Tuesday 7 February 2012

Top tips for savvy compers

This weekend it will be seven years since  I took over Grape Vine from John Lock, when he retired. Grape Vine's motto is "news, views, tips and clues" so I decided to celebrate the anniversary with a bumper collection of tips.

Over the last few weeks, I have been tweeting a daily tip, with the hashtag #compingtip : you can find them all by searching Twitter for that hashtag, but to make life easier I have brought them all together for you here. While many of them relate specifically to Twitter, most can be applied to all of your comping, however you prefer to do it.

Good luck - and here's to the next seven years!

#compingtip

Always check the rules and instructions. Don't rely on another comper as they may have been in a rush and not checked themselves

Don’t tweet the same thing several times – you could go to Twitter jail or be filtered out of search

Make sure the person running the comp gets an @ mention in your tweet or they won’t know you’ve entered

Check your @ messages and DMs at least once a day to see if there are any winning messages

Follow the person running the comp – it’s good manners and means they can DM you if you win

Check the closing date – it’s no use entering a comp that has already closed

If there’s a link to the rules, follow it. Otherwise look at the promoter’s timeline for info about the comp

Follow as many other compers as you can – if they spot a new comp you’ll be one of the first to know

Don’t let your timeline be all retweets as you may get filtered out of search. Chat a bit as well!

Don’t copy another comper’s entry if there’s a slogan or opinion question – you need to  give your own answer.

Check that the promoter is in the UK or says the comp is open to the UK or you  won’t get your prize

It’s fine to use the retweet button nowadays, in fact if the promoter collects entries by email it’s the ONLY way to enter.

If there’s a hashtag, make sure you include it and  spell it correctly

When a tweet says “enter by 4pm”, it’s no use entering at 8pm!

Say thank you when you get a prize. It’s good manners and lets the person know it’s arrived safely.

Don’t retweet other compers’ entries. It’s  annoying to them and means the promoter probably won’t see your entry.

Have a picture on your profile, not just a Twitter egg. It really does make a difference to how much you’ll win.

Make lists – one for your comping friends, and lists for comps that run regularly on certain days

Look out for scams and hackers – you CAN’T see “who viewed your profile”.

If a promoter tweets about a comp, then doesn’t tweet again for 6 months, the comp isn’t going to happen.

Don’t cheat! Promoters can easily spot  people tweeting from multiple accounts.

Tell non-comping friends and family to select “Hide retweets from this person” on your Twitter page.

If a winner is being picked at a certain number of followers, check their current number to make sure you’re not too late.

Not every comp on Twitter is a retweet comp – make sure you’re doing the right thing.

Interact with the promoters – most of them have a real person handling the Twitter account and they’ll enjoy a chat.

Try to make some free time on Fridays as there are so many one day only comps then – it can be hard to keep up!

Hashtag searches can sometimes help you to find comps. Try #competition #giveaway #bookgiveaway and #comp

It sometimes helps to enter right at the end of a comp, as older tweets can be lost from Twitter search.

Don’t have  a protected Twitter account – nobody will ever know you’ve entered their comps.

If a promoter is based in Ireland, check which part. The Republic has different laws so you probably can’t enter their comps.

Treat over-generous comps with caution. Somebody with 250 followers can’t afford to give as big a prize as one with 25,000.

Don’t tweet more than 100 times an hour or you’ll end up in Twitter jail.

An obvious “comping” email address can count against you. Avoid  the words “comp” and “win” in it.

Don’t claim you’ve done something (liked, followed, commented, subscribed) if you’ve not – you’ll be disqualified.




3 comments :

  1. Lots of great tips! When you say don't tweet the same thing several times does that include the new Rafflecopter comps, because alot of those say you can retweet each day for a daily entry?

    Keep up the fantastic work, I love this blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can do a daily Rafflecopter tweet, or for any other comp that asks you to enter daily through Twitter, but if you tweet the same thing several times close together or many times on the same day, you are putting your account at risk. One tweet a day of the same thing is fine.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the quick reply, phew that's ok then thought I was in Twitter jail, lol!!

    ReplyDelete

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