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Below you’ll find the top contests of March sorted by top number of registrations, submissions and sweepstakes.

Best of and Reader’s Choice contests were popular this month popping up throughout the top 10 lists. Also popular were Big Giveaways, including: a kitchen makeover, a trip to Vegas, tractor giveaway, two car giveaways and a workshop makeover. We continue to see our partners use Facebook as a contest platform to drive audience and revenue, as well as build their advertiser’s social media presence.

Top 10 Registrations
1. Birmingham Kids and Family Front Cover Contest
2. Star 99.1-FM’s Pet Show 2012
3. WCPO-TV’s March Padness: Enter for a chance to win new iPad (This contest has been taken down.)
4. MySanAntonio.com’s Burger Madness
5. Herald News‘ Cutest Baby Contest
6. Fresno Bee‘s ValleyWho Contest
7. WRAL.com’s Moe’s Bracket Challenge
8. Times of Northwest Indiana‘s Best of 2012
9. Toronto Sun‘s What Happens in Vegas Contest
10. Channel3000.com’s Marling HomeWorks Ugliest Kitchen Makeover Contest

Top 10 Submissions
1. KFMB-TV’s Adopt Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw
2. Omaha World-Herald‘s Focus on Nebraska
3. Michiana.com’s 10th Annual Readers Choice
4. Gaston Gazette‘s Best of Gaston 2012
5. WEEK-TV’s Wieland’s News25 Toro LX Lawn Tractor Givaway!
6. Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Spring Snapshot
7. Mississippi Magazine‘s “Best of Mississippi” Reader Survey
8. CW 14 WCWF-TV’s CW 14 Hot List 2012
9. WPXI-TV’s #1 Day Chevrolet Great Car Giveaway
10. Queens Courier‘s The Home Reporter’s Best of the Boro Nominations

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. Popular Woodworking‘s Workshop Makeover Giveaway
2. Toronto Sun‘s What Happens in Vegas
3. WJBK-TV’s Gardner-White Dream Team Contest
4. KFDM-TV’s Classic SETX Chevy Sonic Car Giveaway
5. ABCActionNews.com’s WFTA-TV Weekday Tablet Giveaway
6. WISE-TV’s Fear The Beard
7. St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Opening Day Weekend Tickets
8. KY3-TV’s Weather Radio Contest
9. WCPO-TV’s March Padness: Enter for a chance to win new iPad (This contest has been taken down.)
10. Our State‘s “Mayberry to Merlot” Surry County Giveaway

Are you running a deals program? Check out the top deals of March.

February and March bring many contest opportunities for local media companies. It’s no secret that photo and sweepstakes contests are the most popular and highly trafficked types of contests, and the arrival of Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras bring parades, festivals, concerts, celebrations and retail spending in your local markets!

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Holiday and seasonal contests are a fantastic way to engage your local audience and advertisers! There are several reasons why a seasonal contest may make sense for your organization. Not only are they fun and interactive for your audience but they can help obtain new customers, overcome seasonal sales slumps, help your sales team sell a higher percentage of retail, direct, or agency business. An integrated package can help you sell special inventory and increase the use and quality of sales presentations.

Some successful holiday contest ideas include:
- Cutest Couples Photo Contest
- Engagement Story Essay Contest
- Ultimate Valentine’s Day Giveaway (include dinner, flowers, chocolate, limo, giftcards to women’s and men’s retail stores, jewelry, movie/show)
- Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s Day Trivia Contests
- Mardi Gras Photo Contest
- Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s Day Sweepstakes (tickets to festivals, rides in parades, concerts and events that are hosted in your community)
- St. Patrick’s Day Photo Contest

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Combining a Contest with Deals!
If you’re running a deals program, it would be ideal to package a holiday contest with a Seasonal Store. Imagine a Cutest Couple contest packaged with a Valentine’s Day store for your sponsors. Learn more about how Seasonal and Category Stores are a way to expand what you’re doing around a specific theme or season.

As you can see from the top contests of January, the pro football season and the “big game” taking place Sunday, February 6th, is on everyone’s mind. The ever popular “Cutest Kids” and “Cutest Pets” made quite a few appearances in this list. If you haven’t planned for running both of those contests, be sure to add them to your list now!

