Spinning the wheel for the first time

I remember setting up the prize wheel campaign. It felt like a big step, a real thing we were putting out into the world. I kept checking the analytics dashboard, watching the first few spins come in.

Watching the numbers tick up

For the first few hours, it was just a trickle. I’d refresh the page, see a new entry, and wonder who that person was. It was oddly personal, even though it was just data on a screen.We’d decided to keep the entry simple—just an email. No social shares required, no complicated forms. I wanted it to feel low-friction, like we weren’t asking for too much upfront.

The moment someone actually won

The first win notification popped up on my phone. It was for a small discount code, but it felt huge. I immediately checked to see if the email had gone out correctly, if the automation had worked.I was monitoring the support channel we’d set up, half-expecting confusion. But the winner just replied with a simple ‘Thanks!’ It was a quiet relief, a sign that the mechanics were actually functioning for a real person.

Letting the experiment run its course

We didn’t change anything mid-campaign, even when the participation was slower on some days. I had to fight the urge to tweak the prizes or the messaging. The point was to see what happened, not to force a result.By the end, the data told a clearer story than my nerves did. It showed us who was interested, what time they engaged, and which small prize got the most genuine reactions. It was just information, waiting to be understood.