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23 Nov 2016
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How to run your own campaign on COLONY

Sticky Post By On November 23, 2016

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So you have a campaign idea ready for execution, but you are worried about costs to having a third party set up and monitor the campaign for you and you prefer doing everything yourself. Well COLONY is the definite solution to your concerns. COLONY makes setting up and monitoring campaign performance “a walk in the park”. With its user friendly environment you can set multiple campaigns in a matter of minutes. But you ask how! Well that’s what I’m here to do. I am going to break down how to set up a basic campaign on COLONY in a matter of minutes following this easy guide.

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21 Nov 2016
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Put the word out there

Sticky Post By On November 21, 2016

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So… everything has been set up for the campaign from the mechanics to prizes that will be sourced to the winners but one aspect that most marketers forget is putting the word out there about the campaign which is kind of ironic because that’s the heart of the marketer’s job. This is a common problem for our clients at COLONY. The pattern of entries is predictable for almost all of the campaigns. When the campaign kicks off entries are usually low and then right in the middle, the entries spike. The same can be said for entries at the end of the campaign, they are low as well just like when the campaign starts off. Take a look at the below line graph.

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21 Nov 2016
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The Right Way to Choose Competition Winners

Sticky Post By On November 21, 2016

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As a company that deals with and owns data directly relating to competition entries, we often get questions from brands and agencies with regard to the process for selecting winners. Some of these questions include:

  • How do we choose winners fairly?
  • How do we make sure we don’t choose the same winners week on week?
  • Do we need an auditor or legal person to choose winners?

We offer brands and agencies an easy way to choose winners in the form of our RANDOM SELECTOR TOOL. This tool is a computer generated system that allows us to randomly select competition winners quickly and fairly. The tool allows for up to 10 000 winners to be selected within a matter of seconds, through the COLONY system. Winners may be chosen for specific date and time ranges and will check that the same winners are not chosen more than once (unique winners).

The Random Selector tool has been approved by auditors and is a fair way to choose winners, however, we recommend having an auditor present for all draws where prizes are monetary and of a high value to ensure compliance with CPA and other regulations. As part of our added-value services, we also offer the use of our personal auditing firm to conduct these draws, as well as access to the system for the campaign period. If brands or agencies are paying a COLONY licence fee, they will also be able to complete this process on their own, with their own auditing firm or legal liaison.

21 Nov 2016
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How to choose a Campaign Type

Sticky Post By On November 21, 2016

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Campaign Types
There are a number of campaign types to choose from that are described below when making decisions around the mechanics of the campaign mechanics. Mechanics is the term used to describe how the participants will participate in a campaign.

 

Campaign Type Description
USSD – Simple and familiar
– Cheaper, 20 c/session
– Uses a USSD string e.g. *120*2063#
– Participant dials the string and follow all the screen prompts which is 160 characters per screen.
– Suitable for Competitions and communication campaigns where demographic details are needed e.g. “Please enter your name and surname”.
SMS – Simple
– The general cost for an SMS is R1.50
– Uses a shortcode e.g. 35258 and a keyword “Sign Up”
– Suitable for competitions, voting lines, reminders, notifications and other general comms.
Facebook/Twitter – Complete control over setting up, managing etc.
– Free of charge to setup
– COLONY only manages the interactions, there is no posting on behalf of the client
– Suitable for the millennials target market.
Webhook \ Mobisite\ Email – Complete control
– COLONY only manages interactions.

 

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18 Nov 2016
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Campaigns by Colony Intro

Sticky Post By On November 18, 2016

Looking to do campaigns but don’t know where to start? Get in touch with us at COLONY and we’ll get you started, creating campaigns that generate customers!







    04 Nov 2016
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    Don’t Be Like “That” Marketer

    Sticky Post By On November 4, 2016

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    Zinzi wakes up at 5:00am every morning to plan out her look for the day; perfection is always the goal.

    Makeup – flawless, hair – impeccable, nails – always on point. The outfit? Directly out of the pages of a Saks Fifth Avenue look-book.  Zinzi is not here for shabby status.

    Later today Zinzi will be out shopping for a fabulous new outfit (for a “thing, at The Place” babes). She will get an SMS notification on her phone, “Buy a limited edition Grime Pack from Grime Basix this month & WIN 2 tickets to the Mud Babies experience at the iconic Dusty Basement Bar!”

    Zinzi deletes the message and blocks the sender, immediately.

    Don’t be like Grime Basix; know your customer.

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    03 Nov 2016
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    Prize Fulfilment – Peace of Mind

    Sticky Post By On November 3, 2016 With No Comments

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    There is always that One – the one serial competition enterer that hasn’t actually won the prize, but will not let that stop them from trying to get it anyway.

    Your terms and conditions will be closely scrutinised, word for word, line for line, in search of a loophole. A call or email informing them they’ve made it on a short list will be analysed and dissected for any ambiguous language. And so, to mitigate the risk of any negative posts on social media, the default is often to give in and give them what they want.

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    02 Nov 2016
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    Having a successful campaign can be dependent on knowing your target market.

    Sticky Post By On November 2, 2016

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    Having a successful campaign can be dependent on knowing your target market.
    If an FMCG brand were to run a competition to enhance sales, it would be important to establish who is interested in the brand and whether the competition speaks to them.
    Without a directed audience for a campaign, a brand would be running the risk of having an unattractive campaign with very little interest, if at all any.  The benefits of running a target-based campaign is spending less in terms of marketing and mechanics to achieve the same – or better – results.

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    02 Nov 2016
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    Prize Fulfilment Made Easy

    Sticky Post By On November 2, 2016

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    Let’s start at the beginning with prize choice.

    Most companies, agencies and brands want high value and well-branded prizes for their competition winners. They think this will drive consumers to buy products and enter competitions, and no one can argue that consumers love free stuff… especially when it’s expensive free stuff that you can’t buy at any shop. What these companies don’t realize though is that with their elaborate prize choice, they need to consider the fulfillment process. This, more often than not, ends up being more costly than the value of the prize itself.

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