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Realtime Media is among the very few full-service vendors with the capabilities to cover every component of digital promotions with excellence. Realtime Media offers a complete business solution in a partner that provides you guidance and support from start to finish.

In addition to traditional holidays like Christmas, New Year's, and Thanksgiving, there are plenty of fun and quirky holidays throughout the year that provide unique opportunities for brands to engage with their audience. These lesser known “National Holidays”, such as National Pizza Day, National Coffee Day, or National Pet Day, can be leveraged by brands to create exciting sweepstakes, giveaways, and contests that capture the attention of their target audience, generate buzz on social media, and attract new customers.

With a strategic social media giveaway, your brand can energize old and new followers, gain high visibility and delight customers with prizes. While the process of fulfilling and delivering prizes to winners may feel like an afterthought, it’s a critical part of the brand experience and often influenced by the nature of social media.

In any contest or sweepstakes, the winner of a high-value prize — worth more than $600 — is required to record that prize with the IRS. Typically, the sponsoring brand and their sweepstakes management company handle all aspects of legal administration, including the IRS filing, to ensure full compliance — but the back-and-forth required of winners can be a painstaking process.

The landing page for a contest or sweepstakes should be a clean, straightforward design that’s both immersive and effective. As the user’s first touchpoint with the promotion, it’s important to quickly capture their attention with engaging imagery and clear next steps to guide them through participation.

Contests, giveaways and sweepstakes are proven to build brand loyalty and engagement while meeting strategic marketing goals, such as acquiring first-party data or supporting a product launch. Tying a promotion into the summer season — which often connotes feelings of freedom, adventure or relaxation — can increase positive brand associations while keeping your products top of mind and brand relevant.