Twitter sweepstakes are one of Dunkin’ Donuts go-to promotional strategies this year, with the chain having launched several so far this year.

The latest Twitter sweepstakes launched yesterday and continues on every Tuesday in July, giving users a chance to win a mobile gift card by guessing in which city a picture of a Coolatta was taken. The Twitter strategy points to how marketers are leveraging mobile for quick, fun engagements with consumers throughout their day.

“For somebody like Dunkin Donuts, doing anything with social and mobile makes sense simply because most social media is done through your mobile device,” said Alex Kutsishin, director of business development at Fiddlefly, Columbia, MD. “We are constantly able to stay connected through social media using mobile.

“So adding a sweepstakes portion to it, especially for somebody like Dunkin’ Donuts, makes sense,” he said. “Coffee is something we all drink all the time. If you can make it fun for me and I can win something, and you can make it social, it is just a triple threat.

“I think Dunkin Donuts has probably figured that out, after doing a few of these sweepstakes, that it makes sense.”

Mr. Kutsishin is not affiliated with Dunkin’ Donuts and spoke based on his experience.

Dunkin’ Donuts did not respond by press deadline.

The right location
The #SpotACoolatta Twitter sweepstakes promotes Dunkin’ Donuts frozen drinks during one of the hottest months of the year, when consumers are looking for ways to stay cool.

The promotion is also designed to drive awareness of several new flavors of Coolattas, including Raspberry Lime Coolatta, Berry Blast, Hot Chocolate Coolatta and Minute Maid Orange Coolatta.

On every Tuesday between July 9 and 30, Dunkin’ Donuts will tweet three photos of popular landmarks in a particular United States city and ask followers to figure out where the Coolatta is each day.

One of the images tweeted on July 9

Users will be able to tweet their guess for which city the Coolatta is located in to @DunkinDonuts with the hashtag #SpotACoolatta. Those who tweet a guess will have a chance to win one of three $50 mobile gift cards each day of the sweepstakes.

In total, Dunkin’ Donuts will award $600 in mobile gift cards to 12 consumers throughout July.

Mobile, social convergence
The #SpotACoolatta sweepstakes is the latest example of how Dunkin’ Donuts is leveraging the convergence of mobile and social

Others include the #UpgraDDe campaign that asked followers to tweet a picture of their “sorry looking” brown bag lunches for the chance to win an upgraded Bakery Sandwich lunch from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Another was the #IceDD effort, which was promoted via Twitter as well as Vine and  asked customers to create a six-second video on how iced coffee puts a spring in their step.

“Dunkin’ Donutes has successfully used social feeds such as Twitter and Instagrams to drive engagement,” said Gary Schwartz, author of “The Impulse Economy” and “Fast Shopper, Slow Store.”

“The goal of any brand moving into 2014 is driving conversion on this engagement,” he said. “Close-loop gift rewards drive affinity and ultimately data and long term relationship building with the consumer on-the-go. 

“Dunkin’ Donut’s SMS and APP opt-in is a crucial complement to these broader social sweep programs.  However, that being said, Twitter and Intragram are valuable tools and can become the brand’s social EKG; the analytics from these programs help them monitor the ebb and flow of consumer brand engagement on a very micro level.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York