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How to Wrap Up a Text to Win Sweepstakes While Avoiding a Steve Harvey-Style Mistake

Your text-to-win has ended and you’ve gotten a lot of entries… so now what? One common mistake can have you pulling a “Steve Harvey” and announcing the wrong winner. You don’t want that to happen! There’s a right way and wrong way to wrap up your sweepstakes.

Here’s how to end your sweepstakes while maintaining brand trust and loyalty.

1. Select the Winner

As soon as your sweepstakes comes to an end, select the winner(s). This person becomes the “potential winner” until the next step is taken (below). Remember, there will be many people eagerly awaiting the outcome, so make sure you follow the time frame you promised in the official rules to avoid compromising your customers’ trust.

2. Confirm the Winner BEFORE Announcing

We see many small businesses announcing the winner right away, but that’s not the best idea. What if the winner has sudden health issues and can’t travel on the trip you’re giving away? Or what if they changed their mind about the prize or didn’t follow the rules? All of these things have happened. And you don’t want to announce a mistake was made and have to select a different winner.

Keep in mind… a winner is considered a “potential winner” until they’ve been confirmed by you.

Contact the person privately first to confirm they’re eligible and can take the prize, especially if there are restrictions. If you can’t reach them and leave a message, give them a grace period to get back to you (usually 2-3 days, per your rules) and let them know they need to respond before this time expires. Otherwise, you may have to select a new winner. Only after you’ve confirmed them, should you then announce them as the winner.

3. Deliver the Prize

The prizes should be sent to your winners promptly and make sure to include a thank you note for participating. This is also another chance to get a promotional photo. Ask if they can send you a photo with the prize or provide a testimonial or follow up quote. You can use this on social media, your website or in other materials.

4. Send Out a Message to Non-Winners

Don’t forget the non-winners! Consider sending them a message. Offer a discount as a consolation prize or simply thank them for their participation and encourage them to enter again next time.

5. Review the Results of Your Campaign

Has your campaign achieved the goals you set? Assess the data from your text-to-win to see if it met your projections and make note of any changes for future campaigns.

By thanking entrants and showing them their participation was important, you can help maintain brand trust and loyalty among subscribers. It’s all part of making sure you take care of your text-to-win subscribers from start to finish!

Reach your audience with a Text-to-Win or SMS Sweepstakes campaign. Contact us or call us at (305) 505-5393 for help with setting up your (SMS) text message marketing.