Marketers Use Giveaways To Drive Web Traffic

You have to hand it to marketers, they are creative. Web traffic is the primary goal of many marketing campaigns and giveaways are one way in which marketers can accomplish that goal. Giveaways offer a sweet deal for people who like prizes and the chance to win something valuable, but they also present an opportunity for marketers to gather personal information such as location, demographics, age range, gender preference and interests. The data collected through giveaways is collected legally under Marketing Compliance laws outlined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC information details how marketing-related info is gathered without encroaching upon privacy rights. There are two main methods used to collect data, surveys and sweepstakes. Most marketers use either one method or both. The FTC has posted 5 guidelines for marketers who want to gather personal info from consumers:

1) You must have a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the information you intend to collect and make it available to your consumer at the time that you take the information. This means that you must be willing to provide this information in a manner which is not hidden in small print or within an HTML link, but rather by politely asking them if you may ask by email or phone call. You may not ask for information during checkout and expect your consumers to find it buried in terms of service, privacy policies or through hidden links.

2) You must adequately disclose how you will use a winning consumer's information.

3) You must clearly explain what rights a consumer has regarding the manner in which you will use or disclose the personal info gathered through your giveaways.

4) The info collected must be relevant to your purpose for collecting it, and that you may only collect info which is necessary for the relevant purpose.  A good example of this would be if you are running a sweepstakes to win an iPod Touch and all entrants must provide their email address so that they can be notified if they won. You would, however, need to collect more personal information if you wanted to send them a brochure of your latest gadgets.

5) You must identify any third parties who will receive info about your consumers.

The FTC clearly outlines the different ways in which marketers can legally collect personal information from their consumers through giveaways, and guidelines which ensure that it is responsibly obtained. Giveaways in and of themselves do not affect privacy rights but the manner in which they are used may well result in violation of the Privacy Policies put forth by marketing companies.

The FTC draws a clear line between responsible use and illegal use of giveaways, stating that it is how marketers intend on using the gathered information which is most important. This boils down to whether or not the consumer was aware of how the info would be used before providing it. 

To drive home their point, the FTC uses an example of a marketer offering a raffle for prizes. It would be legal to email all customers and ask them if they would like to participate in the contest and include a link where they can enter your contest and obtain information on the prizes being offered. The emails clearly state that participation is voluntary, that your info will not be shared with third parties, and that you will only contact them if they win.

Conclusion:

3) In this article on "marketing", Giveaways are the main way to drive traffic to website. 

Conclusion: 4) The information is collected legally under Marketing Compliance laws outlined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

5) This article focuses on the marketing process and how can marketers use incentives to drive traffic as well as gather personal information from consumers through giveaways.   Credit goes to James Maxwell, a professional blogger writer who writes for several blogs, including americanbusinessclub.com.  Article Source: http://EzineArticles.