Giti Tire Canada leveraged Facebook, search engines and pay-per-click tactics to promote its successful GT Radial “Escape The Winter” Sweepstakes. 

And at the end of the day, Kevin McHallam of Chilliwack, B.C., walked away with the $5,000 Air Canada vacation as the grand prize winner. There were also 50 winners of $200 Visa gift cards in the sweepstakes, which ended Dec. 10.

Giti Facebook efforts alone generated more than 45 million consumer impressions and 15,000 visits to the GT Radial website. In total, the company’s Canadian website received 88,000 visits during the 10-week promotion, with 13,000 clicks on the site’s tire selector tool and 12,000 clicks on product pages.

Winning the grand prize could not have come at a better time for McHallam, a former paramedic who spent the past two years recovering from a severe back injury he suffered while lifting a patient. He recently returned to work as a medical dispatcher for the British Columbia Ambulance Service.

There are currently 14 million Canadians, or 42% of the total population, using Facebook. Giti Tire Canada Sales Director Lou Monico said it proved to be an ideal platform for promoting the sweepstakes. “We’re not only trying to build brand awareness but also engage with consumers, and obviously social media such as Facebook is ideal for this.”