It’s that time of year again.  And that holiday gift list looks endless. Gift cards have been done, cold hard cash doesn’t seem thoughtful enough, what’s left to give?  One easy answer is lottery tickets.  Most state lotteries have numerous holiday-themed tickets that are promoted and sold during this peak season.

Beyond traditional media to promote these holiday ticket sales, is there more that state lotteries can do to creatively promote tickets as gifts?  One idea is to create holiday cards pre-inserted with an instant lottery ticket allowing consumers to kill two birds with one stone.  It’s all about convenience and one-stop shopping at this time of the year.  Another idea is to create a stocking or a special holiday-themed foil pouch stuffed with multiple lottery tickets for that lucky person who deserves a little extra.  And lastly, lottery tickets make great employee incentives.  Domus worked with the Pennsylvania Lottery to develop the Golden Opportunities Challenge Program, an unprecedented program encouraging the Commonwealths’ 350,000+ businesses to use lottery tickets as rewards and incentives.

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Recruiting non-traditional retailers to help lotteries reach the younger “don’t worry, spend happy” consumers

Most U.S. state lotteries enjoyed near-monopoly gaming status during their early years, with legitimate gaming competition coming only from resort casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. However, times have changed and now the convenience of online gaming and the glitz and glam offered by the latest crop of gaming venues have led avid lottery ticket buyers astray.

Within any industry, the only way to thrive, not just survive, is to continuously evolve and find new opportunities to generate revenue, and the lottery is no different. Some states have joined Powerball and Mega Millions or added instant ticket vending machines. All of this is good, but an opportunity exists for more. We’re overlooking the most profitable untapped market: the get-rich-quick, money-obsessed younger generations who have money-burning holes in their pockets.

How do you target these spend-happy consumers? Simple; expand your retail footprint beyond traditional outlets to reach a wider, AKA younger, audience.

Through the proven success of retailer recruitment, state lotteries can identify, qualify and select non-traditional outlets to grow their sales pipeline and reach the 18-35 year olds that already have wish lists to help spend their not-yet-won lottery millions. Bowling centers, movie theaters, general discount stores, diners and cafes are all breeding grounds for the younger market. Why not leverage them and make their most popular customers your most popular customers?

Domus has been working on behalf of the Pennsylvania (PA) lottery for over 7 years and has successfully identified new revenue streams through non-traditional avenues to expand their retailer base and target an influx of new players including the elusive 18-35 customers. We’ve helped the PA lottery increase ticket sales by 58% in 2009, let us help you.

It’s no longer news. The down economy has put extreme pressures on small businesses across all industries from technology to service to retail over the past two years. While many businesses have not survived the economic downturn, those that have survived have only managed to do so by cutting costs dramatically – reducing wages and laying off staffers.

The entire country is concerned about the future of small businesses because of how vital they are to our country’s economic health. And despite continued attempts to revive the economy, small businesses continue to struggle with meeting their revenue goals.

What these businesses, such as retailers for instance, also need are solutions that will increase their revenue immediately, not just put more cash in their pocket that they will ultimately have to repay in the future.

One solution for them to consider: lottery sales.

Retailers earn commissions, risk free, off the sales of lottery tickets. On average, in the state of Pennsylvania, lottery retailers sell more than $375,000 each year and earn nearly $20,000 a year per location in commissions. And studies shows that 80 percent of lottery players buy an additional item when making their lottery purchase, so sales across the board increase when retailers sell lottery tickets.

It’s a simple solution to increasing revenue.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.