Attracting your target audience and getting them engaged in your business requires a multi-pronged strategy. Businesses have to know their ideal customers well, create products and services that meet their specific needs, and develop marketing plans that capture their interests.
While social media posts, online ads, and email marketing are effective methods of reaching your audience, another promotional avenue is online giveaways. An opportunity to win free products or services gets your audience excited about engaging with your business. “A giveaway can be the fastest way to grow your web presence, such as increasing followers, promoting your website, and more,” says Jon Torres, a digital marketing consultant who works with aspiring entrepreneurs.
Wondering how to do an online giveaway and make it a success? Here’s a step-by-step guide.
Establish a goal for the online giveaway
Before you can begin planning your online giveaway, it’s important to define your goals for the contest by asking yourself what you hope to achieve. An online giveaway can help your business
- Increase website traffic
- Build brand awareness
- Grow social media followers
It can also help your business to generate qualified leads and provide more opportunities to increase revenue. For example, if new prospects begin following you on social media as a result of your online giveaway, they may see a post they like about a particular product and make a purchase.
Ultimately, you need to determine your primary goal for the giveaway so you can create a strategy to achieve it.
Select a prize your audience will want
You know your customers best, and you know what they want most. “Your prize should reflect the primary need of your target customer,” says Torres. “Provide a prize for each of your target segments if you have several customer personas.” Make sure you choose a prize that will get your target audience excited enough to enter the contest.
If you have a product-based business, the prize can include a new product or product bundle; for service-based businesses, the prize can include a discount on a top-selling service for a limited amount of time. Another option is to give away a gift card so the winner can spend it however they like at your business. Just make sure the prize is something your audience will covet.
Decide on rules and conditions
Be sure to create specific and detailed guidelines about what your target audience needs to do to enter the online giveaway. If it’s a social media contest, a common way to enter is to follow the account and tag a friend. On websites, entrants often have to fill out a giveaway registration form.
You’ll also need to establish the dates for the contest so your audience knows when it’s over. Build a sense of urgency by keeping the contest entry dates tight.
Use the right tools to capture entries
When you run an online giveaway, you have the opportunity to gather prospect data, such as names, contact information, and opt-in consent to be a part of your mailing list. Jotform offers contest registration form and contest entry form templates that you can customize with the specifics of your online giveaway. You can even integrate them into your social media accounts to gather contestant information through another channel.
“Ask questions that help you create detailed customer personas without any private information, such as their exact income,” says Torres. “I recommend asking what product or service they currently use for the same purpose your product/service provides — and two to four reasons they like it. Also, ask where they live, their income range, their professional industry/niche, and whether they’re employed or own a business.” This information helps you get to know your ideal customers better.
Promote your online giveaway
With your contest set up using the right tools, it’s time to share it with your target audience. Promotional avenues for online giveaways include social media, word of mouth, email marketing, and your website. Be sure to clearly state the contest rules and regulations as well as promote the winning prize.
“You want the giveaway appearing on sites that your target customers frequent the most, which requires you to do the research,” says Torres. “You can also post an ad using social media platforms’ targeting tools or collaborate with an influencer your target audience follows.”
Crown a winner
Once your contestants have entered the online giveaway and the contest closing dates have passed, it’s time to select a winner. Use Jotform Tables to collect, organize, and manage all the data you’ve gathered through the contest registration forms. This low-code database makes it easy to sort through your data, select a winner, harvest potential leads for future business, and much more.
Now that you know how to do an online giveaway, you can launch one right away. You’ll learn more about your audience with each contest you run in order to provide them with highly relevant offers and a memorable experience.
Send Comment: