To paraphrase an old saw, “Publicize, publicize, publicize!”
You know the bingo promotion is going to be great and fun and exciting, but it’s not going to be ANY of those things if your readers – and hopefully non-readers – don’t know about it.
So how can you ’Build the Buzz’ and get people fired up about playing bingo and winning prizes?
First, it should go without saying that you need to announce it. Then announce it again. And again and again. Be sure you publish ads promoting Bingo for at least several weeks before the game starts. Many newspapers take the opportunity to add value to their sponsor’s advertising package by combining the sponsor’s ad with the pre-bingo publicity.
And when you are talking about WHERE to announce it, don’t neglect social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit. The Pew Research Center reports that a growing number of Americans, especially under 30, rely on social media to get news. The promise of prizes may be a hook to help you sell more papers to a younger demographic.
Second, publicize at the dealer level. Sara at the Hutchinson News in Kansas just told us what they do to publicize Bingo and we thought it was a great idea! They give buttons to their dealers and hold a “Secret Shopper” Contest. If the counter person is wearing the button and asks the Secret Shopper if they played bingo today, the employee is awarded with a gift card. The beauty of this plan is that the dealers are also reaching the guy who hasn’t bought a newspaper since Pluto was a pup.
We thought about expanding a little on that and offering banners or signs to C-stores saying “Play the Daily Planet Bingo and Win Prizes Here!” Feather banners, window static cling signs, or posters can all be effective at bringing people into the store to drop their dollar for a paper. Leave the dates off and you can use the same collateral game after game.
Is your sponsor a car dealership, restaurant, or retail store? They might appreciate the extra exposure from having a banner or sign announcing the bingo game also. You might also distribute some extra bingo playing cards to your sponsors for an additional draw. People like to play multiple cards – and if you are playing your cards right and asking readers to cut the numbers out of the newspaper, the more cards they play, the more papers you will sell!
Short on time? Ask us about how we can help you come up with a comprehensive pre-publicity plan! We’re invested in your success!!
