Guide to Run a Profitable Giveaway this Holiday Season

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Guide to Run a Profitable Giveaway this Holiday Season

The foremost requirement to score gigantic revenue this holiday season is connecting with your customers’ rights. For many reasons, running a promotional giveaway contest tend to serve the purpose best. Most brands opt for it as it’s no hidden strategy but only a few are able to create the value and earn big!

Organizing a promotional giveaway may sound simple but it’s not as easy as picking a name randomly out of the hat. There’s more to it.

The campaign must be able to serve two purposes consecutively – band awareness and desirable profit. Doing it right allows for maximum impact in minimum budget. Contests cater to brand advertising as well when social media channels are used.  89% of marketers report that social media channels gained their companies maximum exposure.

Other than exposure, social media marketing is highly effective for increasing website traffic and generating leads along with improving search rankings and customer relationships. A marketer should never forget these points.

Basically, giveaways are a marketing strategy, all you need to do is use the tools right to promote your brand and generate revenue.

WORK OUT THE CONTEST TYPE

Promotional contests are not done in a similar way. There are three different types of promotions.

Contest:

For candidates to enter a certain skill or effort is required to win the prize. Some popular contests are grounded on a similar theme – users are asked to share a certain photo, video, caption, or essay. In the end, the winners are finalized based on judgment and votes.

Sweepstake:

On the other hand, sweepstakes require no skill or effort and are completely based on luck or chance. Winners are selected randomly and no payments or purchases influence the decision.

Lottery:

It simply means that candidates voluntarily made some sort of purchase or other contribution to enter the competition. For example, purchasing a ticket to enter the contest and win comes under the lottery.

It’s recommended not to opt for lotteries because state and federal laws restrict such kinds of giveaways. Prefer contest or sweepstakes and decide what you want to give away and whether you want to have a skill involved or pick the winners randomly. However, contests always turn out to be more exciting. It’s because they put effort to win the prize, as a result, they stay engaged with your brand.

PICK THE RIGHT PLATFORM

After deciding on whether you want to run a contest or sweepstake move on to choosing the right channels where it can be hosted. Generally, the most viable social channels include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, e-mail, and your website.

It’s recommended trying multiple platforms rather than working on any one of them. Running the contest on multiple platforms allows for multi-channel participation from the customer which caters to brand exposure even more.

Most brand owners choose to run the competition on their website but for some reason, that’s not very effective. Social media channels help to establish brand loyalty because people who follow you on social media are already interested in your business. Moreover, any actions they take on your business profile like commenting, sharing, liking, or posting will be seen by their friends too, catering to maximum brand exposure.

SET A DEADLINE

This may sound unimportant but the fact is many companies make this mistake and lose some really potential customers. Your deadline has to be clear and highly visible on your contest postings. If it’s not prospects might turn away that the competition has already ended even when you haven’t declared any winner. The loss is worse when prospects decide not to share your postings just because they couldn’t find any deadline.

Another reason why you need to keep the deadline clear is to avoid late entries. Suppose you are running a contest on Instagram where the contestant with the maximum number of likes wins. The competition has ended and the winner is determined. Later on, another contestant participates and scores more number of likes than the one you selected and claims the prize.

What will you do now? And this may not very good image of your company. To avoid such headaches down the road make sure not to keep the deadline vague.

KEEP THE RULES CLEAR

Here comes the most important part – There has to be no confusion while the contest is ongoing. Every contest comes with rules which may vary depending on the location and legal regulations. Consider the following set of rules that are generally included:

  • Eligibility for participation – Age, location, etc
  • No purchasing is involved
  • Purchases are not associated with chances of winning
  • Starting & End date
  • Privacy regulations about Winner Identity
  • Selection Criteria
  • Odds of winnings

Other than these it’s also important to consider the rules and regulations of each social platform you’re hosting your event on. For example, if you’re using Facebook it’s important to ensure that your post by no means should be affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by Facebook – The Company.

KEEP THE PRIZE RELEVANCY IN CHECK

The deadline is all set, rules are clear, now what? Have you considered what you will be giving away? Be sure that the prize coordinates with your brand image and must be attention-worthy.

For instance, your business deals in snowboarding and ski equipment. Now running a contest that offers a 3 day holiday in the Bahamas certainly won’t make sense. Instead offering the opportunity to fly to a ski lodge will perfectly speak to your audience.

If you are intended to give away a physical prize make sure to include a picture as it won’t be attention-worthy for your customers unless they see it.

NEVER GO WITHOUT A CUSTOMIZED HASHTAG

Well, promotions never actually go without Hashtags, if you really get it. All you need to do is come up with a unique Hashtag that perfectly speaks about your brand and the promotion as well.

In case you are new to it and can’t compose an interesting one, use Hashtagify. The tool helps you identify the current trends in the industry. You also get to know if anyone else is using it because you’re supposed to use a new one.

Those who are already working with Hashtags, be sure to use a different one for each contest.

ADDITIONAL TIPS FROM EXPERTS

Be sure that Mobile Users are not Left Behind:

Run your content on social platforms that are strictly for apps like Instagram. Facebook and Twitter are also available on apps. Moreover, if you have your own app, consider it for the contest as well. You can easily notify your customers with contest updates directly on their phones.

Keep the Social Sharing Option Open:

A share button has to be dominant enough for your audience to notice. This will get your content maximum exposure.

Let Everyone Know About the Winner:

It goes back to establishing the timeline. Keep in mind that you would need a week or two to select the winner depending on the volume of entries. Once you’re done announce the winner publically.

RECAP

The bottom line is – you need to have a road map, a clear goal, and running a giveaway contest would require some thought and planning.

Determine the kind of giveaway you want to run, choose the platforms you want to host it on, and take good care of branding alongside.

Never stop after running a successful contest, head to the next one!

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