Dunkin’ Donuts is getting an early start on promoting sales for its pumpkin-flavored products with a sweepstakes on Twitter that prompts users to retweet a photo to celebrate the flavor’s arrival.

Twitter followers of Dunkin’s New York area account are retweeting an image of a Pumpkin Spiced Iced Latte on the beach for a chance to win a gift card. The sweepstakes announces the arrival of the limited-edition flavor and hopes to make a jumpstart on sales ahead of the fall season.

“The goal of the program is to create some fun awareness around pumpkin becoming available early this year at Dunkin’ in Metro NY,” said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis. “The sweepstakes will help create awareness and buzz around the fall flavor in the market and ultimately get people excited and drive them to stores.”

Sweeping up fans
Users will have 11 chances to enter the drawing for the chance to win a $5 gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts. Each period will start with Dunkin’ Donuts sharing a product image and its contest post.

Followers will have 24 hours to share Dunkin’s post or create their own. Each entry must have Dunkin’s Twitter account tagged and include the hashtags #DDPumpkinAtTheBeach and #sweepstakes.

For each period, five winners will be selected at random to win a $5 gift card. Dunkin’ will send the winners a direct message notifying them of their prize.

The contest is for consumers living in the New York area, including New Jersey and southern parts of Connecticut. The sweepstakes signifies the arrival of the pumpkin flavor at stores within the area.

The retailer is also giving away in-store merchandise to random visitors. Dunkin’ is tweeting photos of the winners to try and get users to come in stores.

For instance, the coffee chain shared a photo of a woman named Sarah winning a basket with pumpkin-flavored coffee grounds and Keurig cups. The Twitter account is also sharing posts from excited fans celebrating the flavor’s arrival.

Dunkin’ mobile offerings
Dunkin’ Donuts also caffeinated its mobile strategy with an updated application featuring enticing imagery and a touch-friendly interface, a loyalty promotion giving away 125 points and an app pilot for Baskin-Robbins, heating up competition with Starbucks (see more).

The chain also foreshadowed the rollout of its Cold Brew coffee recently by enabling its Snapchat followers to be the first to unlock a series of themed geofilters now available in all stores, showcasing how brands can inject exclusivity into their social channels (see more).

“Dunkin’ is launching a contest on Twitter to promote pumpkin spice products by having users retweet a post,” Ms. Troutman said. “This is one of the ways the ‘viral’ post can become a reality for a brand.

“Make the action simple and the reward great! I imagine with this type of contest, even with the contest rules a second click away, the brand will see a significant lift in activity with everyone simply forwarding a helpful tweet to get a reward from a trusted brand,” she said. “If you are not a trusted brand or there isn’t a relevant, easy, positive outcome, this type of contest might not be as sticky as it would for a brand like Dunkin’ Donuts.”