APRIL WINS
***STATS***
Comps Entered: approx 3000, plus approx. 1600 Twitter RT's
Comps Won: 22
Ratio: 1:209
Approx Prize Value: £1063
April 1st is my cat Azumi Biscuit's birthday, but apparently its not a nationally recognised holiday (yet). There was of course April Fools Day, but I had a complete mis-trust of any comps starting that day, just in case they turned out to be fibs (and indeed, I did read of a few: bad form from companies and promoters, leaving a load of very unhappy potential customers!). Its fair to say that April started slow. I mean slow. I mean a football and that was it for a week! I know I shouldn't complain...and Im not! I very much appreciate the competitions that promoters put on, the effort that people go to in sharing these comps and the advice from comping sites. But statistically, this was a very disappointing start to the month.
This 'drought' spurred me on to really take a closer look at Twitter comps. I had done a few retweets etc before, but had never really considered taking it seriously, mainly because I don't really take Twitter seriously as a social media forum. To change this, I got in to a routine of retweeting the comps that appear in the morning (as later in the day when America wakes up, you find yourself entering those by mistake too and wasting time). I used the usual hashtags #winitwednesday and #freebiefriday plus various combinations of #giveaway #comp #competition #prize etc. I also found some prolific re-tweeters, and regularly went through their Tweets to find comps I wanted to enter. At the end of each day (if I remembered!) I would also do a quick search for "ends midnight" and have found a few last-minute comps that way.
Thankfully this Twitter push has not only lead to a few wins, but also a greater understanding of how Twitter works, which goes as good research towards any social media work I do in the future.
***PRIZES***
1. Football from the Tesco side of the Walkers snap-and-share promo. Other than the tickets, I managed to win one of each prize on this promo. Not bad at all.
2. Arrival on DVD. A lovely surprise in the post after what seemed like a long drought of prizes! Have no idea where its come from as there was no note with it (shame!), but am very grateful as I really wanted to see that film! Watched it the day I got it, very much enjoyed, and now its doing the rounds with my friends.
3. The Jungle- signed book. My first RT competition win (Maximum Pop) on Twitter for the month, though I do think there were lots of prizes and only a few entries. The book sounds great: a story set in the refugee camps in Calais, but I think it might be for a younger audience. If so, off to my nephew probably (if I can tear him away from the PS4!).
4. Anatomicals shower gel gift set. This was an Instagram competition, kindly posted my a member of the Lucky Learners Facebook group. The first 40 to re-post the image won the easter-themed prize. Its an absolutely gorgeous smelling gel and a cute gift, so Im sure at some point I will be purchasing their products off the back of this.
5. HP LAPTOP!!!!! A prize of sorts.....Post Mood (again!!) were asking for people to try out their software and give opinions on it, in return for "some tech". You had to email them and explain why you would be suitable to do this. I don't think there were many entries (a few people commented "liked and shared" or tagged friends etc, but not sure how many of them actually entered). A short while later, I got a reply saying that I had been chosen, and that I would be sent vouchers to pay for a laptop! I chose an HP 15" one with pretty reasonable spec. And purple.
6. Dr Hauschka Night Serum- no note with this one, but I think there might have been a prize draw on their site to win one of 50- pretty decent odds! In typical German fashion, the product has a very utilitarian design and simple explanation, so I didn't expect much from this "£40" gel. However, it is really good, leaves no residue and does the job!
7. Travel dog bowl- an instant win from the Gisker site, that boasts about prizes every day! Its basically yet another freebie site that is a tool to gather personal information for marketing purposes. It hasn't arrived as yet and to be honest, Im not bothered if it does.
8. Nourish Summer Glow Kit. A Twitter win with Beauty_Balm, which I was/am very excited about as this is argan oil stuff that looks lovely! The lovely lady that PM'd me said that she would send it straight away, but it still isn't here.....time to chase maybe? Im hoping its not lost.
9. "Squashy Mugs" from a Twitter RT comp from ArtisUK_! Cute set of mugs, that I thought looked a little cheap in the photos, but in real life are really good quality, sturdy mugs! I am very impressed at this little win, especially as they hold a lot of tea!
10. A Years Supply Of Original Source! GET IN!! Ace to have a years supply of anything, especially something you really use! This was a purchase/prize draw competition, with main prizes of experience days, then weekly prizes of a Go Pro and 20 prizes of the shower gel. I entered to win the Go Pro, so its a shame I didn't win that one, but am delighted to have got this! My favourite flavours too.
