Here's the secret behind every great promotion: the building is the easy part. Promo on Demand's admin tools walk you through every screen, check your work as you go, and won't let you launch with anything missing. What makes a promotion truly shine is the ten minutes of planning you do before you open the first form.
This guide walks you through that planning, one stage at a time. Answer a few simple questions, make a couple of decisions about prizes, and by the time you sit down to build, every screen will feel like filling in answers you already know. Most promotions go from idea to live in a single sitting.
The road map: choose your mode, choose your campaign type, plan your rewards, build your game, build your campaign, and share it. Six stages — and the first three happen before you touch a single setting.
Stage 1: Assisted Play Mode or Campaign Mode?
Every Promo on Demand game runs in one of two ways, and the very first decision is which one fits your promotion. You'll see both on your dashboard, as the Assisted Play Mode and Campaign Mode tabs.
- Assisted Play Mode — a member of your team starts the game for the customer, in the moment, on a tablet, a kiosk or a screen on your floor. Perfect for hot-seat rewards, VIP perks, booth events and anywhere a personal touch matters.
- Campaign Mode — your customers play on their own phones, tablets or computers, whenever and wherever they like, from a link or a QR code you share. Perfect for promotions that reach people at home, on the go, or across a whole month.
A Few Quick Questions
Not sure which one you need? Your answers to these questions will point the way:
Do you want an employee to start the game? Yes = Assisted Play
If a team member hands the customer a tablet or launches the game on a floor screen, that's Assisted Play Mode. If customers should be able to play on their own devices, without anyone from your team there, that's Campaign Mode.
Should customers be able to play from home or on the go? Yes = Campaign
Campaigns live at a web address, so customers can play from the couch, the parking lot or the lobby — anywhere they can scan a QR code or tap a link.
Do you need to know who played? Yes = Campaign
Campaign participants sign in with a short registration form you design — name and email, loyalty number or phone, plus any fields of your own. In Assisted Play, there's nothing for the customer to fill in. Your team can record the player's name and loyalty number after the game if they like.
Do you want to give specific customers specific rewards? Yes = Campaign
Guaranteed, personalized rewards — $50 in free play for your top tier, a dinner for your anniversary members — use One-to-One rewards, which are a campaign feature. Assisted Play games award prizes by the odds you set.
Should each customer be limited to one play, or one a day? Yes = Campaign
Campaigns enforce play limits for you: once per game, or once a day, week or month. In Assisted Play, your team decides who plays and how often.
| Feature | Assisted Play Mode | Campaign Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts the game | A member of your team | The customer |
| Where it's played | Your device — a tablet, kiosk or floor screen | The customer's own phone, tablet or computer |
| How customers get in | Your team member opens the game from their Available Games list | A link or a QR code you share |
| Who the player is | Optional — staff can save a name and loyalty number after the game | Known — participants register with the fields you choose |
| Prizes | Variable Odds | Variable Odds or One-to-One rewards |
| Play limits | Up to your team | Enforced automatically: once, or daily, weekly or monthly |
| Dates | The game's own dates, or no limit at all | The campaign's dates, with a Coming Soon countdown before it starts |
| Best for | Hot seats, VIP moments, events and in-person surprises | Promotions that reach customers wherever they are |
Want both? Absolutely — just build a separate copy of the game for each. A game you add to a campaign becomes a campaign game and leaves your team's Available Games list, so use Clone Config to make a twin for the floor in a few clicks.
Stage 2: Choose Your Campaign Type
Campaign Mode only. Running Assisted Play? Skip ahead to Stage 3.
Campaigns come in several types, each built for a different kind of promotion:
- Single Game Campaign — one game, with its own prizes and play settings, for the whole promotion.
- Multiple Game in Succession Campaign — several games, one after another, with each one picking up the day the last one ends.
- Multiple Simultaneous Games Campaign — a featured game that opens by itself, plus a daily menu of up to four more games customers pick from and play once a day.
- Pro Football Pick 'Em Campaign — a full NFL season of weekly picks and leaderboards, with insured prizes.
- Prop Card Challenge Campaign — a challenge card of up to 30 multiple-choice questions, with leaderboards and optional insured cards.
Pro Football Pick 'Em and Prop Card Challenge are switched on for each organization — if you'd like them and don't see them, just ask us.
Help Me Decide
You don't have to pick from memory. When you create a campaign, the Help Me Decide button beside the campaign type asks you a few yes-or-no questions and points you to the right type — then fills it in for you with one click. Here are the same questions, so you can plan ahead:
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Is this campaign attached to the regular NFL football season? | Pro Football Pick 'Em | Go to question 2 |
| 2 Would you like to include an insured or non-insured Prop Card with this campaign? | Prop Card Challenge | Go to question 3 |
| 3 Do you want more than one game? | Go to question 4 | Single Game |
| 4 Do you want to allow gaps between game plays — one or more days with no games? | Multiple Simultaneous Games | Go to question 5 |
| 5 Do you want participants to play more than one game on the same day — for example, a featured game plus a choice of daily games? | Multiple Simultaneous Games | Multiple Game in Succession |
If Pro Football Pick 'Em or Prop Card Challenge isn't switched on for your organization, Help Me Decide simply skips that question.
