PunchTab:Blog

SXSW is coming and PunchTab needs your votes!

Posted by robyn on August 17, 2012

SXSW isn’t ’til March, but the buzz has already started.

Austin might seem a long way away, but the voting for who will be speaking there is upon us! We’ve got 2 opportunities in the works and we’d love your help in making sure the awesome PunchTab Founders get to share their experience with SXSW Interactive attendees.

So head on over to the Panel Picker and vote!
Ranjith would be speaking on Game Mechanics for Small Biz, and you can vote him up here.

Ranjith and Mehdi could also speak together about Start-up Fundraising. (Have you seen these guys in action?! They’d be awesome.) Vote for them here.

Thanks for being PunchTab fans!

Comments: 237 Tags: gamification, PunchTab, startups, SXSW, Vote

The Giveaway Widget…. Now for your Sidebar

Posted by robyn on August 2, 2012

Yes, that column on the side of your blog is great for streaming your twitter feed or archiving past posts, but why not spice it up by adding a PunchTab Giveaway… because NOW, our Giveaway Widget is available for your sidebar.

This new version of the Giveaway Widget gives you the same functionality as it’s bigger counterpart, but instead of letting it sit in a blog post that might get pushed down your page, you can now share a winning opportunity with your readers and fans right along side your awesome content.

And don’t worry, you don’t need to be a coding genius to make it happen. Like everything at PunchTab, we’ve simplified. We’ve got the tips and tricks for all this stuff right in our knowledge base, but since you’re here, we’ll share the answers to the test.

How can I make the giveaway widget smaller?

All you need to do is add the parameter ?width=auto at the end of your giveaway snippet, as following:

<script src="//www.punchtab.com/mast/XXX/giveaway_widget.js?width=auto"></script>

Your giveaway will then take the width of the container (minimum: 250px, maximum: 400px).

Here is an example:

<div id="my_sidebar"> <script src="//www.punchtab.com/mast/XXX/giveaway_widget.js?width=auto"></script> </div>

The giveaway widget will fit the width of the #my_sidebar div.

And just in case you wanted a preview, check out our customer http://www.officialdietresource.com/!

PunchTab’s Giveaway right in the sidebar!

Head over to PunchTab and get started with your next giveaway!

Comments: 294 Tags: announcements, giveaways, PunchTab, social rewards

We’ve got a Nice Rack! (And other important updates.)

Posted by robyn on August 1, 2012

We love getting to know our publishers and clients. Your feedback, your stories and your comments to us in email, on live chat, on Twitter and on our Facebook page keep us excitedly thinking about how we can continue to best meet your incentivized engagement needs. We’re now powering over 10,000 active loyalty programs and we’re so thankful to each of you who have shared PunchTab with friends and colleagues.

In return, we wanted to catch you up on some PunchTab HQ news and share a little bit about the people behind the rewards!

The PunchTab team has now grown to 13 awesome members. We’ve got at least 3.5 different accents happening in the office- several more if you count the impressions we do of each other.

A few important things to note… We ran a reward-enabled poll on our blog about what kind of coat rack we should get. Wall mounted won over standing. (It was close, though.) With a place to hang our jackets and wrestling masks, we’re feeling very official. (Yes, you too can run a reward-enabled poll. OR use the new Giveaway widget to ask your readers a question as an entry option!)

Standing desks, a calf stretcher and an inversion table have become healthy back staples in the PunchTab office. We’re committed to ergonomic improvement while we type (and code) our days away. We’ve even take a few conference calls up-side down.

We’re about to make some big announcements, (some you may have noticed if you’ve playing around in the site!), so stay tuned for more exciting stuff! You’re loyalty and rewards programs about about to get extra awesome.

Cheers,
The PunchTab Team

Comments: 139

PunchTab’s Magento Extension is out of Beta

Posted by robyn on July 11, 2012

A message from The Wolf:

Just a quick update for all you eCommerce folks. PunchTab’s extension for the Magento Marketplace is now officially out of beta. So for any of you who were waiting on the SUPER green light, you’ve got it.

Now go and get it! Start incentivizing user purchases and sharing with PunchTab’s free extension.

(And don’t forget to review it or The Wolf will get mad!)

Comments: 281 Tags: customer loyalty, ecommerce, extension, incentives, Megento, plugin, PunchTab

PunchTab’s Custom Catalog Just Got Better!

Posted by robyn on July 6, 2012

The Custom Catalog Feature is Better Than Ever!

If you’re still using the default catalog, consider adding a custom version. When prizes are well aligned to your user base, your members are even more incentivized to take those daily point-earning actions. Some great customized catalogs we’ve seen are offering discounts or coupons towards future purchases, free shipping, logo t-shirts and stickers, or gift cards for things topical to their site activity. You can also limit the number of each prize available so users have to win their way to the top to get them!

And! We’ve made the custom catalog even better. This week our rockstar, ice-hockey playing engineer rolled out some sweet new features just for you. Now you can drag-and-drop images to your prize catalog so your users can see exactly what they’re working for. Add an unlimited number of customized treats and keep that leaderboard active with competition! Head to your dashboard and check it out!

And if you want to catch Arthur playing ice hockey, you can watch games in live stream. (He’s pretty dang good, too.)

Comments: 199 Tags: Catalog, customized, incentives, PunchTab

Customer Spotlight: FlyingFlips (We think they’re rad.)

Posted by robyn on June 15, 2012

It seems like everyday we’re hearing about a hot new startup. ESPECIALLY here in Silicon Valley. But it’s not everyday that we come across one we think is this cool. (AND they’re using PunchTab!)

Meet FyingFlips.

