Are competitions a more mature FaceBook?

As a Promotions Consultant I get to work with more than the odd company, and I find it fascinating watching the screens of Gen Y's flickering on and off social networking sites. FaceBook is the drug of choice in most instances. I'm intrigued at the amount of time openly spent on this site, and it seems to be okay.

A few years ago, I ran a poll to find out when people are most likely to enter competitions, and the most preferred time was said to be in the evening, usually after 8PM. But in marketing, there's often the chance to read between the lines, and things aren't necessarily as they seem.

Competitions are predominantly the vice of women aged over 35. Yes, blokes do play, as do the 20 somethings, but most of our research places our fans in the 35-50 age bracket.

One thing I notice, is that if I look at the long list of new member emails, there are around 40% that have a business name attached. Not Hotmail, Google or Yahoo as you might expect.

Then, there's the peak times in which people visit CompetitionsGuide.com.au. There's two that stand out. Between 11 and 12 (just before lunch) and again at 3 and 4.

Regardless of when newsletters are sent out, these same two time slots appear again and again. Feedback to me suggests that before lunch is always good as a "stretch", and the late afternoons are there to alleviate boredom.

Just maybe, competitions are the alternative to FaceBook for the more mature generation?

Yours Comp-letely,

Craig Seitam 15/12/09

Comments

Facebook
I think facebook has dragged a lot of people into it as so many comps are run there these days. Do promoter save on costs using facebook or twitter for comps?
joanne

Relying on good competition sites
I also think finding a good reliable site for competitions is important and this shows in people using their spare time for visiting these sites. The peak times in your survey shows people are willing to spend time in participating in CompetitionsGuide.com. Your site delivers this, by supplying a range of product competitions which are consistent and trustworthy. I find social networks sites are still in their infancy and they attract opportunists.
Steve

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