Interactive

Damn Skippy you can! The registrations and opt-ins that are collected via Twitter are just as valid as any other you may collect through more traditional means: web form, postcard, text message, etc. As long as the promotions administrator has a valid way to contact that person to validate the user for compliance and fulfill the prize, you are good.

There are many ways that you can execute a promotion on Twitter. Way beyond a sweepstakes, you can run a contest or even an instant win game utilizing the follow, reply, DM, and messaging channels in Twitter.

A great starter sweepstakes is to offer an entry to anyone who chooses to follow you on Twitter. In this case, every new @USERNAME is a registration. To contact the person and let them know he’s a winner, follow him back and DM him.

However, as a marketer, you may need to adjust your opinion on what is considered a registration, what registration data is enough. Your method of contacting winners as described in the official rules will also be a bit different than a traditional sweepstakes.

From there, get creative… You’ll have immediate access to a great number of people engaged with you and capable of talking back right then and there. What can you do? What type of promotion can get them excited and retweeting [aka telling it] to others? Just make sure to work with a professional in the social media and promotions sphere, and your legal counsel first.