One of the techniques to build excitement around your business and bring in new audiences is doing giveaways.  Unless you are a philanthropist, you are not doing giveaways just to do them.  You are looking for results!  And yet, giveaways are often approached as a last-minute campaign with little to no planning.  Today, let’s talk about getting the most from your giveaways.

The first point to make here is that giveaways are exactly what I just called them: campaigns.

Yes, giveaways are short-term campaigns.  They have – at least – a beginning, middle, and end stage.  The beginning is about procuring the item.  Partnering for cross-marketing to help promote the giveaway.  Coming up with a plan for promoting it.  Prepping the platform or materials you are using to run the giveaway.

Giveaways are short-term campaigns. #marketing #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smb #business Share on X

The middle is when you run the giveaway.  You tell everyone, you engage your partners to spread the word, you promote it, you collect entries.  You also use this time to collect feedback and testimonials that you can share later.

At the point when you announce winners or distribute giveaways, you move into your ending phase, which is building the goodwill of your business.  Sharing reactions, outcomes, testimonials, and any other content you have collected along the way.

If you just woke up this morning and thought, “How do I get more attention?  I’ll do a giveaway!” you are missing out on pretty much all the marketing benefit.  Going through that process I just outlined at the minimum is how you can leverage your giveaway and turn it into greater things for your business.

The other thing to consider is the type of giveaway you want to do.

Are you running it by yourself?  Try a contest where people have to give you content or exposure in some way to enter (except: if you are running your contest on social media, the rules are a little different.  Read here).  For best results, run a contest where they are giving you their contact details so you know how to reach them in the future.

Also if you’re running it by yourself, the giveaway could also be an incentive for those who take a certain action.  Your giveaway could be used as a bonus, rewarding everyone who takes a significant step that you identify.

When you have friends, you have options.  Partnering with other businesses creates more structure and benefit from your giveaway.  The giveaway could be the result of a passport program where the entrants have to take a certain number of actions at each location.  It could be that anyone who enters at any one of the locations is put into the pool for a shared prize, and the prize pool is generally better.

Partnering with other #businesses creates more structure and benefit from your giveaway. #smb Share on X

When you have multiple businesses running a giveaway, one of the more technical options is a “loop giveaway.”  This is one that I tend to get questions about when I mention it!  Imagine you have six businesses involved: A, B, C, D, E, and F.  When the entrant takes the action at Business A, they are directed to Business B next.  From Business B to Business C.  From C to D.  From D to E.  From E to F.  From F back to A.  And once they get all the way through the loop, they are in the pool for the giveaway.  The beauty of this one is that the calls to action are simplified so that people don’t get overwhelmed by the process.

What it all comes down to is that your giveaway doesn’t have to be just an act of kindness for you.  You probably want it to generate business and leads for you.  So take time, build patience into your campaign, and get the most from it!

Are you thinking about running a giveaway and you’re not sure how to do it?  Message me here!