Stage 3: Plan Your Rewards
Assisted Play Mode and Campaign Mode.
Rewards are what turn a game into a promotion, so this is where a little planning pays off the most. Grab a notepad and think through four things:
- What will you give away? Anything you like: free play, gift cards, cash, a meal, hotel offers, branded merchandise, swag from the prize closet — or drawing entries, which cost nothing to give and build excitement toward a big moment.
- What's your budget? Decide the total you're comfortable spending over the life of the promotion.
- How many plays do you expect? A rough number is fine: how many people you think will take part, times how many times each one can play.
- How should the odds feel? Most great promotions put higher odds on lower-value prizes and a small chance on a big one. Everybody wins something, and somebody wins something to talk about.
Variable Odds or One-to-One?
Every game awards prizes in one of two ways. Assisted Play games always use Variable Odds; in a campaign, you choose for each game.
| Feature | Variable Odds | One-to-One Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| How the prize is decided | At random, by the odds you set for each prize | By a list you upload matching each customer to their reward |
| Where you set it up | In the game: prizes and odds, with sliders | In the campaign: upload a spreadsheet for the game |
| How customers are matched | No matching needed — everyone plays the same odds | By loyalty number, or by first name and email together |
| Customers not on your list | Not applicable | Receive the default prize you choose |
| Available in | Assisted Play Mode and Campaign Mode | Campaign Mode |
| Budget control | Projected with the Budget Projection tool | Exact — you decide every reward in advance |
| Best for | Open promotions, prize pools and the thrill of chance | VIP and loyalty rewards, win-back offers, pre-selected winners |
Planning One-to-One rewards? Make sure your campaign asks for whatever your list matches on. If your list is keyed by loyalty number, include the Loyalty Number field on your registration form; if it's keyed by name and email, keep First Name + Email.
Name Your Prizes So the Math Does Itself
The Budget Projection tool totals your payouts by reading the numbers in your prize names. Write prizes like "$25 Free Play", "$10 Gift Card" or "15 Entries" and it adds them up for you — dollars, entries and all. A prize without a number, like "Cooler", still shows its share of winners; you add its cost yourself.
Stage 4: Build Your Game
Assisted Play Mode and Campaign Mode.
Whichever mode you've chosen, every promotion starts with a game. And this is the fun part.
Find the Perfect Game
Are you matching an on-property promotion — a holiday weekend, a car giveaway, a big game night? Browse our Game Library and play any game, in any of its themes, right in your browser. No login needed, so share the link with your team and pick a favorite together.
Which Games Work in Each Mode?
Every game you can customize runs in Assisted Play Mode, and most of them run in campaigns too:
Campaign Mode and Assisted Play Mode
- Crossword Puzzle
- Field Goal Hero
- Fortunes Wheel
- High Low Hustle
- Lucky Drop
- Press Your Prize - Single
- Reveal
- Scratch
- Spin N Win
- Wheel of Riches
- Zoltan
Assisted Play Mode only
- Bessies Bucks
- Match Quest
- Memory Match
- Pick 2 Win
- Puffer Fish
- Wild Winnings
Customize It, Top to Bottom
Sign in to the admin tools, choose your game, choose your theme and start customizing. The form is designed to be filled in from top to bottom, and it tells you exactly what's left before you can save:
- Pick a theme. Start from the look that fits your promotion — you can preview the game at any time.
- Set up your prizes and odds. Give each prize its name and image, then use the sliders to set its odds. The Total Odds counter turns green when everything adds up to exactly 100.
- Check your budget. Click Budget Projection, enter how many game plays you expect, and click Update. You'll see how many winners each prize should have and what the promotion should pay out in total. Not quite right? Nudge the sliders and check again — it takes seconds.
- Name your game. Players can see this name, so make it fun and fitting.
- Set the availability and the team. This depends on your mode — see below.
- Save Custom Game. That's it: your game is ready.
For Assisted Play Mode Dates and team
Under Availability, set the start and end dates for when your team can run the game. Under Assign to Users, tick the team members who should see it in their Available Games list. Only the people you choose, and only between your dates.
For Campaign Mode Keep it simple
Tick No Limit for the dates and click Select All under Assign to Users. You don't need to think about either: when you add the game to a campaign, its dates are set to match the campaign automatically, and it's removed from your team's list.
Adding more than one game? Repeat this stage for each one. Your prizes and odds are locked in once a game is saved, so for a variation of a game you've already built, Clone Config gives you a copy to adjust in seconds.
Stage 5: Build Your Campaign
Campaign Mode only. If you're running Assisted Play, you're done — your team will find the game in their Available Games list.
Click Create a Campaign and the Campaign Wizard takes it from there in four steps. Your work is saved each time you move to the next step, so you can stop and pick up later whenever you like.
Step 1: Type & Details
- Campaign Name — for your reference; make it easy to find later.
