Blog sites, company Facebook pages, and corporate Twitter accounts are always announcing giveaways these days. Giveaways are definitely a great way to draw attention to your product or service – but they have to be done right to be effective. Think about it: people love to get stuff for free, but when something is promised to them for free and then they don’t receive it because of unclear instructions or a botched job on the company’s part, they are sure to adopt a lifelong resentment toward the offending company. Here’s how to create a giveaway that works for consumers and for you.
Keep the rules simple
People will not participate if your contest rules are too complex. DO NOT ask people to like your Facebook page, then leave a comment, then go to your website and subscribe to your newsletter, and then forward the newsletter to five friends and twelve relatives in order to be entered into your contest. First of all, you will have no way of keeping track of whether they fulfilled all those requirements. Second of all, actually you will, because you can be sure absolutely no one would do all that junk just to be ENTERED to win anything, probably not even a million dollars. Give one or two simple directions – for example, if you are giving away T-shirts, ask users to “like” you and then leave a comment on your company Facebook page about where they plan to wear their tees if they win. Bam, that’s it.
Announce your winners, big time
Once you’ve selected a winner, feature the person’s name and image (if they agree) on your company Facebook and/or Twitter pages. Consumers will be encouraged to participate in your next g
iveaway if they see proof that someone won the last one, and that people are acknowledged for their interaction with your company on social media.
Make promises you can deliver
Do not say you will send every single person who likes your page on Facebook a free sample of your company’s new energy bar if you aren’t prepared with 15,000 energy bars and the immense postage budget you’d need to send them out all over the country. People will get mad when you have to update your status with an apology saying you overextended yourselves and that 14,000 people will not be receiving their energy bars, despite their participation. What you CAN say is that the next 500 or 1,000 people to like your page will receive the bars if they also send personal messages to your company explaining where to send the samples. Keep it manageable for yourself and know your limits so that your giveaway plans don’t backfire. If the giveaway process is smooth, you can be sure many happy recipients will be eager to tweet and post about their positive experience with your company, which ensures more buzz and more profits for you!
About Jenny DixonJennifer has been apart of the EliteFlyers.com team for over 15 years. She brings a deep understanding of web marketing, thoughtful strategies, that she's able to design, manage, print, deliver multi-media campaigns to meet all client's goals. Her personal portfolio includes high-end design and printing of business cards, flyers, post cards for elite businesses and individuals from all over the world.
