved around a short trip with a friend to a European city. The user had a direct impact on the development of events and made key decisions. The action lasted four days, and to proceed to the next day, one had to complete the entire path from the previous day. Only after completing all four days, did the participant have the opportunity to answer the contest question.
- Half a million interactions in 4 days
- 80% who started the game stayed with us until the very end
- 100% OR of push messages
- 80% average CTR of push messages
- 834 contest entries collected
To learn more about this campaign, read the case study.
Promotions based on storytelling are an out-of-the-box, unique ideas that can be used for various occasions, such as product launches, time-limited actions (e.g., back-to-school), or holiday campaigns. Such campaigns highly engage participants and increase brand awareness. Storytelling can be short, lasting for a single day, or long, spread out over several days. The choices made by the participant can influence the next steps, so that the game itself will have several possible endings.
City/outdoor game
Users received riddles, the solution to which led them to a location where they had to complete a task, such as finding a QR code or another clue. Each of the eight stages started two days after the previous one. The grand finale of the game took place at MOICO’s BOK, which was transformed into a jungle setting.
The participant, after completing all the previous stages, had to guess the name of the plant decorating the office and enter it into the chatbot. Time played a crucial role in the game, following the principle: “First come, first served.”
Similarly to storytelling, outdoor activities and field actions have many uses. Participants eagerly await the next puzzles and clues. As a result, the brand gains media recognition and attracts user interest. Interestingly executed action is intriguing and stays in the memory for a long time.
- 400 active play participants
- 4 min average time spent per day in chatbot
- 20% increase in people using the chatbot for service issues
Lotteries Żywiec and Desperados
Both Żywiec Group brands have already held several editions of their lotteries, and the chatbot has already become a natural channel for entries. To take part in the contest, you need to purchase a promotional product and enter the code from under the pin in the appropriate form. Participation in the lottery is only available to adults – our chatbots have the option to add an age gate. This results in the need for the user to confirm that he or she is at least 18 years old during the first interaction with the chatbot.
In terms of alcohol-related contest actions, we have also collaborated with brands such as Heineken, Warka, Captain Morgan, and Żubrówka Czarna. Working with the alcohol industry does not scare us!
Not only in polish
We don’t limit ourselves to organizing contests exclusively in Polish. With the COTY brand, we organized contests available in both the Polish and Czech markets, in which vacation vouchers could be won.
Why is it worth it?
Chatbot contests are quick to implement (simple structures are ready in a few hours) and are certainly more cost-effective than setting up a landing page, for example. They streamline the processes involved in managing contests, the type of accepting entries or verifying data. Thanks to a proprietary contest panel, entries can be conveniently reviewed, flagged, or excluded if they don’t meet specific criteria. It allows us to organize contests of any scale and complexity, regardless of the number of users. The platform’s features and capabilities can be easily customized, and each contest is unique. Instant communication with participants and the use of chatbots to answer contest-related questions also eliminate delays in providing information or resolving doubts.
Users who have started the game but haven’t submitted their entries within 24 hours can be encouraged to participate in the contest at no additional cost. Chatbots make it easy to collect and analyze data accurately. Through short surveys, they allow you to get to know the user more thoroughly, which can translate into a more personalized experience and tailored content to preferences.
Contests held directly on Messenger, Instagram, or a brand’s app engage users within their natural environments. Chatbots assist in brand communication, and a contest can serve as an introduction to building a long-lasting relationship with the user.
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