How do you feel when you get an unexpected gift from someone? Don’t you want to reciprocate the favor by doing something in return? That is the basis of giveaway marketing, in which you give away your product or service for free. The prospect of losing time and money, with no guaranteed return on your investment, is why many businesses stay clear of free giveaways. However, your giveaway campaign can be worthwhile if…
You give away your product or service to people who actually find it useful
Don’t expect to have people respond to your offers if they had no use for the freebie in the first place. For example, don’t give away customized graphic design logo sketches to businesses which already have decent looking websites. Once the owner of a targeted business, which doesn’t have a website or logo, receives your customized logo sketch, he or she will be much more likely to consider your other services for a cost.
You follow up on your giveaway
Have you ever tried cold calling businesses who you know would benefit from doing business with you? If you’ve sent businesses freebies and follow up on the free offers with phone calls, you won’t have to face many immediate rejections because you can talk about the value that you have already provided the business. Rather than a prospect seeing you as some sleazy salesman who just wants to make money, the prospect sees you as someone who cares about their business.
You think in terms of customer lifetime value (CLV)
Many people are wary of trying new products or services, especially if they are expensive. The only way to surpass this hurdle is to give samples of your product for free to potential prospects. Sure, you’d have to take a loss for your marketing efforts, but those efforts can be handsomely rewarded if prospects turn into lifelong customers. Too many times we focus on making an initial one time sale when the goal should be to form a relationship with the prospect, something that can only be achieved through trust and providing value early on in the relationship.
You realize that it’s not all about making money
Even if you lose money on your give away, doesn’t mean that it’s all a waste. Just because a business does not respond to you within the first week of receiving the freebie, doesn’t mean that they won’t respond 6 months or 1 year from now. Even if they don’t respond at all, it’s very likely that your free product or service generated some word of mouth. As such, don’t be surprised if you start getting clients from people who you never initially contacted in the first place.
You give it away without sounding like a scam artist
FREE money! Even if your business actually goes through with its promise, it’s unlikely to generate any response because people associate promises like that with scams. When designing your promotion, give away just enough of your product or service without sounding scammy and lowering the value of your brand.
About the Author: Nickolay Lamm is an internet marketing specialist at InventHelp.