Instant messaging promos are a hit for Cheez-It sweepstakes

Think e-mail marketing isn’t fast enough? Neither did snack manufacturer Keebler Co.

Keebler last month tested promotion of a Cheez-It sweepstakes through instant messages. The results: A click-through rate of 6.5%, a threefold increase over Keebler’s traditional e-mail response rate. Keebler used instant messaging services from New York-based ActiveBuddy.

"Instant messaging is the ideal advertising venue," said Anndee Soderberg of Keebler. "Just as consumers are tiring of traditional online advertising, ActiveBuddy shows up with a fresh, welcome way of interacting with customers. And the stellar results from our test suggest the integration of brand with IM is the way to go."

In the sweepstakes, consumers received an instant message promoting the game. They could click on a link in the IM that took them to the entry form at cheez-it.com. The September promotion that generated the 6.5% click-through rate created 120,000 impressions.