Staycations FTW!

We want new users! We always do, true, but right now, we want them badly. Since the pandemic began, our email lists have started shrinking. We need to turn things around.

That's where staycation giveaways come in. These giveaways offer users the chance to win a staycation "package" that features: a stay at a fancy hotel in their city, dining & drinking accommodations at snazzy local restaurants and/or bars, cute hookups like personalized flowers or a bottle of champagne, and ridesharing credit so they can take advantage of their experiences without having to shell out for travel expenses. Before the pandemic, staycation packages usually included tickets to an event but, as you'll see, this isn't a requirement.

So, why are we talking about staycation giveaways? Well, it's because they have a demonstrable record of success when it comes to getting new users in the door, full stop. They’re a great look for our brand, they play well on social and email, they help develop relationships with local businesses, and, crucially, they don’t necessarily require an inordinate amount of manpower to pull off successfully.

We enlisted Do312's Katie Karpowicz to help everybody out with some words of wisdom re: building a successful staycation - and yes, before you ask, you ABSOLUTELY still can run an effective staycation giveaway (and safely so) during the pandemic.

Some pro tips from Katie:

• It's best to use connections your metro already has. It's easier if the person/company you're reaching out to already understands what DoXYZ is. Otherwise, I've come to learn people often think we're coming to them for something that will cost them advertising money. That said, I have had luck with cold reach outs in the past, so it's not an impossibility.
• To that end, prize partners are important for promotion (and it's necessary to keep them in the loop about approving contest assets and the launch date), but they'll never generate more than ~20% of entries combined. Do312/DoXYZ is always going to be the leading generator of entries. With that in mind, I tend to press harder on a cooler prize when negotiating vs how much promotional support they'll provide.
• Actually, the lack of events right now isn't necessarily a deterrent for Staycations. Prizes can and will take a long time to lock in, so not having them centered around an event with a specific date can lead to less stress and the ability to run the contest for longer and collect more entries. It's great to have a prize that can be claimed anytime. (Ex. Private dinner and a hotel stay vs. tickets to a drive-in show).
• It's super important to be organized! Here's Do312's template for launching these. I also use this intro email template when hitting up a prospective partner!

(Thanks, Katie!)

For a great example of a successful staycation giveaway that wasn’t completely constructed around an event, look at Do615’s Romantic Staycation Giveaway. It garnered almost 2,000 entries and brought in almost 700 new users. The main takeaway here: hotels and local businesses are eager for customers... and many of our users are eager to get out of the house (again, safely so). So let’s make it happen for all parties!

National Voter Registration Day

Also! We wanted to give y'all a quick heads up about it being National Voter Registration Day today! As part of our ongoing partnership with Voto Latino, we’re encouraging our audience to register to vote by:

• visiting https://register.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=37610&source=PARDoStuffMed
• texting 'DOSTUFF' to 731-79

We recommend that you give the campaign some love on your email and social media channels today! Let’s all do our part to get ready for what will be an absolutely crucial election in November.