11. £10 Amazon voucher in a Twitter RT comp with Majic_Design. A fab comp offering a £10 voucher each for 3 winners! Yes! They said they would email me a code within 24 hours, but I received nothing....they then said they would post it to me, but 3 weeks later and still nothing. I will obviously give them the benefit of the doubt and Im sure theres just been some error along the way......(tho as Amazon customers Im sure we all know how quick and simple it is to email a voucher. Hey ho).
12. £50 Ticketmaster voucher from the Burtons Fish n Chips purchase/instant win promotion. With this you needed to buy a pack, keep the receipt and enter the code online. Theres small prizes of 50p off coupons, a big prize of a £2500 gig experience, and then lots of £50 vouchers. A great prize to win for me, as it meant I could treat my best mate B to some tickets to see BUSTED!! Woooooo!!!!
13. A Faberge Egg. Say what?? OK not a proper one, but a gold and enamel pendant based on designs by Karl Faberge, worth £390!! Blimey! This was an email in prize draw for an Easter comp run by Argent London. Id always joked before about finding a Faberge egg in a car boot sale or charity shop, but instead I won one! Its currently being made, so isn't here yet. Can't wait to see it!
14. Wonder woman Swimsuit from a Twitter RT comp from BoliAndBerg. This is a small company, who seemed to be running competitions to boost the profile of their newly-launched website. I think they were running three comps at the same time, so when they messaged me say I had won, I thought it was for a dress...it wasn't....it was for kids PJ's!! I think both myself and the people at BoliAndBerg thought the confusion was funny, plus I gave them some feedback on their site, so they kindly let me have something else to the same value. Its my mate Lowri's birthday coming up soon, so I let her pick. She obviously chose this (who wouldn't!!??)...
15. Tickets to Casanova the Ballet at the Cardiff New Theatre. This was a comment competition on the An Organised Mess blog. Was very happy to win this and thoroughly enjoyed the evening! Found out the next day that I know the Wig Mistress on it too, so extra lovely to see her great work in action!
16. Handmade Felted Penguin from Craftsandthingsco on Twitter. Not so much a competition, it was more a discussion on what we were crafting and I thought what she was making was lovely, so I asked her about it. She was running a giveaway of this cute penguin and I think after our conversation, she chose me as winner (or it might have been random, who knows!). Its super cute anyway and she is obviously talented. Im not sure if she would want to know that its now living on a shelf next to a taxidermy rat.
17. Marilyns Style Book from a Twitter RT competition from Total MK. I think quite low entry, and possibly a couple of copies to give away. I haven't received it yet, as Im guessing its coming from the publisher, but looking forward to reading more about the legendary Ms Monroe.
18. £100 of Homebase goodies!! Yes!!! I do love a creative comp, and this one was to post on Facebook your gardening project. Ours was to grow herbs in between the gaps in the paving, so that we can have fresh flavour for our summer dining.
We haven't received this yet, and are still not sure if its a £100 voucher, or £100 worth of stuff from Homebase. Either way, a bloody lovely win!
***ADDITIONAL***
Its here! A bunch of Friskars tools and some 'Grow-It' bags! (see May wins also...)
19. Anisnap Lion Watch from Aniworld in a Twitter RT comp. I don't think you had to comment to enter this one, but as a Leo myself I had just to comment saying how cute the lion watch was! My mates kid is a Leo too, so it'll go to him as a birthday present.
20. Vegetable Patch Starter Kit. When I got the email about this, I thought it was part of the Homebase prize, but after a conversation with Rocket Gardens, the prize providers, I found it was actually from a prize draw comp I had entered in my VERY FIRST week of comping, through Grow Your Own magazine. This is a cute little prize as they send out saplings of a whole load of veg (over 40 plants I think!) and is great for our mini allotment.
21. A Bag Of Almond Flour from WellnessstoreU on Twitter. They posted "tell us how you would use almond flour in a recipe to win a bag of almond flour". I was the only one who commented ("in a cherry bakewell") and they sent me a bag of flour. Jobs a good-un.
22. £20 Just Eat voucher from a Twitter RT comp by EE. Three winners from over 1000 entries, so pretty cool to win. Almost didn't tho, as they PM'd me to make sure I was an EE customer, as per the T&C's...thankfully my mom is and they were happy to check her details for the comp instead- phew!).
***ALSO RANS***
Won a voucher for £100 off a Jord watch. Nice enough 'prize', but in this digital age I don't actually know anyone who still wears a watch! I donated this to a member of Di Cokes Lucky Learners page in return for good karma.
A pretty successful Twitter experiment! Half of this months wins have come from Twitter, so it shows that doing the research and putting in a bit of thought has paid off. Or maybe it was just sheer dumb luck....?
Love your hair, I hope you win!
Lexx
xx