Should I wait until the end of my contest to offer a discount, or can I offer one during the contest?

Use the ‘Inception’ approach: offer a discount both during and after the contest. After someone enters, send a scheduled message saying something like ‘If you’re like me, you never win anything, so here’s a bonus opportunity.’ Offer them a special discount (percentage off or free shipping) that’s only valid for the duration of the contest—it expires the moment the contest ends. This capitalizes on the attention you’ve already captured and converts some people who figure they’d rather take the guaranteed deal than wait to see if they win. Then at the end, you can still offer your post-contest discount to everyone. You’ve done all the work to get their attention—maximize it by giving multiple purchase opportunities.

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Asked by general teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2018-09-25