Managing sweepstakes contests

One way to promote your product or organization and add value to subscribers is to hold a sweepstakes contest, with the winner determined by a random drawing.

To manage a sweepstakes contest:

• Monitor a sweepstakes contest

• Select winners for a sweepstakes contest

To set up a sweepstakes, add the sweepstakes component to your campaign.

Monitoring a sweepstakes contest

To review the progress of a sweepstakes contest:

1. From the Campaigns menu, select Sweepstakes.

   

   Note: The Sweepstakes table is not available until you add a sweepstakes component to a campaign.

   Sweepstakes table

   The Sweepstakes table contains the following information for each sweepstakes contest:

   • Link to the campaign running the sweepstakes contest

   • The keyword for opting in to the campaign

   • Link to the list of subscribers who are eligible to participate in the sweepstakes (new subscribers are added to this list)

   • The number of subscribers who have entered the contest

   • The start date and end date for the contest

   • The status of the sweepstakes contest, including Active and Inactive

   • The action available for this sweepstakes:

     • Select winners

2. For an Active contest, review the number of entrants to date.

   Tip: If the number is too low, you can select the campaign name link and edit the Sweepstakes component to extend the entry period for the contest.

Selecting winners for a sweepstakes contest

When your contest has run to its conclusion, you have the fun job of drawing the winner(s).

1. From the Campaigns menu, select Sweepstakes.

   

2. Locate the campaign in the Sweepstakes table:

   • To search for the sweepstakes, enter all or part of the campaign name in the Search box at the top of the table, and then select  Search.

   • To navigate a multipage Sweepstakes table, use the pagination bar at the bottom of the table.

3. Select Select winners.

4. On the sweepstakes page, set up the random drawing: enter a name for the winners group and the number of winners for this contest.

   

5. When you are done, select Select Winners.

   The Winners table lists one or more winners for the winner group.

   

6. Select the Winner Group name link to open the list of winners.

7. To notify one or more winners that they have won, locate the winner(s) in the list and then select the checkbox on the left.

   Tip: To view a subscriber's profile, select the mobile phone number. For more information, see Managing subscriber profiles.

8. To add a message, select SMS (plain text message), MMS (multimedia message, including images, videos and audio), RCS, and then enter your message in the text box. For more information on RCS messaging, see Using Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging in Waterfall.

   Note: MMS messaging is available in the United States and Canada only.

   SMS messages

   For SMS messages, you can include some or all of the following customizations to add interest to your message:

   • Header (if available): Select Header and select one or more identifying details from your log-in account to add to the top of your message:

     • Name: your first name and last name, if available; if unavailable, your log-in user name

     • Mobile: the mobile number associated with your user name

     • Company (Subaccount): the company or subaccount you are using when you add the header

     When you are done, select Apply.

   • Dynamic insertion: Select Dynamic Insertion and select a metadata field from the dropdown list, then add a default value to display when a value is not available in a subscriber's profile. Select Insert to add the field to your message.

     Tip: Adding a default value is highly recommended; otherwise, when a subscriber's profile does not include a value in the selected field, the entry in your message will be blank.

   • Link shortener (if available): Select a URL in your message and then select Link Shortener. Select Insert to reduce the character count by adding a shortened link to your message.

   • Coupon code (if available): Select Add Coupon and select a coupon code from the dropdown list. Select Insert to add the code to your message. For more information, see Adding coupon codes.

   Note:  A simple text message is limited to 160 characters. Check the lower-right corner for the remaining character count. If the number is negative and red, then the message is overlong and may be split and sent as a multipart SMS message.

   MMS messages (United States and Canada only)

   For MMS messages, you can include some or all of the following customizations to add interest to your message:

   • Header (if available): Select Header and select one or more identifying details from your log-in account to add to the top of your message:

     • Name: your first name and last name, if available; if unavailable, your log-in user name

     • Mobile: the mobile number associated with your user name

     • Company (Subaccount): the company or subaccount you are using when you add the header

     When you are done, select Apply.

   • Dynamic insertion: Select Dynamic Insertion and select a metadata field from the dropdown list, then add a default value to display when a value is not available in a subscriber's profile. Select Insert to add the field to your message.

     Tip: Adding a default value is highly recommended; otherwise, when a subscriber's profile does not include a value in the selected field, the entry in your message will be blank.

   • Link shortener (if available): Select a URL in your message and then select Link Shortener. Select Insert to add a shortened link to your message.

   • Custom image file: Select Image and navigate to locate the image file (.gif, .jfif, .pjpeg, .jpeg, .pjp, .jpg, .png, or .vcf) up to 3 MB. Select Open to add the image to your message.

   • Custom video file: Select Video and navigate to locate the video file (.3gpp, .m4v, .mp4, .mpg, .mpeg, .avi, .wmv, or .mov). Select Open to add the video to your message.

   • Custom audio file: Select Audio and navigate to locate the audio file (.mp3 or.wav). Select Open to add the audio to your message.

   • vCard file: Select vCard and navigate to locate the vCard file (.vcf). Select Open to add the vCard to your message.

   • Emoji: Select Emoji to select an emoji from the catalog.

   • Coupon code (if available): Select Add Coupon and select a coupon code from the dropdown list. Select Insert to add the code to your message. For more information, see Adding coupon codes.

   Note: If an icon is grayed out, it is unavailable.

9. When you are done, select Send Message.