Everyone likes to get something for nothing from time to time and your customers are no different. If you’ve studied your competition you’ve probably noticed that many of their offers feature bonuses; often, more than one. Make sure, though, that if you are giving something away that it is something of value and not just a piece of junk. Even though you are giving it away, look upon this as a trust building exercise. You want your customers to associate your name or your company’s name with quality products. Give away something of no value even one time and your future giveaways won’t impress anyone.
Giving things away is a strategic promotional tool, that if used correctly, can boost your profits and help you to grow your business. Some Internet marketers use giveaways to help them to build their email marketing lists. Offer an attractive product for nothing more than a name and an email address and you have a good chance of building not just a marketing list, but a targeted marketing list. As long as you offer a giveaway product that is in line with your overall niche, then you will be able to build a list of potential customers that are already interested in the kinds of products you promote.
Giveaways can also be used to entice customers to buy your next product. After all, if customers like the one they got for free, they are more likely to buy the one you are selling next. By the time you offer your next product for sale, you will have already showed them that you produce quality products and they will be far more likely to buy from you than from someone with whom they have no relationship whatsoever.
What is Your Competition Giving Away?
Take a look at the websites of your competition to see what kinds of products they are giving away to their customers. This will give you a great idea of what makes up a good giveaway. In addition to giving away free products to everyone, some Internet marketers hold contests and then give away one or more items to the winner. Holding a contest is a great promotional strategy that will garner you unique and repeat visitors. Talk up your contest in forums and when you comment on blogs. Have a concise contest announcement on your own site so that all the details are clear.
While there is no set amount of time for which your contest should run, you want to be careful not to make it too long or people will lose interest. On the other hand, if it doesn’t run long enough, you won’t have as much time to generate interest. Usually, a month or two is long enough to build interest and keep people coming back, especially if you post a running status of who is in the lead or something of that nature. When it is time to announce the winner, make a big splash about it and deliver the prize on time and with a lot of fanfare!