The concept: Artists and designers create and submit incredible designs, the FlyingFlips community votes on which designs they like best, the top-voted designs are then printed as flip-flops and sold in the online FlipFlop shop at FlyingFlips.com.

To make things just that much better, a second set of FlipFlops from EVERY pair sold is given to a person in need AND the artist also gets a percentage of sales generated from their winning designs.

(Seriously cool, right?!)

So basically, this is a crowd-driven site: a community for art & design, a platform for social change, and an opportunity for artists to get paid for doing what they love doing… They’re creating artist-designed FlipFlops that are produced and sold with a commitment to giving back.

Ivo Staiano and Paul Mon-Kau founded Vancouver-based FlyingFlips in 2011 and they’re loving their adventure. (Which is clear when you read their blog and website!)

Recently, FlyingFlips launched the FlyingFlips FlipFlop store and they chose PunchTab to run their giveaway, driving awareness and social sharing. (We’re proud to be their platform of choice.)

They told us that choosing Punctab to host their contest was a natural choice. (Warm fuzzies!)

“We love your platform, ease of use and analytic functionalities; we also appreciate the incredible support that you have given, and continue to give, us. Regarding integration, I don’t think you could have made the ux any easier, or to be frank, fool proof. Great work.” Kamil from FlyingFlips told us. (Thanks Kamil!)

So go check them out. Buy some flips and enter to win! We’ll get back to you with their results.

Comments: 223 Tags: FlyingFlips, giveaways, PunchTab, startups

PunchTab’s New and Improved Giveaway Widget (And nook eReader Giveaway!)

Posted by robyn on June 12, 2012

The original PunchTab giveaway solution was great. This new one is even better.
Get excited.

We’ve kicked everything up a notch, starting with the load speed. Our crafty engineers have found a way to make sure the new PunchTab Giveaway Widget loads up faster than before. Much faster. (We think you’ll be pleased.)

Options, options options!

We’ve been hearing for months that you’d like to add multiple facebook fan pages, twitter handles and url’s to like, follow and +1. Now you can! Hook up those fantastic sponsors, partners or blogging buddies by offering users an extra entry to your giveaway when they like, fan, follow or +1 a second, third, fourth or even FIFTH page! (Yup. 5 options for each of those steps!)

We’re not done…

Got a menu, product or service list, picture, eBook, case study or whitepaper you’d like users to download? Now you can add a file to download for one of the entry-earning opportunities. (In the giveaway below you’ll see just how it works when you earn an entry for downloading our case study with eBay!)

And if one of the above steps is more important to you, and you reeeeeally want to make sure participants see it, you can now choose the order in which your earning opportunities appear. Are you trying to build your twitter followers? Put the Follow step first. Launching a new page that needs some love? Making Liking that page priority number one.

Want to get some feedback, gather some data, or just hear some opinions from your readers? Ask a question! Now you can offer an additional entry opportunity when users answer the question you add to your giveaway. Users will see your question with a built-in answer box- They never have to leave the giveaway flow.

We figured there’s no better way to demonstrate the improved PunchTab Giveaway Widget than by offering up a cool prize and with new entry-earning opportunities. So take a look by entering to win a Barnes and Noble nook eReader below. Then head on over to your PunchTab dashboard and create a giveaway of your own.

Comments: 188 Tags: announcements, Facebook, Giveaway, PunchTab, social sharing

Vote for PunchTab and Earn!

Posted by robyn on May 23, 2012

We’re thrilled to be nominated for the upcoming Gamification Summit’s GAwards in the category of Gamification Greatest Impact. And we’d really love your help in keeping PunchTab on top!

So here’s how it works (2 easy steps). You just vote only for @PunchTab using the widget below (look for the thumbs up icon next to the @PunchTab item, you’ll need to connect with Facebook so we can validate your vote) and then click on the I’m Done! link below the widget to earn 100 extra PunchTab points. (Just wanted to show you how much your vote means with a little extra earning power!)

Update: This survey has ended.

Thanks for using PunchTab and thanks a bunch for voting!

Comments: 196 Tags: Awards, earn points, Gamification summit, loyalty, PunchTab, rewards

Featured PunchTab Giveaways for the Food and Fashion Obsessed!

Posted by robyn on May 22, 2012

PunchTab is expanding! We’ve had users in every vertical from music, to politics, to fast food! And now, we’re excited to show off a couple of new industries catching the PunchTab craze. Meet our friends in food an fashion who are currently running a PunchTab powered giveaway!

Fashionista Erika Marie is the blogger behind Fashion Chalet and with the power of PunchTab, one of of her lucky readers will win a gorgeous Proenza Schouler PS1 suede wallet! You can check out her giveaway… before you go set up your own!

And foodies of the world can now rejoice. PunchTab is catching on with mouth watering sites like The Wicked Noodle. With a PunchTab sponsored prize of $500, this pioneer is sharing more than great grub with her readers. Enter now for your chance to win!

Want to be featured on our blog or have PunchTab sponsor your next giveaway! Login to your PunchTab account and take a look at the new referral program. You could be next!

Comments: 96 Tags: customer loyalty, fashion, food, Giveaway, giveaways, PunchTab

Congratulations, Facebook!

Posted by robyn on May 18, 2012

Congratulations to the Facebook team! It’s a historic day for The Valley, with many exciting ones ahead. We look forward to watching your continued growth and innovation. Cheers to all the hard work and dedication that’s gone into your success!

And to celebrate today’s milestone, we’ve added Facebook Credits to the PunchTab loyalty program catalog. So all you PunchTab loyalty members can now redeem your points for credits to buy virtual goods and play your favorite Facebook games. Head to your PunchTab profile and check it out!

Comments: 111 Tags: Catalog, Congratualtions, Facebook, IPO, loyalty, NASDAQ, PunchTab