1) Plan Your Contest:
Determine what type of contest you wish to have, and put your plan into action. Think about what you want to accomplish and how best to meet these goals. Are you trying to reward your most loyal players? What can you do to entice your players to play more often? How can you attract new players to your games? Will your contest to appeal to the widest audience possible? The answer to these questions will help you develop a contest that will be successful and beneficial to you and your locations.
Give yourself plenty of time to notify and involve your players and locations. You will want to generate excitement before, during and after the contest. Give yourself time for players to learn about the contest and understand the rules, so they show up and enter often. Post frequent updates throughout the contest so players remain engaged and have a reason to keep coming back to your locations.
2) Solicit Locations / Sponsors:
Ask your locations to help pay for the contest. Make sure the location is on-board with your plans and understand their benefits for participating. They will be motivated to promote the contest to their patrons and players if they are involved in the process. A successful promotion will increase food and beverage sales for the location, so don't be shy about asking for help. Many operators take money off the top each week to help cover the cost of prizes.
Solicit sponsors to help promote your contest. Local beer or spirits wholesalers are a great place to start, as are local businesses. Sponsors will often help by providing banners, posters and prizes such as T-shirts and trophies, and sometimes even contribute cash or manpower. The key is to ask and get involved.
3) Create a Poster with Contest Rules & Prizes:
Decide on how many prizes you want to offer, and what their values are. Make the prize pool big enough to attract player interest and fuel their desire to win.
Determine the contest rules, such as start and end dates, minimum age to participate, prize(s), final event dates, if the player must be present to win, if a player can win more than once, and any other pertinent information or details regarding specific rules. Outline what players have to do to participate, and how they do it. Be as thorough as possible and try to anticipate questions from players in advance so you are prepared. Complete and comprehensive rules, posted in advance, are the most important thing you can do to keep your contest running smoothly and fairly. A variety of poster templates and art images are available on the various IT game websites.
4) Distribute Posters to Locations:
Post your flyers well in advance to give players plenty of notice about your contest. Include all of the details so their questions are answered, including prizes, dates and rules.
If your contest uses your online games, encourage players to order Player Cards, as it will be easier for you to track their game play data.
Use the free AdWiz program to create full screen advertisements that can be installed on your Golden Tee and Silver Strike machines via DVD or flash drive. These screens can advertise both your contest and your sponsor, and can even be a new source of revenue.
Send your information to IT for additional advertising. Incredible Technologies will be happy to post your information on their websites for extra exposure.
5) Post Leaderboards Throughout the Contest:
Create new leaderboards often, so players can check their standings during the contest. Even if the contest is only one night, bring a whiteboard or poster to write down the leaders or winners. For longer events, send text messages or leaderboards right to your games using the free FACTS LIVE software. You can quickly and easily update and send formatted leaderboards or text messages directly to your game screens using your home or office computer.
6) Organize and Plan Your Final Event:
Plan a final Golden Tee Party Event to cap off your promotion and award prizes. Be sure you are well prepared. Meet with the bar owner and sponsor to discuss all the details, from food and drink specials to the final competition, door prizes, and contest rules. Get the word out to winners and spectators to pack the house and generate excitement.
7) End Contest and Post Winner Names / Final Competition at Players' Party:
Post your final standings at each location, on the game and even on a website. It is important to let everyone know who your winners are.
Generate excitement and good will with a players party. Some operators hold contests that qualify their players as "Pub Champs", to compete at a larger, live event for grand prizes. Others award the qualifying players tickets for a drawing, based on accumulative points or games played. A Players' Party is an exciting and fun way to end your contest. Whatever contest you run, make sure everyone has fun and enjoys the party.