Do you own or work for a small business and are looking for a way to stand out? If you are struggling to compete with larger companies with bigger budgets, have you thought about using giveaways?
Giveaways can be an effective marketing tactic to engage in an authentic way with your customer base. Not only can they promote and raise awareness to new or existing clients, branded giveaways can help to create brand loyalty and advocacy.
In this blog we will look at 12 company giveaway ideas for small businesses to help you reach new audiences, nurture relationships and ultimately increase revenue.
Business Giveaway Ideas
- Run a Sweepstake
- Social Media Competitions
- Team up with Influencers
- Celebrate the Seasons or National Days
- Giveaways at Events and Trade Shows
- Incentivise Email Sign Ups
- Welcome New Customers
- Reward Loyal Customers
- A Gift With Purchase Incentive
- Thank Feedback and Reviews
- Referral Giveaways
- Milestones and Appreciation Gifts
1. Run a Sweepstake
A simple and cost effective tactic to make genuine connections with your customers is by running a sweepstake. If you choose an event that is exciting and relevant, you can instantly create buy-in from your audience. Not only that, but sweepstakes provide multiple points of contact throughout the course of the event to really nurture your relationships. You could link your sweepstake with global music events such as the Eurovision content; sporting events like the Grand National, the Euros or Olympics are also a great talking point.
Prizes for the winners and runners up don’t have to break the bank either. Giving out a branded gift will remind your customer of both the sweepstake and your brand for well after the event itself. You may also get further reach from happy clients posting about their prizes on social media.
View Games & Sports Giveaways here.
2. Social Media Competitions
Another low cost and instant way to promote your brand is with a social media giveaway. Everyone loves a freebie, and if it requires minimal effort, will more than likely gain traction and interaction.
Tips for social media competitions:
- Choose an appealing prize: Make people stop scrolling and want to get involved.
- Engage your followers: Ask them to share your post or tag a friend to win the prize.
- Use specific hashtags: This makes it easy to locate and assess campaign involvement.
- Amplify through other channels: Promote the competition via email to gain more interactions and encourage subscribers to follow your social channels.
Collaborate with local companies: Co-sponsoring a giveaway can spread the cost and reach a broader audience.
Hampers make for the perfect competition prize.
3. Team up with Influencers
I know what you are thinking and no you don’t have to have millions of pounds to work with influencers! They don’t need to have a huge following either. Look for influencers in your industry and niche, with an engaged audience.
Whether it is on Tik Tok, Instagram or Twitter, working with an influencer in your field is a brilliant way to get in front of your audience and grow your following.
One major tactic influencers put into play to gain attention is by offering their followers a giveaway. It could be a bundle of products or a related gift with your brand on. Influencers will create an authentic dialogue with a new group of potential targeted customers, promoting your small business and the products or service you offer.
View our Branded Drinkware here.
4. Celebrate the Seasons or National Days
Embracing the seasons with a themed giveaway is the ideal way to connect and celebrate that time of year with your audience. Whether it is Christmas, New Year, spring or summer time, there are many opportunities to reflect the world around you in your marketing campaign. For example, during the summer you could giveaway summer-themed items such as beach balls, sunglasses and picnic blankets.
There are also an incredible number of National Days you can associate with your company, from regional days to mirror your location and heritage, to causes you support, or even fun and quirky days.
Offering a giveaway to celebrate a particular day or season is a great way to drive real engagement with your audience. If your business does not sell a related product which can be included in a giveaway, branded gifts can be utilised in a competition or direct mail campaign.
See our Seasonal Giveaways here.
5. Giveaways at Events and Trade Shows
Giveaways will elevate any trade show stand or business event. They are a great way to draw in the crowds and get people talking.
If you choose an item that is used immediately like a bag, drinks bottle or stress item, your brand will receive additional exposure at the event itself. A giveaway which will be used frequently by your potential customer, will mean your business will be more likely to be remembered and recalled when they need your product or service.
If you have a competition or game at your event, a high ticket, desirable or just interactive and fun prize giveaway is a quick ticket to brand promotion.
6. Incentivise Email Sign Ups
If you are looking to increase your email subscribers, using a giveaway is one way to incentivise your target audience to subscribe. It doesn’t need to be expensive and can be a nice way to welcome new sign ups on their email marketing journey with your brand. You could offer a percentage discount on their first order, free delivery, special discounts or even a free item or gift in exchange for their attention. Remember to acknowledge all the value added information and benefits the subscriber will get from signing up to your list.
This type of tactic could also work well to re-engage those subscribers who have become inactive. It is a way to excite your subscribers and become more involved in your content. You will need to make sure your headline is bold and attention grabbing to make sure they will open your campaign.
7. Welcome New Customers
Looking after our customers is an important marketing strategy for any size business, with it often costing more to acquire new customers than retaining current ones. One way to do this is to surprise your new customers with a welcome gift. From all singing onboarding welcome packs with personalised drinkware, stationery and other useful items to a simple letter and pen or product sample, by acknowledging your new customers, you are sure to create a solid foundation to work upon.
