2. #PromotionsLab
Presenters
Julie Foley
Director of Affiliate Success
Second Street
@julie_foley
Paul West
VP of Customer Relations
Second Street
Matt Coen
President & Co-Founder
Second Street
@mcoen
9. #PromotionsLab
Metro Ballot
The ballot generated $170,000
in revenue. Of this, $30,000
was from the category ads on
the digital ballot.”
-Blair Barna, Advertising Director & Co-Owner
“
1 Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
11. #PromotionsLab
High School Sports Awards Ballot
The ballot collected more than 1,000 email addresses and received more than 20,000
votes. We believe that it will become an annual event!” -Vince Johnson, Chief Multimedia Officer
“
2 The Signal | Santa Clarita Valley, California
13. #PromotionsLab
Holiday Ballot
The Best of Holiday Shopping ballot generated $70,000. We nearly doubled our
revenue from last year!” -Tammy Burdick, Senior Market Analyst
“
3 The Roanoke Times | Roanoke, Virginia
15. #PromotionsLab
Wedding Ballot
A wedding ballot should cover every
aspect of the wedding, from the
venues to the florists to the caterers,
DJs, accessories, and more.
TIP:
4 Charlotte Wedding | Charlotte, North Carolina
17. #PromotionsLab
Food Ballot5 WBFF-TV | Baltimore, Maryland
TIP: Organize the ballot so that the same restaurant could potentially win Best
Bakery, Best Cupcakes, and Best Place to Take a Date.
19. #PromotionsLab
Sports Awards Ballot6 The Elkhart Truth | Elkhart, Indiana
Category Ideas:
• Best Offensive Player
• Best Defensive Player
• Best Tailgate Spot
• Best Tailgate Food
• Best Place to Watch a Game
• Best Place to Celebrate a Win
• Best Hotel
21. #PromotionsLab
Family Favorites Ballot7 MetroFamily Magazine | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
TIP:
Honor your finalists and winners with thank you ads. MetroFamily increased
their sales 81% over the previous year as a result of thank you ads.
23. #PromotionsLab
Local Event Ballot
-Marty Carry, Vice President, Advertising“
8 State Journal-Register | Springfield, Illinois
As a result of the ballot, we were able to secure new partnerships with a local bank
and the Springfield Mass Transit District as well as many other small businesses.”
25. #PromotionsLab
Battle of the Bands Ballot9 Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
TIP:
Offer a prize package that includes an opportunity to perform at an
event or venue. It’s a great incentive for local bands.
30. #PromotionsLab
11
The Signal increased the number of votes they received from 2,000 to
more than 115,000 when they moved their metro ballot online.Result:
Run Your Ballot Online
The Signal | Santa Clarita, California
32. #PromotionsLab
Create an Integrated Campaign12 Found at secondstreetlab.com/packages
Include all of your assets:
print, online, email campaigns, social
media, and mobile.
Tip:
34. #PromotionsLab
13
In a mid-sized
market, you could
charge $200/week
for this type of
sponsorship on your
ballot.
TIP:
Category Sponsor
Orlando Weekly | Orlando, Florida
36. #PromotionsLab
14
In a mid-size market, you could
charge each sponsor a $149 flat fee
for an upgraded listing. This includes
an image, phone number, address,
website, and Facebook & Twitter
buttons.
TIP:
Upgraded Listing
Oklahoma Gazette | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
38. #PromotionsLab
Title Sponsor15 The Commercial Appeal | Memphis, Tennessee
TIP:
In a mid-size market, you could charge a title sponsor $499/week for
the duration of the ballot.
40. #PromotionsLab
16
Publish a special section or issue
announcing the winners of your
ballot. Members of your audience
will save it to refer back to
throughout the year.
TIP:
Tie in with Special Section
Charlotte Wedding | Charlotte, North Carolina
42. #PromotionsLab
Host a Live Event17 Charlotte Wedding | Charlotte, North Carolina
TIP: Invite your winning advertisers to your event. It celebrates their
accomplishments while showcasing your product.
Photo by: BlueSky Studios"
44. #PromotionsLab
Run an Ecommerce Store18 Record-Journal | Meriden, Connecticut
Running this special deals store for
one week generated an impressive
$18,229 in gross revenue – 23%
more than the previous month’s
revenue.
Result:
46. #PromotionsLab
19 Activate New Advertisers
MetroFamily Magazine | Oklahoma City, Oklhoma
Utilize the list of write-ins
generated during the
nomination period as a list of
advertiser leads for the sales
team to use to sell
sponsorships and expanded
listings for your ballot.
TIP:
48. #PromotionsLab
20 Sell Upgraded Listings to Winners
The Signal | Santa Clarita, California
Sell the winning
merchants an upgraded
listing to include on your
ballot’s winners page.
TIP:
51. #PromotionsLab
Plan Ahead21 Found at secondstreetlab.com/calendar
TIP:
Start planning your ballot a year in advance. This will give your team time to
strategize, sell, and execute your ballot.
53. #PromotionsLab
22 Nomination Period
Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
The nomination period added an extra four weeks to the ballot, and meant that by the
time we got to the official voting period there was already a huge amount of buzz.”
-Blair Barna, Advertising Director & Co-Owner“
55. #PromotionsLab
Promote with Everything23 The Signal | Santa Clarita, California
Tip:
A mix of banner ads, emails, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, Tweets,
and Instagram posts helped to reach the target audience.
57. #PromotionsLab
24 Create a Hashtag
Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
Create a unique #hashtag
so users can find all of the
tweets related to the
promotion.
TIP:
59. #PromotionsLab
Embed Content Into Your Ballot25 Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
Embedded content – such
as videos from YouTube
and Vimeo – adds a high
level of social engagement
to your ballot.
TIP:
61. #PromotionsLab
Merchant Marketing Materials26 NUVO | Indianapolis, Indiana
Create “Vote for Me” ads that your merchants can post to social media
or print out and place in their business.TIP:
63. #PromotionsLab
Enter Your Voters Into a Sweepstakes27 Quad-City Times | Davenport, Iowa
TIP:
Offering a daily prize encourages voters to return to your ballot to vote
each day of the voting period.
65. #PromotionsLab
28 Have Critics’ & People’s Choice Winners
Charleston City Paper | Charleston, South Carolina
TIP:
Give your critics the
opportunity to weigh
in on each category.
This can help
preserve the integrity
of your ballot.
67. #PromotionsLab
Create Winners Materials29 The Southern Illinoisan | Carbondale, Illinois
TIP:
Award certificates
displaying your
ballots logo to the
top three winners
– not just the
winner – for each
category.
69. #PromotionsLab
Make Your Ballot a Year Round Destination30 San Diego Union-Tribune | San Diego, California
TIP: Sell upgraded listings for your winners page. It is not only a great
resource for your audience, but it drives revenue all year.