Using Mobile Bidding? Add an incentive to get guests to Bid More!

Do you use the “Lucky Line” for your traditional silent auction bids on paper?

It’s a way to encourage folks to be more generous, give a little more, just jump down a few bidding lines rather than the next bid available. I’ve got an explanation in a viewable Google doc here.

For years we (the benefit auctioneer community) have been trying to replicate this bidder incentive with handheld mobile/text bidding, but to date most mobile technology companies haven’t figured out a way to virtually highlight only bids past a certain point, and then segregate just those for a random winner.

And then my new client shared a semi-solution!

While the one “who makes the most bids” isn’t random and may not encourage as many people to try for the prize as the Lucky Line highlighting does, it certainly is trackable in mobile bidding reports, AND worth celebrating and rewarding! Using the technique above, the organization rewards participation, not dollars, which is an equalizer of sorts.

How have you figured out ways to incentivize more bidding using technology?