There's no question about it. Marketing giveaways are an effective tool for businesses that want to grow their online presence and increase awareness. They're especially effective when they include branded products.
Are you getting ready to host your first marketing giveaway? Have you hosted marketing giveaways in the past and not seen great results?
Either way, keep reading. Explained below are some dos and don'ts of marketing giveaways that everyone ought to know.
These tips can help you have a successful first giveaway or identify and correct the mistakes you may have made during past giveaways.
5 Dos of Marketing Giveaways
When you're hosting a marketing giveaway, there are many strategies you can implement to make it successful. Here are five must-dos if you want to host a great giveaway:
1. Define Your Goals
We all know that branded marketing giveaways can be effective marketing tools. The key to a successful marketing giveaway, though, is to make sure you know what you're trying to accomplish.
Make sure you've set clear goals before you open up the giveaway. Do you want to simply grow your business's social media following? Or do you want to bring in new leads or try to increase sales?
2. Include Specific Information
Remember to be as specific as possible when you're putting together the rules for your giveaway.
What do people have to do to enter? Do they need to fill out an online form? Follow you on a certain social media platform?
Include plenty of info about dates the contest runs, who is eligible to enter, and whether any company is sponsoring the giveaway.
When you're putting your guidelines together, remember to look for loopholes and potential ways people could take advantage of the giveaway. Try to fill in these gaps before you open up the contest.
3. Abide by Social Media Rules
Every social media platform has its own rules for hosting marketing giveaways.
Before you open up and start advertising the giveaway, make sure you've done your homework and understand every guideline the platform has in place.
This will keep your business safe from social media penalties and even lawsuits.
Be sure to revisit each platform's giveaway terms and conditions every time you run a new one. These rules change on a regular basis, so it's good to make sure you're fully informed.
4. Keep it Simple
Try not to overcomplicate your giveaway.
The barrier to entry should be low enough that people actually want to enter. If they have to go through 20 different steps before they can enter, they're probably going to give up.
It benefits you as a business owner to keep things simple, too. It creates less work for you and allows you to focus on other ways that you can better serve your current and potential customers.
5. Analyze Your Results
Don't forget to analyze the results after the contest is over.
Find out how many new followers you got or how many new people joined your email list.
Remember, going over these results can help you figure out what kinds of approaches work best and what you can do differently in the future.
5 Don'ts of Marketing Giveaways
At the same time, there are also some things you should avoid if you want your giveaway to be a success. Make sure you're not making any of these common marketing giveaway mistakes:
1. Forgetting to Spread the Word
Be sure to thoroughly publicize your giveaway. Spread the word on your blog and social media channels so that everyone knows about it and knows what they have the opportunity to win.
2. Offering Irrelevant Prizes
Make sure you're offering prizes that your customers actually want to win.
Branded products are a high-value option for most people. Make sure they're of high quality and are things people will actually use.
Popular branded giveaway items include apparel, accessories like tote bags, and drinkware like thermoses and water bottles.
3. Dragging the Contest on too Long
It's important to give people adequate time to enter your contest. Don't drag it on so long that people forget about it, though.
Remember, too, that if people have a very long time to enter a contest, they might end up not entering at all.
As a general rule of thumb, it's best to keep the length of your contest to a month or less.
4. Poor Timing
As well as thinking about the duration of your contest, you also need to consider the timing in general.
If your contest coincides with a major holiday or another big event, you may find that it's harder to drum up interest.
Plan your giveaway carefully so that people can get excited about it and are less likely to get distracted by other things.
5. Poor Follow-Up Tactics
Finally, be sure to follow up after the contest in an appropriate way.
Many businesses use marketing giveaways as an opportunity to generate new leads. There's nothing wrong with this.
But, before you start bombarding the people who signed up for your email list with sales pitches, take a step back and think about a better way to engage with them.
Maybe you can send them a 10% coupon to thank them for entering or let them know about a sale that's coming up.
Get Products for Your Giveaways Today
The idea of putting together marketing giveaways might seem a little daunting. In reality, though, it's quite simple as long you keep these dos and don'ts in mind.
Are you ready to host a marketing giveaway? Or, do you still need help figuring out what kinds of products you should be giving away?
If you're having a hard time rounding up giveaway items, we can help!
Contact us today to learn more about the different products we have available.
