Firestorm of Controversy Ignited!

Well, that might be a little hyperbolic, but minor debate has erupted between the proprietor of the Keurig coffee machine refill vendor and me. Igor Del Norte (AKA CoffeePHD) left a long comment on the post where I described his very Webby marketing technique. His method is to search the blogosphere for mentions of Keurig, then leave comments on those posts promoting his free giveaway contest. I critiqued his execution, basically saying that he could use a proofreader and a more “normal” way to enter the contest.

His response is to acknowledge the need for better English, but defend his contest entry methodology. Here (opens in new window) is the page that his original promotional message points to where there are many exhortations to enter the contest, including a big “CLICK HERE.” So far, so good. But when you click on any of those very clear instructions, you go to this page, where there is a total lack of direction on how to enter until more than half way down the page, WAY below the fold (i.e. you have to scroll to see it). And even then, here is what it says:

How you can win:

Very Simple. One entry per person. Any comment or mini-review is acceptable, i.e: “I would love to try it, especially for free”, “Don’t know if I like it or not”, “My favorite K-Cup” and etc.

Seems a little cryptic, eh? It turns out, if you scroll even further down, there is an area to leave comments, à la typical blog post pages. OK, now I’ve figured it out, but I presume most people would not be so tenacious.

To answer your question, Igor, here’s how the process could be simplified. Right at the top of the page that you link to from the comment you leave on people’s blog, have a box labeled, “Please enter your email address to be included in the K-Cup giveaway contest,” and a button beside it that says, “Enter Contest”. Here is a screenshot I grabbed of a typical contest entry form:

If, for some reason, you absolutely want/need to continue the blog commenting entry system, at least put clear instructions right at the top of that page. Remember, people are used to entering online contests using interfaces like the one shown above. Asking them to use some totally foreign method requires clear, prominent and repeated instruction. But I would advise that you use a more familiar process and eliminate the need to teach people your method.

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