There’s something a little bit satisfying about entering a competition online and actually being able to take home a prize, whether that prize is just a digital gift card or even just a cool swag bag. And with the sheer number of competitions and giveaways that are taking place over the world wide web, it’s natural to want a piece of the action, especially if you’ve never won one of these contests before.
But what are your chances of winning exactly? Well, it depends on which competitions you’re entering, and perhaps even the frequency of your comping activities. If you are looking to win big when entering competitions online, then this is the read for you.
Stay with us as we outline our top 7 tips for finding and winning competitions and giveaways online.
1. Sign up to comper platforms
There are thankfully a few different ways that you can find giveaways online. For example, you can find free competitions on platforms like Competition Cloud, by conducting some strategic Google searches, or by following your favourite brands on social media to stay in the loop with any giveaways, as well as other promotions and special offers.
By checking these channels every day, you can increase your chances of coming across competitions with prizes that you actually want. On top of this, using comper platforms like Competition Cloud can also help you keep track of all your entries, which is essential for those entering giveaways and contests on a daily basis. And the best part is that some platforms even provide their members with the opportunity to enter their own member-exclusive competitions and giveaways, giving you even more chances to win.
2. Use social media tools
So comper platforms are packed with user-friendly features to help compers keep track of all their comping activities. But how can you streamline the process of entering competitions and giveaways across social media? Not all competitions are listed on comper platforms, so sticking to just these platforms alone may see you missing out on participating in smaller local contests and giveaways.
Thankfully, there are social media tools out there that can help streamline the process of digging through these platforms in search of giveaways and contests. For instance, you can use Tweetdeck to sort through all your Twitter hashtags with ease.
And what if you’re looking for competitions on Instagram? After all, Insta is packed with giveaways and branded promos, both on company pages as well as through influencers. Well there are a myriad of Instagram tools that can be used as well! Onlypult is a particularly valuable Instagram tool for compers, as it allows for the effortless management of multiple accounts.
3. Subscribe to mailing lists
Even with comper platforms and social media tools at your disposal, it’s still easy to miss a few little competitions or promos here and there. And if you’re angling for a particular prize from a particular competition host (like a gift card with your favourite fashion retailer), then it certainly does pay to stay in the loop with this brand however possible. This is where mailing lists come into the picture.
Brands like to give their consumers added incentive to share their personal data. That in a nutshell, is why online giveaways and competitions even exist in the first place. But it’s also why companies usually run special limited time offers and even opportunities to enter competitions and giveaways that are exclusive to email subscribers. And you can find these opportunities in – you guessed it – your inbox!
4. Use a dedicated email address
Granted, you don’t want your personal inbox being flooded with marketing emails. Nobody does! But don’t let the prospect of being signed up to mailing lists deter you from living out your comping dreams. There are ways that you can reap all the benefits of entering competitions and giveaways online without having to field a snowstorm of promotional emails.
One of the simplest methods here is to just set up an email address that’s solely for comping. You can set up multiple Gmail addresses under one Google Chrome account, allowing you to flip back and forth between inboxes with ease. And if you allow notifications for all your Gmail accounts on your mobile phone and other devices, then you can ensure that you don’t miss out on any emails about competitions you’ve entered. All while being able to keep your personal inbox free and clear.
5. Put thought into your entries
Although some competitions require nothing but a button tap in order to have you in the running, it’s only logical that the easier a contest is to enter, the harder it is to win. You can expect the entrant pool to these low-effort competitions to be pretty high, and the more competitors you have, the less the odds are in your favour.
A good way around this is to just put thought and effort into your entries, and go up for competitions that require a little more than just your email address, or even just a like and follow. For example, competitions that ask you to provide a short answer of ‘25 words or less’ are usually going to have a far smaller pool of entrants. So take these opportunities whenever they come, and make sure that your entry showcases a level of care and attention that your competition hosts will be sure to appreciate.
6. Write up a prize wishlist
Drawing on from putting thought into your competition entries, considering the prizes you’re up for is naturally a crucial part of being selective about your comping process. You don’t want to be blindly entering competitions that have prizes you’re not even interested in. Not only is this a waste of your time, but it also runs the risk of you becoming a prize pig.
Prize pigs don’t just ruin the fun for people who actually want to win – they’re also a bit disrespectful to competition hosts who may be hoping to build up loyal and passionate customer bases through providing their competitions and giveaways. And trust us, you’ll enjoy comping a lot more if you’re only entering competitions that you actually feel excited about. That, and you won’t have to worry about how to react when you win something that you may not even want.
That’s why we encourage everyone to begin their comping career by first putting together a list of prizes that they may like to win. This list can also help you search for competitions by their prizes, increasing your chances of coming across comps that actually are exciting for you to participate in.
7. Build up your comping community
Finally, even though comping can easily be a personal hobby, you’d be surprised by just how much fun you can have when you share your wins with friends and loved ones. So why not start comping with company?
Not only will entering competitions with friends increase your chances of winning (or even winning by proxy), but having a community of fellow compers at your fingertips can also help you find new competitions and giveaways that may not have been listed in the channels that you sift through.
Having a comping community can also greatly simplify the process of entering competitions on social media. Need friends who don’t mind being @-ed in a competition post? Need to share a competition to gain more entries? Simply look to your comping friends!
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With these tips and tricks in place, you should find it a lot easier to enter online competitions and giveaways with peak efficiency and enjoyment. So get out there, submit your entries for the day, and check your inbox to see if tonight’s the night you win big!
