Compers Survey 2018: the results

How many competitions do people enter? Where do they find them? What do compers consider to be the perfect prize? What type of prize promotion do they really enjoy?

Last month I shared an anonymous survey about comping habits and opinions to answer questions like these – and I’m delighted that 552 SuperLucky readers took the time to complete it.

I wanted to present my findings both here on SuperLucky, and also use them as the basis of a presentation at the PromoVeritas Breakfast Briefing on ‘Compelling Competitions’ in London. PromoVeritas felt it would make a change for the attendees to hear about a competition from the entrant’s point of view – and I relished the opportunity to explain to marketeers why competitions – and compers – are so fantastic! Also at the Breakfast Briefing, Emily from the ASA spoke about the important T&Cs to include when running a competition – most importantly using independent judges and criteria.

Compers Survey Results

About compers

How long have you been comping?

How much time on average do you spend comping each week?

Almost 50% of respondents said they enter between 100 and 500 comps every week!

On average, how many prizes do you win each month?

40% of respondents said their monthly prize value was between £25 and £100 – with 4% averaging more than £500 of prizes a month.

Favourite websites

Which website do compers visit, and how often?

More than a third of respondents are current subscribers to Compers News magazine, and most are weekly visitors to SuperLucky (of course!).

What social media platform do compers prefer?

Its amazing to think how many compers are active on social media compared to ten years ago! Only 5% of the respondents said they didn’t use social media at all. Of the rest, only 15% use Instagram and the rest were split between Facebook and Twitter. Increasing the character limit from 140 to 280 means brands can now include important details such as a closing date and the essential T&Cs in a tweet. It also means people can be more creative with their responses! With Facebook receiving a battering in the press lately too, perhaps we’ll see more brands moving over to Twitter?

What makes the perfect prize?

The survey respondents just love winning holidays! Not necessarily expensive, long haul trips either. Prizes like weekend breaks, and cottage holidays in the UK were high on their wish lists. Bespoke experiences were super popular, with respondents loving those ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities to meet a celebrity or do something unusual.

When asked how they would prefer prizes to be split, just 10% said they prefer to see one grand prize. Personally, I prefer to see multiple smaller prizes awarded – there’s more chance of genuine winners being publicised, and seeing our friends win. And I’ve noticed a lot of non-compers are very cynical about a promotion with a single huge prize! Respondents also said they love prizes split between daily and weekly prize draws, rather than a single draw – regular winners keeps the excitement going for longer!

What type of prize promotions do compers like?

• The respondents said they enjoyed a photo competition – and thought a mix of judged top prizes and random winners of smaller prizes would be great, as it would mean anyone could have a go regardless of their photography or cooking skills.
• A handful of people said they would NEVER take a selfie, but a lot of people agreed that they enjoyed a selfie competition because it make it harder for people to cheat by entering multiple times – the latest Pringles promotion and Walkers Snap & Share were favourites.
• 71% of compers said they are happy to buy a product they wouldn’t usually buy, for the chance to win a prize.
• Compers love a challenge, so many enjoy the thrill of entering via an app like Blippar – the Lucozade Made to Move app was a favourite, as were last year’s Carling Tap and Pepsi instant win promotions.
• Winning moment promotions where all prizes are guaranteed to be won are popular – many respondents had won a cash prize with Doritos.
• Lots of compers would like to see more creative judged tiebreaker competitions – especially on Twitter!

..and what don’t they like?

Unpopular promotions included Quaker Show us Your Oats, where people felt the advertising campaign wasn’t representative of the standard of entries that judges were looking for. Personally, I would have liked to see Quaker split that large £10,000 prize and awarding random winners a smaller cash prize each week too. Another unpopular promotion was the Great Village Raffle due to the lack of prizes awarded.

Respondents said that they’re not convinced by promotions where so many of the prizes are vouchers to print at home – many had trouble printing the vouchers, or had experienced embarrassment when trying to use them in store. I wonder if in future, we might be able to scan unique codes directly from a mobile app or email instead of presenting a printed voucher? That would save paper and a lot of hassle!

There was very little negative feedback, and it was usually due to a lack of communication or a lengthy period between winning and receiving the prize. Only 16% of respondents said they’d had to contact the ASA about a promotion they weren’t happy with. Chasing up prizes took the shine off a win, and people didn’t enjoy having to do it.

Some respondents felt frustrated that a large number of promoters simply don’t know about essential Terms & Conditions or following the CAP Code when it comes to running competitions.

On the other hand, dozens of compers told me stories about promoters who had gone out of their way to make their prize extra special!