{"id":4885,"date":"2016-10-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.promosimple.com\/?p=4885"},"modified":"2016-10-05T12:33:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-05T12:33:23","slug":"contacting-your-winner-trickier-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/contacting-your-winner-trickier-than-you-think","title":{"rendered":"Contacting Your Winner: It’s Trickier Than You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contacting your winner should be easy, right? After all, they won! But with all of the spam and scams out there, it\u2019s harder to get your winner to accept their prize than you\u2019d think. Here\u2019s what to do\u2026<\/p>\n

Why Winners Ignore You<\/h2>\n

It seems crazy, but of all of the people who entered your giveaway, the hardest person to get in touch with might just be your winner!<\/p>\n

The problem is that phishing and spam emails have people hyper-vigilant about avoiding scams. If you don\u2019t contact your winners the right way, it\u2019s likely that they\u2019ll assume your \u201cYou\u2019ve won!\u201d email is a scam, too.<\/p>\n

How to Break Through the Spam<\/h2>\n

Your first step after your giveaway is over is to choose your winner<\/a>, and your next step is to let them know they’ve won.<\/p>\n

Your email contacting your winner needs to do two things: It needs to establish your legitimacy, and it needs to gain your winner\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n

The first key to doing this is simply to make sure to send the email contacting your winner from your business email address. Many of us have multiple email addresses and sometimes default to using our personal accounts when we\u2019re moving quickly.<\/p>\n

But your business email account is important because it implies professionalism and can help your winner feel more confident in you right off the bat.<\/p>\n

Second, be sure to be clear and straightforward in your subject line.<\/p>\n

Let them know that they\u2019ve won\u2014but don\u2019t overdo it on exclamation points or all caps. Those might get caught in spam filters and never make it to your recipient to begin win. Remember, too, that your recipient might be all too used to spam emails and immediately delete your email it if your subject line sounds too good to be true.<\/p>\n

In the body of the email, you want to be clear and straightforward, as well. Be sure to emphasize that there are strings attached with this prize. Again, you want to reassure them that you\u2019re not a spammer!<\/p>\n

Then, ask for any additional information you need to deliver the prize\u2014for example, you might need their mailing address to send their prize.<\/p>\n

Why You Need a Deadline<\/h2>\n

Next, be sure to give your winner a deadline.<\/p>\n

If someone doesn\u2019t reply to your email within a certain period\u2014a week, for example\u2014you\u2019ll need to choose another winner. A deadline gives your winner a fair opportunity to take advantage of their win. But imagine that your winner disregards and deletes your email! If you don\u2019t create a deadline for them and for yourself, you won\u2019t end up awarding your prize to anyone.<\/p>\n

You could say, \u201cPlease be sure to reply with your mailing address within seven days. If we don\u2019t hear from you in that time, we\u2019ll assume you don\u2019t want your prize, and we\u2019ll select a new winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s relatively common for companies and brands to put in their official rules that they will contact up to three winners. You could do the same thing yourself, or opt for a different number.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s not unheard of for people to distrust that they\u2019ve won a prize and disregard your emails, no matter how clear, straightforward, and professional they are. But if you follow these best practices, you have a much better chance of getting your prize into the hands of the lucky person who won it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contacting your winner should be easy, right? After all, they won! But with all of the spam and scams out there, it\u2019s harder to get your winner to accept their prize than you\u2019d think. Here\u2019s what to do\u2026 Why Winners Ignore You It seems crazy, but of all of the people who entered your giveaway, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}