Top 10 Registrations
1. Journal Sentinel‘s Packers Fan Hall of Fame
2. KXLT-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest
3. WXMI-TV’s Win an iMac
4. WCVQ-FM’s Q Wedding Giveaway
5. WLUK-TV’s Bridgeport Waterfront Resort Giveaway
6. Rockford Register Star‘s Cutest Baby Contest
7. NBC San Diego’s Win Rise Against Tickets
8. The Daily Telegram‘s Cutest Baby Contest
9. Fire Engineering’s Battle of the Bands
10. KTSP-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest

Top 10 Submissions
1. Las Vegas Review Journal‘s Big Game TV Giveaway
2. WGN-TV’s Cutest Couple Contest
3. Queens Courier‘s Best of the Boro
4. Pioneer Press‘ Treasure Hunt Medallion Contest
5. CityTV’s Bachelor Canada Casting Call
6. WPXI-TV’s Pittsburgh’s Best Pizza
7. KTSP-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest
8. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Whisker Whirl’s Cutest Dog Contest
9. Journal Sentinel‘s G Force Packers Ticket Giveaway
10. KFMB-TV’s Live with Kelly in Hawaii

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. Popular Woodworking‘s Workshop Makeover Giveaway
2. Creative Crafts Group‘s Fabric for Life
3. KSCW-TV’s Cash in with KSCW
4. Big Ten Network’s Men’s Basketball Tournament Promotion
5. ABC15′s iPad Giveaway
6. Chicago Sun-Times‘ Mega Money Mix Up
7. Scouting Magazine‘s The Cold Comfort Giveaway
8. ABC15′s Smart Shopper iPad Giveaway
9. Our State‘s Tourmaline Necklace from Wades Jewelers
10. WJBK-TV’s Gardner-White Dream Team Contest

Our top contests for the month of December were full of holiday cheer! Our affiliates really got into the spirit of the season by hosting sweepstakes and photo contests with a holiday theme. One of the best contests we’ve seen all year was from KDVR-TV in Denver, Colorado. The winner of their “Tebowing Contest” featured a young fan “Tebowing” with Santa! Check out all the great contests from December below.

Top 10 Registrations
1. KDVR-TV’s Tebowing Photos
2. WXMI-TV’s Like Us to Win an iMac
3. WLUK-TV’s Door Peninsula Winery Gift Card Giveaway
4. Cyberink’s ECGRA UChoose Grants
5. CityLine’s At-Home Audience Contest
6. B98.5FM’s Christmas Wish List
7. WDBJ-TV’s Light Up Your Hometown
8. WDAF-TV’s Fire Up the Furnace (This contest has been taken down.)
9. WJBK-TV’s Exposed
10. Palm Beach Post‘s Presidents in Film Quiz

Top 10 Submissions
1. CityTV’s 12 Days of Christmas
2. The Queens Courier‘s Best of the Boro
3. The Suburban‘s Win a Trip to Sonesta Maho Beach
4. KAMR-TV’s Countdown to Christmas
5. KFMB-TV’s 12 Days of Christmas
6. WKYT-TV’s Christmas Photo Contest
7. KDVR-TV’s Tebowing Photos
8. Journal Sentinel‘s Know This Pro
9. WFTV-TV’s Something to Smile About Holiday Giveaway
10. KSTU-TV’s Fire Up The Furnance

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. Popular Woodworking’s Workshop Makeover Giveaway
2. WFTS-TV’s iPad Giveaways
3. Where’s Traveler‘s Oahu Giveaway
4. Creative Crafts Group‘s Fabric for Life
5. WRC-TV’s FANdemonium 4G Fridays (This contest has been taken down.)
6. Minneapolis Star Tribune‘s Winter Wonderland
7. KTLA-TV’s Los Cabos Getaway
8. WJBK-TV’s Dream Team
9. Our State‘s Carolina’s Premium Outlets
10. Boys’ Life‘s 2011 Gift Guide

Top Takeaways from 2011 Second Street Awards

Last week, we hosted our 3rd annual Second Street Awards where we showcased our partners’ best contests and deals run on our platforms over the past year. In addition to specific contest and deal categories (for example, Best Facebook Contest or Best Travel Deal), we also honored partners, according to market size, who hit it out of the park with UPICKEM and Deadline Deals. Below, you can find the Top Ten Takeaways from this presentation. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording or see a full list of finalists and winners in each category.

