Business Giveaways: 5 Common Questions Answered

Any business owner always has their eye on the bottom line, so the concept of running a giveaway will always be somewhat alien. Nevertheless, the biggest businesses in the world continue to offer giveaways, so they must be onto something. Below, we’ve looked at the most common questions business owners have regarding giveaways, and explained why this tactic could well be the right choice for your business…

What is the point of giveaways?

Giveaways are all about promotion; about drawing attention to your business, building your customer base, and creating a sense of excitement around your business. In this regard, they are incredibly successful – everyone loves a bargain, and giveaways can allow you to catch the eye of potential customers you may otherwise struggle to reach.

In addition, giveaways can also function as a form of lead generation, as you can collect the data of entrants for future marketing purposes.

How are giveaways organised?

The most popular method is as follows: you select a prize, and then provide one free entry into the giveaway to anyone who follows your company’s social media accounts, creates their own social media post using a specific hashtag or joins your email list,. After the closing date, you choose a winner and send their prize.

There are a number of tools you can use that make running a giveaway relatively straightforward. Rafflecopter is perhaps the most commonly suggested, but there are also a number of alternatives that can also work well.

Are giveaways expensive to run?

As with almost anything relating to business, the answer is… it depends. Giveaways can be very expensive to run; for example, if you run a giveaway where the top prize is an item that costs your business hundreds of pounds to produce, then you will have to absorb that loss. You’ll also have to factor postage costs into the equation, the cost of the time that you and your employees spend on the giveaway, and any other related costs.

However, all of the above can fall well within your existing marketing budget. Giveaways do not need to be an additional expense; they can just be part of a well-rounded promotional strategy.

How do I choose the prizes for a giveaway?

The first consideration is to ensure you choose a prize that people will want to win. This may mean offering a product you manufacture yourself and which has sold well in the past, or promotional technology products that will always be useful to the vast majority of people. Additionally, it is always preferable to choose a prize that is somehow synonymous with your business in some way – either because you directly produce that item, or because the item features your company’s branding. You want the winner to be reminded of your company and, if they post on social media about their big win, to receive a little extra promotion from that post. If you just offer prizes manufactured by other brands or not directly related to your company, then you’ll miss this valuable opportunity.

How can I ensure a giveaway is popular?

The quality of the prize will always influence giveaway popularity, but another consideration in this regard is how easy it is to enter the giveaway.

For example, plenty of people will be willing to follow one or two of your company’s various social media accounts in exchange for a prize draw entry. However, far fewer will want to follow on every social media platform, sign up to your email list, and make their own posts using specific hashtags just for a single giveaway entry.

Simply put, the easier it is to enter your giveaway, the higher the participation levels will be.

In conclusion

Giveaways have their place in the modern business landscape for one simple reason: they’re highly effective. If you are looking for a way to create a sense of hype around your business and potentially generate useful leads for the future, then a giveaway could well be the right choice.