Compers Survey 2022: the results

How successful are compers? Where do they find their competitions? What do they consider to be the perfect prize? What type of prize promotion do they enjoy, and what do they hate?

In May 2022 I shared a survey with SuperLucky readers, all about their comping habits and opinions. Thanks to the 662 compers who took the time to complete it! I’m sharing the results with you here on the blog, as well as comparing them to the results of my 2018 survey.

The results have also been passed on to PromoVeritas, who look after big on-pack promotions for clients like Walkers and Cadbury. The survey responses are a valuable insight into what compers like – and dislike – and will hopefully help them to decide on fair and popular formats for future promotions.

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About compers

How long have you been comping?

In my 2018 survey, 53% of respondents had been comping for 5 years or more. This time, 72% have been comping for more than 5 years. The number of people comping for 20 years or more has grown from 23% to 33% – people are definitely treating it as a long-term hobby! 

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

Around half of the respondents enter less than 100 comps per week – and 25 respondents manage to enter more than 500 a week (I wonder how they found time to do the survey!)

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

40% of respondents said their monthly prize value was between £25 and £100 – with 3% averaging more than £500 of prizes a month – these statistics haven’t changed much since 2018. 

Which website do you visit, and how often?

The MSE forum has dropped in popularity since 2018 (the format changed a couple of years ago and many regular users decided to stop visiting) – and several compers have switched to Loquax and Competition Database. 40% of respondents are current subscribers to Compers News magazine, and most are weekly visitors to SuperLucky. A lot more compers have a daily visit to SuperLucky since 2018, probably due to the introduction of my Compers Shopping list!  Perhaps I should also have included my Facebook group Lucky Learners in the survey, as I know many compers are regulars there too.

What type of competitions do you enter?

I’m interested to see that a lot of respondents don’t enter free social media competitions at all, yet almost half still enter prize draws by post despite the high cost of stamps. In 2018 80% of respondents entered Facebook and Twitter comps, but that’s down to 65% now, with Instagram comps growing significantly in popularity over the last 4 years. The number of compers entering text and radio comps has doubled since 2018 – Lucky Learners members have had a lot of success with these and I think that has encouraged more new compers to give them a try.

What device do you use for comping?

Computer & laptop user has fallen by 10%, and more compers are now using their phone for comping than 4 years ago – an increase of 10% for Android, and 5% for Apple.  

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What makes the perfect prize?

Unsurprisingly, more than half the respondents ranked cash as their most wanted prize, followed by holidays, vouchers, then tech prizes. Dream holiday locations included Florida, Japan, India and St Lucia – and lots of compers long to win an electric car!

Do you prefer one big or multiple small prizes?

The majority of compers prefer multiple smaller value prizes rather than one big value prize, so they have a better chance of winning! One respondent told me they “like a competition that has plenty of opportunities for many people to win, I like seeing my comping friends winning alongside me”.

When I asked about dream prizes and formats, lots of compers agreed they enjoy a combination –  “Winning moments comps to win cash or vouchers with plenty of chances to win a small prize, plus one large cash or holiday prize” and “tiers of prizes are nice; one big, a few medium, and many small prizes”.

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Favourite formats

What’s your preferred format for a purchase-necessary promotion?

For a purchase necessary competition, a whopping 58% of compers said that a prize draw was their preferred format, followed by winning moments and then a judged competition (although 26% of respondents ranked a judged comp as their least favourite type!). Swipe to win, algorithmic instant win (where prizes are not guaranteed to be won) and a ‘Willy Wonka’ golden ticket instant win were not popular at all. Several compers said that if they are spending money on a product, then “judged creative and slogan comps with a prize of a luxury holiday” were their favourites! Many others said they liked a “text to win promotion with receipt upload”.

How do you prefer to show proof of purchase?

And what about showing a proof of purchase? 45% of respondents said their favourite method was to upload a receipt at the time of entry – then there’s no issues with trying to find it 2 months later after a winning notification, and no risk of people cheating without having made a purchase. Not quite as popular was uploading a receipt after winning, or entering using a unique code from packaging (again, hard for people to cheat and usually no requirement to validate a win by showing a proof of purchase). Taking photos of products and scanning QR codes were not popular with respondents – it can be time consuming and frustrating for those who aren’t technically minded! One comper responded “I prefer purchase necessary where the validation is gathered at the time of entry which would enable me to confidently give products away to charity straight away.”