1. Sweepstakes are great email database builders. Social boost, a feature that rewards entrants for sharing the contest, is a must-do for UPICKEM sweepstakes contests.

2. Service deals allow you to explore different price points, as well as pushing into higher priced deals. Our three finalists’ prices ranged from $29 to $1,850. Auto detailing is a category that’s been successful in many markets.

3. Our Fantasy Auto Racing contest could be your highest revenue-producing sports contest in 2012. With a 37-week lineup, Fantasy Auto Racing is one contest that keeps your users coming back to your site week after week.

4. Retail deals shouldn’t be too specific. The key to a successful retail deal is that it is open to all products in the store – avoid limiting the deal to specific products.

5. Health and Beauty deals are one of our top categories. Since this category of deal is frequently running, it is important to know what the market value is for your deal. Keep an eye on the competition and be sure you’re pricing your deal competitively.

6. Facebook contests are skyrocketing. Facebook contests are an excellent way to build your brand’s likes. Use the audience you build on Facebook as a selling feature to have contests run exclusively on your advertisers’ pages.

7. Don’t forget about national chains for restaurant deals. National chains are approachable – don’t be afraid to secure them in your market. A convenient location is key. For most local media sites, family friendly environments are best. Find what aligns best for your audience.

8. Photo contests work. Photo contests are still our most popular and most versatile contest type – kids contests were the most popular category in 2011, dethroning pets contests from their long-standing reign!

9. Travel deals, when crafted right, can usher in lots of revenue. Think regional, drivable from your location; Always try to work with the property directly instead of a third-party.

10. Recreation deals are inherently social. Whether you’re going to a theme park or taking a ski trip, you are most likely going with friends and family. This social aspect of recreation deals means more people will purchase if the deal is good. Anything entertainment-based will excite your audience.

Are your takeaways for contesting and daily deals different? Leave us a note in the comments to share what you learned this year.

Top 10 Registrations
1. WLUK-TV’s Mini to the Max Giveaway
2. WHO-TV’s Thanksgiving Day Giveaway
3. KKBQ-FM’s Gridiron Invasion
4. Our State‘s Holiday Shopping Spree
5. Toronto Sun‘s Win a Trip to Scotland
6. KSBY-TV’s Win a Trip to Disneyland
7. The San Diego Union-Tribune‘s Win a Gift Card
8. KPLR-TV’s November 11 Giveaway
9. KKBQ-FM’s Cowboy Kia
10. CityLine’s Weekly Giveaway

Top 10 Submissions
1. WLUK-TV’s Mini to the Max Giveaway
2. WMBD-TV’s Cash Wheel
3. WEEK-TV’s Chuck’s Big Toro Snowblower Giveaway
4. WALA-TV’s Cash Card Giveaway
5. The Suburban‘s Win a Trip to Sonesta Maho Beach
6. Journal-Sentinel‘s Know This Pro
7. WJBK-TV’s The Toro Winter Wonderland Giveaway8. KTVU-TV’s Ticket Tuesday
9. Journal-Sentinel‘s First Stage Holiday Staycation Sweeps
10. Tampa Bay’s Cutest Pet Photo Contest

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. WHO-TV’s Thanksgiving Day Giveaway
2. KTLA-TV’s Win a Trip to Disneyland
3. Creative Crafts Group’s Fabric for Life
4. WKTV-TV’s New Hartford Shopping Center Holiday Giveaway
5. WSH-TV’s Fandemonium
6. KUSI-TV’s Big Bang Theory iPad Giveaway
7. KUSI-TV’s Aloha Sweepstakes
8. KTTV-TV’s Breaking Dawn Giveaway
9. CBS6′s Great Grocery Giveaway
10. Our State‘s Holiday Shopping Spree