Poll- Contests or Sales?

[Via!]

I'll take a sale any day over a contest...you have one chance out of 800 to actually "win" something in a contest...at least with a sale, it's a "sure thing"...you place your order and put in the code..WIN!!!

Hello, miss Eleanor, miss plantlover, miss Lisa & miss keyzy!!

 

[TheBlueAdept]

I completely agree Plantlvr, it's disheartening at best to see contest filled with nomadic contest seekers. One look at their post history shows their presence is solely limited to entering contests. This is why I have held contest in the past that are all V4L related, V4L history, V4L trivia, anything to keep it in the family so-to-speak. Funniest part is I know a lot of these contest seekers and they know I know what I am talking about. I can't blame them, if companies hold contest in this type of format why not swoop in for a chance at some freebies.

The idea sounds so easy, let's have a contest because a contest will drive traffic to the site. This additional traffic will then bring in new customers. The only problem is it only attracts the same flock of contest seekers over and over again. It never reaches that new vaper looking to start or looking for an alternative to their current starter kit from another company. The bulk of these contest seekers are all very experienced vapers that have no intention of purchasing anything from V4L with the slight possibility of juices.

It reminds of a small company boss who announces he is going to hold a contest for his staff of 5. You know, livin things up a bit and lift morale. Shortly after the announcement the boss walks next door to a neighboring company of 500 and invites them to join the contest.

Why not have a series of small fun forum-related contests that reward the current customers? Better yet have contest built around bringing in new customers via current customers. PIF contest where the winner wins a little something, but also wins the ability to PIF a gift starter kit to a friend or a family member. Isn't that really the best way to generate new sales and justify the time and expense of holding these contests?

There are 2 ways to develop new customers, outside of your client base for new companies and within your client base for established companies. There are no greater sales or marketing assets than your loyal client base.

Sales....sales are great if you want to move numbers, but contests should be for rewarding current customers and expanding client base. But hey, what do I know?

+1k, Sir Snow. I agree strongly, and that was very well put.

Sent from my phone; Please excuse typos / autocorrections.

 

[MystStick]

I agree with your thoughts and logic SnowDragon. If push came to shove, I would prefer sales to contests myself. However, sometimes it is just fun to have something to spark up the forum and to bring others who have been too busy with their lives of late to swarm back when a contest is running. The more voices the merrier.

You never truly know what drives up business for a company, but I think having an active forum is a great start. I have heard from some that is the reason they selected V4L when there were so many other companies out there to choose from. More experienced vapors may know such information, but those who are new and trying to do their research sometimes just have to go with their gut on their final decisions. I know I switched from V2 because of the forum folks on V4L. They were so very helpful and welcoming. At the time I was not comfortable with vaping in public, now I could talk about it all day long to anyone (not that I know much, just that I could talk about how much I love it).

Anyway, you never know who you might be reaching out to on a forum and what motivates them to purchase. So I think it is great to use all kinds of different approaches.

The PIF is a great idea too. I did that with someone, started them with a complete kit, in the hopes it made a difference to them for the better.