Giveaways are a powerful marketing tool. They help businesses achieve a variety of marketing goals. From prizes as inexpensive as pens, bracelets and buttons to ones as extravagant as cars and trips to space, businesses use giveaways to boost the size of their email lists, gain exposure for new products, build brand loyalty, build excitement in the community or anything else. It can work every time, provided one puts enough planning effort into it, and designs a thorough strategy.
It isn’t about giving just anything away
Success with a giveaway depends on an ability to zero in on the right prize. There is considerable research, for instance, that shows that giveaways announcing iPads and other desirable items that are not particularly relevant to the brand or product promoted do not work particularly well. Success comes from researching the customer base to find out how best to inspire. If your company has the marketing skills needed to do the research needed, you’ll be successful. Otherwise, you could have mediocre results.
Marketing websites publish giveaway case studies by the hundred to help first-time marketers find the right idea. As an example, a fishing tackle store giving away a free expensive Kitchen Aid appliance would make people look twice, but wouldn’t succeed in getting anyone fired up.
In some cases, all it takes is finding a way to show the customer that he is valued. Giving customers a chance to judge a contest can be all it takes. People want their opinion taken seriously. These prizes would cost the business very little. On the other hand, they would truly boost the image of the business.
It’s important to use the right value
According to BrandNex.com, a leading vendor of promotional merchandise, it’s important for businesses to consider the size of the customer’s business to arrive at the value of the giveaway to offer. It’s important to consider perceived value, though, rather than cash value. In the example of the fishing tackle store above, a set of books on fishing technique could possibly have greater perceived value than a random appliance or electronic gadget. For a school supplies store, a set of personalized pens would bring greater value than a mobile phone.
It’s important to package well
An oil and lube center announcing a giveaway for a free oil change and tire rotation might grant these combo prizes but put in a condition that requires that only one of these free services be made use of on any given visit. This could result in multiple visits and greater opportunities for upsells.
A hair salon that announces a free haircut for one child per family will usually attract families with multiple children. One child gets the free haircut and the others get paid ones. A dentist who offers free x-rays can make his giveaway more profitable by offering referral coupons to every patient who comes in.
It’s important to see that the right kind of packaging matters just as much as the giveaway itself. The trick, as many marketing experts recommend, is to find the right approach to fire up the self-interest of others. Sometimes, minor tweaks to a giveaway program can make for a major difference. It’s important to do A-B tests until the right formula is obtained.
It’s possible to leverage technology to boost effectiveness
Giveaways are valuable to businesses not because the very idea of a freebie gets people excited, but because it gives the business an excuse to promote itself. It gives it a talking point to take up on social media, pay-per-click ads, YouTube videos or anything else.
Unfortunately, many businesses, once they start a giveaway, expect the attraction of the prize by itself to drive them towards their goal. This rarely happens. It’s important to truly push giveaways by using high-quality educational videos and Facebook posts to put the company’s name out there.
It’s important to not make the entry process annoying
An ESPN giveaway recently offered a free trip to Disneyland. To enter, you needed to put in your mailing address, phone number, birthday, sports interests and also enter a captcha code. Hamilton Jewelry put out advertising for its Valentine’s Day giveaway, but gave people no obvious button to press to enter. Announcing a giveaway that clashes with advertising extravaganzas by other companies, or designing a website that is incompatible with mobile phone screens can all trip you up before you get started.
The lesson to keep in mind is this: giveaways are wonderful but only if used in precisely the right ways. It’s important to learn and look before you leap.
