There’s no perfect guarantee to win travel a travel sweepstakes or giveaway. However, there are clear sweepstakes strategies to help increase your chances of winning. We can use psychology to help with this, as there’s lots that sweepstakes providers do to help influence your decision of whether or not to enter the travel sweepstakes. Let’s take a look of some of these important strategies to help you build the best strategy for winning travel sweepstakes.
Why do Companies Offer Sweepstakes?
First, it’s important to understand the travel sweepstakes design and the goal of the sweepstakes provider. Almost all want to build their email list by asking for your contact information. Do they want to promote a new product? Are they trying to generate funds for a charity by asking for donations in exchange for entries into the sweepstakes? Sometimes, sweepstakes sponsors frame giveaways in light of some milestone the company has reached (e.g., “We just hit our 10th anniversary and want to give back as a way of saying thanks!”).
Types of Sweepstakes
Pretty much every giveaway is going to ask for at least some personal information like your name and email address. After all, they do have to know how to contact you if you win. In some cases, this is the only personal information you have to provide to enter the sweepstakes. The advantage of these simple and straightforward giveaways is that it requires very little time or personal information from you.
The downside is that because it’s so easy to enter, there may be many people who end up entering. Any large number of entries reduces your overall chance of becoming the lucky winner! For example, if 10,000 people enter the contest, your overall odds of winning the top prize would only be 1 in 10,000.
Some travel giveaways are actual competitions. Here, you need to create and submit a photograph, writing sample, or engage on their social media platforms for contest entry. The obvious issue here is that it requires some work from you to enter. Depending on what’s being asked, this may include some investment of your time as well. However, because fewer people are going to take the time to do this work, the overall chance of you winning the prize will be relatively increased. In this example, let’s say only 100 people entered this contest (down from 10,000 in the previous example), so your overall odds of winning the top prize would be 1 in 100.
It never hurts to contribute to a good cause. Some travel sweepstakes involve making a donation to a charitable organization in exchange for sweepstakes entries. You can feel good and win some sweet swag! If you’re so inclined to donate (or looking for good causes to make donations anyway), this could be a great option for you. Omaze.com is the big dog here, offering huge trips and supporting various charities in the process.
Which Type of Sweepstakes is Best?
So, none of these sweepstakes types are necessarily “best”, as it depends on your goals and preferences. It’s also important to note that none of these are “wrong” choices, each has its pro’s and con’s. Still, it will streamline your time to recognize whether or not you want to participate based on your comfort level with what information or action is required from you to gain entry into the sweepstakes.
How to Increase Chances of Winning a Sweepstakes
Now that you have an understanding of the various reasons why sweepstakes providers offer their giveaways, let’s turn our attention to the steps you can take to help increase your chances of winning.
If you’re serious about entering lots of giveaways, create a dedicated email address for sweepstakes entries. This way, you won’t clutter your personal inbox with marketing messages from the contests you’ve entered. You will be less likely to miss a winning email message in the mix of other personal emails.
There’s tons of free email options out there like Gmail. Advice here would be to pick one that’s free and has a decent spam filter.
Next, find a reputable sweepstakes index website to help you identify the legit giveaways going on. I’ve had good success with finding sweepstakes through ultracontest.com. I like that you can sort giveaways based on categories like “ending soonest” and “win a vacation”.
Most of these sites are not specific to travel giveaways, so keep your eyes peeled for car, house, and cash giveaways as well. Book your favorite contest site and check in from time to time for the latest additions.
This may seem obvious, but a critical method to improve your chances of winning is to enter as many times as possible.
-Psychology of Travel
This may seem obvious, but a critical method to improve your chances of winning is to enter as many times as possible. Some contests may be one-time entries, but others may allow you to enter multiple times for the same giveaway. Mostly, these require you to come back each day to gain an additional entry.
Alternatively, some sweepstakes offer methods to gain “bonus” or “additional” entries. Usually, this means doing things like following on social media platforms, signing up for the company newsletter, or inviting friends to sign up for the contest by sending them a unique link. Don’t sell yourself short by only entering once for a contest that allows multiple entries.
The Psychology Behind Sweepstakes
Is there a trick to winning sweepstakes? Psychology definitely plays a role in these sweepstakes as well, though there’s not necessarily a “trick” per se. The psychological benefits are obvious including the enjoyment having the possibility of winning a vacation. However, there are some extremes to be cautious of as well.
For example, don’t give more personal information than you feel comfortable sharing online. As with many parts of the web, there are some scam websites pretending to offer travel prizes but really just want to collect your personal information for nefarious use. Reach out to the sponsor directly for the most direct way to confirm the legitimacy of a contest.
Psychologists (and casinos!) are certainly aware of what drives the behaviors and choices people make when there’s a potential prize on the line.
-Psychology of Travel
Psychologists (and casinos!) are certainly aware of what drives the behaviors and choices people make when there’s a potential prize on the line. Some of the more famous psychological research involves animal models pressing levers for rewards at inconsistent timelines and amounts. To oversimply quite a bit, the rats got into a lever-pressing frenzy when the reward is perceived as significant and distributed at random. This variable reward system frenzy applies not only to rats, but to people as well.
So, don’t go into sweepstakes-entry frenzy. Pace yourself and be mindful of how taking the time/resources to enter sweepstakes can interfere with your health and relationships. Those problems can arise with extreme focus on sweepstakes, but for most people they are an enjoyable recreation with the potential for dazzling rewards every now in then.
There are also tried-and-true marketing methods that use psychological insights to help influence sales. Sweepstakes sponsors will often establish a sense of urgency like “enter today only!” or “this offer will expire when you close your browser”. People tend to be motivated by the immediate need for something, and are more likely to delay a behavior such as contest entry if they perceive ample time (like when a contest will be going on for several months).
The Final Word on Sweepstakes Tips
So, recognize the type(s) of giveaways you want to sign up for, grab a dedicated sweepstakes email address, go to your favorite sweepstakes inventory website, and enter as many times as possible throughout the sweepstakes entry period.
Remember to use psychology to recognize the sponsor’s marketing approaches.
Help establish healthy limits on your time and resources. No strategy is a guarantee of winning, but these tips can help boost your chances for some great prizes. Good luck and Happy Travels!
There are also some solid books that outline what winners have accomplished and how they did it. Personally, I like the one by author Johnathan Wyka-Warzecha titled Sweeptstakes Millionaire.
Comment below with tips or other travel sweepstakes information. Plus, remember to sign up for the free Psychology of Travel Newsletter for all the latest updates and winners.
Also, we now have an ebook available, check out the Psychology of Travel ebook here!
Happy Travels,
Dr. L
Founder, PsychologyOfTravel.com
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One thing I’m curious about is how often should I enter these sweepstakes to maximize my chances of winning? Is there such a thing as entering too many times?
Great question, Catina! Some contests have limits on the total number of entries you can have, but otherwise feel free to keep on entering!