In B2B (business to business) marketing promotions, like sweepstakes and contests, tend to be an uncommon tactic, but when used properly can offer great ways to engage all of your most important audiences (employees, prospects, and customers).
This article focuses on the nuances of B2B contests and marketing and is designed to provide guidance in how to get started and how to run a successful B2B promotion.
Select the right prizes
One of the most important factors in B2B sweepstakes and contests is offering prizes that will truly resonate with your audience. “Win a trip to Hawaii” is a great generic prize that most audiences would love to enter to win, but doesn’t necessarily speak to your audience specifics.
However, if you offer a prize that’s related to your specific business products and services, you’re more likely to get entrances from qualified prospects. For example, say your business makes a conference room device (like a “Teams” or “Zoom” room), offering a “Conference Room Makeover” as a prize is likely only to attract response from people who work for a business that has (or is building) conference rooms. It’s a high value offer (office furniture is expensive) and speaks directly to the prospect who is looking for conference room technology.
Ensure compliance for Your B2B Sweepstakes
Just like any sweepstakes or promotion, there are legal requirements that need to be followed in B2B. You want to be sure that your promotion meets all federal, state and local laws (and even international if that applies to your business). Official Rules need to take into account whether your promotion is skill based or chance based, requirements for entry and an array of other components depending on your market. Compliance is also important in sales contests, not only because of the legal requirements, but also reduces any potential misperceptions of how winner selection is handled (which could create feelings of distrust or favoritism).
Targeting your audience
B2B audiences can be elusive, and you need a solid media strategy to engage prospects who meet your specific requirements. Industry specific publications, email lists and websites are one of the most efficient ways to reach your niche target audience. In addition, social media platforms that target B2B audiences (LinkedIn in particular) offer the ability to reach highly targeted business prospects. You may also want to check out our article about using social media lead gen ads to drive response. Remarketing is another tactic that can be highly efficient.
Although reach will be small, people who’ve already visited your website tend to be highly qualified. Search marketing is another area where you can find niche audiences – using highly targeted industry terms. For example “lithium battery” is a common search term with thousands of consume searches a day, but “li-ion battery” has a much smaller number of searches, but tends to be used by engineers and developers.
Get help where you need it
Our team is here to help you run your B2B sweepstakes successfully and legally. We’d love to help you with initial thoughts and planning, with no obligation. Simply complete our contact form to arrange an initial consultation. If you’re new to sweepstakes, you may also want to check out our Sweepstakes 101 or how to run a legal sweepstakes articles
