What Is Sweepstakes Marketing?
Sweepstakes marketing is a cost-per-lead (CPL) advertising model where consumers opt in to a contest, giveaway, or promotional offer in exchange for their contact information. It's one of the highest-volume, lowest-friction lead generation formats in direct-response marketing, widely used to build large, engaged contact lists for downstream marketing across email, SMS, and telemarketing channels.
Single Opt-In (SOI): Speed and Volume
In a single opt-in sweepstakes flow, a consumer submits their information once — typically an email address and basic contact details — and is immediately counted as a converted lead. There's no secondary confirmation step, which means SOI campaigns typically produce the highest volume and lowest cost per lead of any sweepstakes format.
The tradeoff is lead quality: because there's no confirmation step, SOI leads can include mistyped emails, disposable addresses, or less-engaged consumers who clicked through without fully intending to opt in.
Double Opt-In (DOI): Quality Over Volume
Double opt-in sweepstakes require a second confirmation step — typically clicking a link in a confirmation email — before a lead is counted as converted. This extra step filters out invalid email addresses and low-intent submissions, producing a smaller but meaningfully more engaged and deliverable list.
DOI leads typically cost more per lead than SOI, since a percentage of initial sign-ups won't complete the confirmation step, but they come with materially better email deliverability and downstream engagement rates — an important consideration for advertisers running long-term email or SMS nurture campaigns.
Which Model Should You Choose?
- Choose SOI if your priority is maximum list volume at the lowest possible cost per lead, and you have your own downstream verification or sales process to filter quality.
- Choose DOI if deliverability, engagement, and long-term list health matter more than raw volume — particularly for email-heavy nurture campaigns or advertisers in regulated verticals where consent documentation matters.
Compliance Considerations for Sweepstakes Campaigns
Sweepstakes campaigns are subject to specific legal requirements, including official contest rules, no-purchase-necessary language, and state-specific registration requirements for prizes above certain thresholds. Consent language for how a consumer's information will be used after the sweepstakes — email marketing, SMS, third-party sharing — must be clear and properly disclosed at the point of opt-in, regardless of whether the flow is SOI or DOI.
How AdNexus Media Runs Sweepstakes Campaigns
We run both SOI and DOI sweepstakes programs depending on advertiser goals, with compliance-reviewed contest rules and consent language built into every campaign from the start. Our reporting separates lead volume from downstream engagement and conversion data, so advertisers can see not just how many leads a campaign generated, but how those leads actually performed after delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do DOI leads cost more than SOI leads?
Yes, typically. Because a percentage of initial sign-ups won't complete the confirmation step, DOI cost per lead is usually higher than SOI, reflecting the additional qualification built into the flow.
Is a phone number required to run a sweepstakes campaign?
No — sweepstakes campaigns are primarily email and contact-information based, though some campaigns do capture phone numbers for follow-up marketing where properly disclosed and consented to.