8. Reward Loyal Customers
In the same vein, rewarding those customers who are loyal to your brand, is a thoughtful way to nurture and retain those all important business relationships. It is particularly key in a small business, where you may be much more reliant on their business.
Whether you have a customer loyalty program or not, exclusive giveaways can be given to your customers to show your appreciation. From exclusive offers, discounts and early access to your products, services or content to free prizes or gifts.
9. A Gift With Purchase Incentive
One way to get potential customers to cross over the order hurdle is with the promise of a gift with their purchase. Whilst this sales strategy will incur you a cost, if managed well, it can provide a real incentive to your customers to commit to a purchase. Choose a gift that both aligns and complements with the product or service you are selling and your customers needs.
As well as being alluring and attention grabbing, a gift with purchase will set your brand apart from competition, create a positive buying experience and help to enhance brand loyalty.
10. Thank Feedback and Reviews
A fundamental element for your small business is to have as many positive, up-to-date reviews as possible. They instantly prove your credibility and reputation to any potential customers. Real-life endorsements instil confidence in a purchase decision; a huge 98% of shoppers seek the opinion of others before they commit to a purchase. Not forgetting the impact of up-to-date reviews with helping to boost your SEO, and consequently your chances of being seen and selected on platforms like Google.
So, it is no surprise that we would recommend that you encourage your customers to leave you feedback/reviews online. You can easily ask your customers to do this, by a personal email or as part of your email marketing. Make sure you will give them something in exchange – a discount, free delivery, voucher or a free gift. You could even host a larger, exclusive giveaway prize for those who enter a draw and provide their feedback.
11. Referral Giveaways
Giveaways are an easy way to encourage your customers to refer your business. Word-of-mouth marketing is an age old tactic that can be relied upon, as people trust their friends and colleagues opinions. It’s a simple way to build up your small business and can be heightened with the use of giveaways like special offers and desirable gifts.
12. Milestones and Appreciation Gifts
Another way to show your customers appreciation whilst sharing an insight into your business, is by celebrating company milestones. Special occasions like your businesses birthday, or reaching a certain number of customers or followers, is the perfect excuse to celebrate and share the love.
You can select the type of giveaway depending on your budget, it doesn’t need to cost the earth. You could get creative and stage an in person giveaway and ramp up the engagement on your social channels, or send out an email campaign to your audience with a discount code or special offer.
You may also want to reward your customers when it is their birthday, or they have reached a certain number of orders with your business.
Appreciation gifts are perfect to reward your staff too. As a small business, you are likely reliant on your employees, and if they are happy, your business is much more likely to run smoothly. Whether they have been with the company for a number of years or have had a particularly successful period in the business., rewarding them with an appreciation gift is worth its weight in gold.
View our Branded Metal Bottles here.
FAQs on Giveaway Strategies
Q1. Can you give me some examples of cost-effective giveaways for small businesses?
A1. If you are looking to promote your brand to a large number of potential customers at a low cost, consider items such as promotional keyrings, pens, shoppers and sweets. They are high impact yet will grab attention and are likely to be used.
If you want fewer, high quality gifts to impress a targeted audience, make sure you look for items with a low minimum order quantity. You can do this by changing the Minimum Quantity bar on the left hand side of our product category pages.
Q2. How do I choose the best giveaway item for my business?
A2. Start by considering your target audience, their likes and interests. From there, look at what items could be useful for them in their every day lives, or will make them stop and smile. If you aren’t sure about this, then you could create a poll or survey to delve deeper into your customer base.
You also need to think about which items suit your brand image, values and what message you are trying to convey. For instance. if you want to align your business with your green credentials, choose an item that is sustainably manufactured and/or is reusable and recyclable. Reusable drinkware like travel mugs and water bottles are practical and well-received for example.
Q3. How can I reach new audiences with my giveaway?
A3. Social media is a great way to promote your giveaways to new audiences. A campaign that is creative, sharable and interesting will likely gain the most traction. Utilise influencers or work with other businesses can further expand your reach. Also make sure in any email campaigns you come up with intriguing, clickable email subject lines.
Q4. How can I measure the success of my giveaway?
A4. If you are running a social media giveaway campaign, utilise the analytics on each platform. Measure key metrics like engagement rates, reach, clicks and followers. Free tools like Google analytics can monitor traffic to your site as well as any sales generated from your giveaway. You could also ask any customers for their feedback to help improve any future giveaway campaigns.
Q5. Do giveaways work for small businesses?
A5. Yes! By taking time to consider your target audience, how the giveaway will work with your brand image and values, and which tactic these elements would best suit, then giveaways are a cost effective marketing strategy that will keep on giving well after the campaign itself. Be creative with your content and giveaway to increase reach, engagement and ultimately drive growth.
If you have found this blog of interest and would like to explore branded giveaways in more detail, why not contact us? Steel City is a trusted 40 year BPMA member with an experienced team of promotional product experts who can guide you to the perfect branded gift.
Read Next: Why Use Branded Merchandise?
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