For a purchase necessary promotion, what entry method do you prefer?

These results are interesting – 19% of compers would rather spend money sending a text message than enter for free online! This is probably because it’s assumed text entry comps get far fewer entries than online prize draws – so a higher chance of a win. 

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Which recent prize promotions have compers enjoyed?

• Walkers & Easyjet hourly holidays was popular and over a hundred survey respondents cited it as their favourite recent promotion. With over a thousand prizes and hourly draws it was exciting and generous – respondents were “impressed with the number of prizes available” and considered it “a great opportunity for those that persevere!”. But some respondents said they hated the promotion, would have liked Walkers to request a receipt from winners, and found the format “too stressful”, “boring” and “not fair on those who work during the day”. 
• Compers LOVE an instant win – Hashting Rockstar spin the wheel had “lots of cash prizes and a chance to enter each day” – and winning moments promotions are “exciting and fun” and Ribena Hasbro is a “nice way to stock up on small Christmas gifts!” 
• Easy creative photo promotions with random winners like Corona Tropical, Doritos Nacho Your Way and Jacksons Bread were “fun and affordable”
• NY Bagel Co – “printing the code inside the bag stops people cheating!” 
• LitterLotto – “it’s a comp with a conscience”
• Event Day & National Day competitions on social media – but they “would like more of them to be on the day and not entry over a few weeks!”
• Comic Relief Sainsbury’s scratchcard prize draw is “spending money helping a good cause and a great chance of a prize”
• Tesco Text To Win purchase necessary comps “the format when you upload a receipt in advance gives you more chance of winning as it can’t be shared to freebie sites”

…and what don’t they like?

• Purchase promotions that only require a batch code or barcode for entry, and no proof of purchase is asked for – “the format can be abused, with codes shared on freebie websites and groups.”
• Instant wins where “they promote lots of prizes but only small % are actually awarded are frustrating”. One comper told me that they “will never buy Yeo products again after them giving away so few Brompton Bikes!” 
• Golden ticket style promotions because “they’re too elusive!”
• Lidl’s Stamp Card draw offered 5400 prizes to shoppers who made four £10 transactions – compers became suspicious when they “didn’t hear of anyone that won!” when previous Lidl cinema ticket promotions had seen many compers winning. A winners list was published, but didn’t include the 4,000 voucher winners and many are still wary “it wasn’t run properly”!
• Promotions that allow multiple wins per household – this was a gripe with the Walkers Easyjet prize draw, which “would have been better if it was restricted to one prize per household” and “is demotivating to those who have been trying to win for months”
• The Bier Company‘s ill judged ‘April Fools’ promotion – “to win and then have it taken away was horrible”
• Promotions where the T&Cs aren’t clear, such as Bake for Love, Nivea Q10 and Mentos & Me.
• Instagram competitions “that choose bloggers and influencers as their winners!”
• Judged recipe or food photography competitions “where the same people always win”. “It’s demoralizing when winners are people who are professional in those fields – promoters need to consider amateur entries equally and think about their judging criteria carefully, eg. the idea being as valued as the quality of the photo.”
• Sainsbury’s Swipe to win promotions are “pointless and impossible to win” – one respondent said “it’s frustrating that people who may not even use or want a prize are entered to win!”
• Compers would like to see less comps on unhealthy food! “my diet and consumption of random packets of sweets/alcohol has DEFINITELY got worse since comping!” and suggested an entry limit on these is a good idea, eg. “the McVities prize draw allows 3 entries max per person.”

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I love to share the joy of comping and I know not all compers feel the same way, so this comment from one comper really made me feel warm inside:

“Comping is for the many, not the few. We need to spread the love of comping, make it a level playing field, so we do not get so many prizes going to the same people, but more winners and in turn an increase in sales, so companies will then want to run more competitions, with even more prizes. Comping is an amazing hobby and can make a dream sometimes come true!”

I hope you enjoyed these comping statistics and insights – thanks again to everyone who took the time to complete the survey!