- Campaign Type — the type you chose in Stage 2, or click Help Me Decide.
- Participation Mode — Open lets anyone with your link register and play. Closed (Invite Only) adds an invite key to your link and QR code, so only the people you share it with can get in.
- Start and end dates — in your property's time zone. The sunrise and sunset buttons set the start of the day and the end of the day in one click.
Pro Football Pick 'Em and Prop Card Challenge campaigns ask a few extra questions here, such as whether participants can earn extra picks and whether to award drawing entries.
Step 2: Appearance & Content
This is where you make your campaign look great:
- Logo — your organization's logo is used automatically, or upload one just for this campaign.
- Theme & Colors — choose from ten page themes, preview any of them, and set your primary and secondary colors.
- Footer — required before launch. Start from a ready-made, mobile-friendly preset and make it your own.
- Coming Soon page — what customers see before your start date, along with a live countdown.
- Thank You page — what customers see after your campaign ends.
- Info Box — your built-in billboard for signed-in participants: drawing dates, this week's events, dining specials, anything you like.
- Campaign Rules — upload your official rules as a PDF, and a Rules link appears on your campaign page automatically.
- Registration Form Fields — choose what participants fill in: First Name + Email, Loyalty Number, Phone Number, Last Name, Date of Birth, an "I Agree to the Terms and Conditions" checkbox, and custom fields of your own. Set each one as required or optional. At least one of First Name + Email, Loyalty Number or Phone must be switched on and required.
Keep registration short. Every extra field is one more reason to stop. Ask for what you'll actually use — and if you're running One-to-One rewards, make sure that includes the field your list matches on.
Step 3: Games & Prizes
Now add the game, or games, you built in Stage 4. Pick each one from Available Game Configurations, preview it if you like, and click Add Game. Then for each game:
- Set the game's dates — or click Cover all campaign dates to match the campaign in one click.
- Choose the Prize Mode — Variable Odds uses the prizes and odds you set in Stage 4, and you can add a description that winners see for each prize. One-to-One is where you upload your rewards list: download the Template, fill it in, and click Upload Matrix. Then set the Default Prize for anyone who isn't on your list.
- Choose the Play Mode — Single Play allows one play per customer. Multi Play lets customers come back Daily, Weekly or Monthly, which is a great way to build a habit.
Finally, glance at the Schedule Overview calendar. It shows every game across your campaign's dates and flags any gaps or overlaps, so you can see at a glance that everything lines up. Running a Multiple Simultaneous Games Campaign? This is also where you drag your Daily Play games onto the days you want them.
Step 4: Review & Launch
One last look. The Launch Checklist confirms everything is in place — name, dates, theme, registration, games, full date coverage and footer — and a summary shows your choices side by side. When it all looks right, click Save.
Stage 6: Share It and Watch It Grow
Campaign Mode.
Congratulations — your campaign is live! Those are all the main pieces, and you've done every one of them. Here's how to put your campaign in front of your customers:
- Copy your campaign URL. It's on the success screen and on your campaign's Campaign Info tab, with a copy button right beside it. Put it in your emails, your website, your social posts and your text messages.
- Download your QR code. One is generated for you automatically. Click Download QR and put it on table tents, posters, receipts, digital signage and mailers. Customers scan it and land right on your campaign.
If your start date is still ahead, customers who visit early see your Coming Soon page with a countdown — the perfect teaser.
Get to Know Your Campaign Page
Now is a great time to explore the rest of your campaign's page. The tabs are quiet today, but they'll fill up as participants play, and this is where you'll come back to see how your promotion is doing:
- Email Info — tips for sharing your campaign, a pre-filled link format for your email system, and a form to send an invitation.
- Participants — everyone who has registered, how many times they've played, the prizes they've won and their sign-in history, with downloads for your records.
- Play Audit — every play, with the game, the prize and the time, ready to export.
- Edit History — every change made to the campaign, and who made it.
- Advanced Settings — add a language selector so customers can read your campaign page in their own language, and choose whether new participants can still register.
Your Planning Checklist
Keep this list handy for every promotion. Once you can answer every line, you're ready to build:
Pro Tips
- Preview everything. Preview your game while you customize it, and preview your Coming Soon and Thank You pages in the wizard. Seeing it as your customers will is the fastest way to polish it.
- Start a few days early. Build your campaign ahead of your launch date. Customers who find it early get the Coming Soon countdown, and you have time to print your QR codes.
- Use the Info Box. Customers see it every time they come back, so it's prime real estate for your next event, your drawing date or this week's specials.
- Make drawing entries your safety net. They cost nothing to give, so they're a perfect everyday prize that builds toward one big moment.
- Check back often. The Participants and Play Audit tabs show you exactly how your promotion is doing, so you can plan the next one even better.
We're Here to Help
That's really all there is to it: a little planning up front, and the admin tools take care of the rest. Your first promotion might take you 30 minutes; your next one will take a lot less.
And you never have to do it alone. If you'd like help planning or building a promotion, . Run your ideas past our experts, and we'll come up with a solution that suits your needs.