Coined in the 1950’s, the term Door Prize refers to a kind of giveaway in which participants enter simply by attending an event or, as the name suggests, merely by walking through the door. As the world of promotions and giveaways inevitably moves to the digital realm, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that Door Prizes are a thing of the past. Yet, nothing is further from the truth, as much as choosing winners by picking a piece of paper out of a box is, as it should be, a thing of the past, Door Prizes remain a powerful strategy to boost brand awareness, engage your audience, promote your products, and more!
In this article, we will get into the two major questions regarding Door Prizes: When to hold them, and how to organize and manage them.
As we’ve mentioned before, Door Prizes are giveaways that take place during events in which all attendees stand a chance to win a prize by the mere fact that they walked into the event. So, the first logical question would be, which kinds of events are the most suitable to hold a Door Prize giveaway?
When to celebrate Door Prizes?
If there is one thing that all events have in common, is that they bring together people with a shared interest. Whether it be professional interest, education, or even a hobby, this common ground among attendees provides the perfect opportunity to generate engagement, boost brand awareness, promote and sell products or services, and the list goes on. So with this in mind, let’s take a look at what kind of events provide the perfect setting for Door Prizes.
Door Prizes at Trade Shows and Expos
These events bring together industry professionals and potential customers. Offering a door prize can encourage people to visit your booth, engage with your products or services, and provide you with an opportunity to gather leads. Tip: Keep signing up to the giveaway simple and fast and configure the registration form to include the information you need to collect. As a rule of thumb, name, company, and professional email address should be enough. Provide a tablet for visitors to sign up, or if you expect high traffic volume, display a QR code that visitors can scan to access the registration form and sign up.
The example above shows a digital prize wheel that Gigamon launched to promote its products and draw visitors to its stand during the Interface Trade Show held in Seattle.
Want to learn more about digital prize wheels and their advantages? Here are six steps to create a successful Spin the Wheel promotion.
Door Prizes at Product Launches
If you’re introducing a new product to the market, a door prize giveaway can create buzz and anticipation around the launch. Depending on the nature of your product, you could offer some units as a prize, giving attendees a chance to experience the product firsthand. If attendance to the launch is by invite, make sure to include a link to the giveaway registration in the invitation and a description of the prize to incentivize participation.
Door Prizes at Conferences and Seminars
Door prizes can incentivize attendance at educational or professional development events. A Door Prize promotion will make the event more appealing and reward participants for their time. You can include an invitation with a QR code to register for the giveaway in the welcome pack and also display it around the event venue. Make sure the time and day of the prize draw are clearly stated to ensure attendance.
Door Prizes at Company anniversaries or celebrations
Whether you are celebrating an anniversary, a Christmas dinner, or a company’s picnic, including a door giveaway as part of your event is the perfect way to show your appreciation for your team and could very well be the highlight of the celebration.
Door Prizes at Online Events and Webinars
Virtual events can also incorporate door prize giveaways to increase attendance and engagement. Participants can enter the giveaway when signing up for the online event.
Now that we’ve gone over some examples of when Door Prizes can be held, it’s time we get into what might be the most important consideration: Which tools to use and how to carry it out.
Choose the right tool to run your Door Prizes
As we mentioned before, the days of selecting winners by picking pieces of paper out of a bowl should be but a memory of days long gone. If the whole point of having Door Prizes is to promote your brand or product, then the most sensible thing is to do it using a reliable and trustworthy platform that will give your promotion the professional and fair feel that it deserves. Not to mention, making it easier for you to organize and carry out. No pen, no papers, no bowls, no scissors needed!
Easypromos offers a variety of giveaway apps, each one with a specific objective and scenario in mind but in this article we will only go over the most relevant ones for Door Prizes.
Event Giveaway App
The Easypromos Event Giveaway app is ideal for conferences and presentations where there is a captive audience. Engage your audience by letting them know that there will be a quiz, or a survey, at the end of the conference or presentation and that those who answer correctly could win a prize. To participate, users access the URL or scan the QR code on the screen with their phones and answer the questions before time runs out. Once the time is up, a random prize draw is carried out to select the winners.
List Giveaway App
If you wish to include a wider audience, for example the entirety of attendees to a trade show or event that requires a previous registration, the List Giveaway App is the solution. It’s simple and does not require any further action from participants. Use the Easypromos List Giveaway app to directly upload the list of participants from an Excel, CSV, or text file. This is an ideal dynamic for the closing of an event as it encourages attendees to stay until the end. Or to give away prizes at the dinner gala of a trade show.
Entry Form Giveaway App
If your aim is to generate leads or gather information about the attendees to your event or trade show, or attract them to your company’s stand, the Entry Form Giveaway app will do the trick. Display a QR code at your stand for participants to register, include it in your welcome pack brochure, or include a link to it in the event’s registration confirmation email. Make sure you inform when the prize draw will take place to draw traffic to your stand.
Promote your event on Social Media with an Instagram Stories Giveaway
GIve your event a Social Media boost with an Instagram Stories Giveaway. Ask attendees to post an Instagram story of them at your event or booth with a mention to your brand or your event’s Instagram profile. Then use the Easypromos Instagram Stories Giveaway app to carry out a fully automatic prize draw.
Announce the winners of your Door Prizes in style
A door prize may very well be the highlight of you event. So, make sure you do it in style with the Easypromos Showmode feature. This characteristic, available in all of our giveaway apps, allows you to create a fully customized video to announce the winners.
We hope you find these ideas interesting and helpful to include a Door Prize Giveaway in your next event. And if you have any questions or need more information about our platform, don’t hesitate to contact us via live chat. We will be happy to help!