The 5 Dos and Don'ts of Marketing Giveaways
There's no question about it. Marketing giveaways are an effective tool for businesses that want to grow their online presence and increase awareness. They're especially effective when they include branded products.
Are you getting ready to host your first marketing giveaway? Have you hosted marketing giveaways in the past and not seen great results?
Either way, keep reading. Explained below are some dos and don'ts of marketing giveaways that everyone ought to know.
These tips can help you have a successful first giveaway or identify and correct the mistakes you may have made during past giveaways.
5 Dos of Marketing Giveaways
When you're hosting a marketing giveaway, there are many strategies you can implement to make it successful. Here are five must-dos if you want to host a great giveaway:
1. Define Your Goals
We all know that branded marketing giveaways can be effective marketing tools. The key to a successful marketing giveaway, though, is to make sure you know what you're trying to accomplish.
Make sure you've set clear goals before you open up the giveaway. Do you want to simply grow your business's social media following? Or do you want to bring in new leads or try to increase sales?
2. Include Specific Information
Remember to be as specific as possible when you're putting together the rules for your giveaway.
What do people have to do to enter? Do they need to fill out an online form? Follow you on a certain social media platform?
Include plenty of info about dates the contest runs, who is eligible to enter, and whether any company is sponsoring the giveaway.
When you're putting your guidelines together, remember to look for loopholes and potential ways people could take advantage of the giveaway. Try to fill in these gaps before you open up the contest.
3. Abide by Social Media Rules
Every social media platform has its own rules for hosting marketing giveaways.
Before you open up and start advertising the giveaway, make sure you've done your homework and understand every guideline the platform has in place.
This will keep your business safe from social media penalties and even lawsuits.
Be sure to revisit each platform's giveaway terms and conditions every time you run a new one. These rules change on a regular basis, so it's good to make sure you're fully informed.
4. Keep it Simple
Try not to overcomplicate your giveaway.
The barrier to entry should be low enough that people actually want to enter. If they have to go through 20 different steps before they can enter, they're probably going to give up.
It benefits you as a business owner to keep things simple, too. It creates less work for you and allows you to focus on other ways that you can better serve your current and potential customers.
5. Analyze Your Results
Don't forget to analyze the results after the contest is over.
Find out how many new followers you got or how many new people joined your email list.
Remember, going over these results can help you figure out what kinds of approaches work best and what you can do differently in the future.
5 Don'ts of Marketing Giveaways
At the same time, there are also some things you should avoid if you want your giveaway to be a success. Make sure you're not making any of these common marketing giveaway mistakes:
1. Forgetting to Spread the Word
Be sure to thoroughly publicize your giveaway. Spread the word on your blog and social media channels so that everyone knows about it and knows what they have the opportunity to win.
2. Offering Irrelevant Prizes
Make sure you're offering prizes that your customers actually want to win.
Branded products are a high-value option for most people. Make sure they're of high quality and are things people will actually use.
Popular branded giveaway items include apparel, accessories like tote bags, and drinkware like thermoses and water bottles.
3. Dragging the Contest on too Long
It's important to give people adequate time to enter your contest. Don't drag it on so long that people forget about it, though.
Remember, too, that if people have a very long time to enter a contest, they might end up not entering at all.
As a general rule of thumb, it's best to keep the length of your contest to a month or less.
4. Poor Timing
As well as thinking about the duration of your contest, you also need to consider the timing in general.
If your contest coincides with a major holiday or another big event, you may find that it's harder to drum up interest.
Plan your giveaway carefully so that people can get excited about it and are less likely to get distracted by other things.
5. Poor Follow-Up Tactics
Finally, be sure to follow up after the contest in an appropriate way.
Many businesses use marketing giveaways as an opportunity to generate new leads. There's nothing wrong with this.
But, before you start bombarding the people who signed up for your email list with sales pitches, take a step back and think about a better way to engage with them.
Maybe you can send them a 10% coupon to thank them for entering or let them know about a sale that's coming up.
Get Products for Your Giveaways Today
The idea of putting together marketing giveaways might seem a little daunting. In reality, though, it's quite simple as long you keep these dos and don'ts in mind.
Are you ready to host a marketing giveaway? Or, do you still need help figuring out what kinds of products you should be giving away?
If you're having a hard time rounding up giveaway items, we can help!
Contact us today to learn more about the different products we have available.
You can also fill out our online form to get a free quote.
Tell us a little bit about your business and your budget. We'll help you find the perfect solution for your next giveaway!