How to Run a Successful Giveaway for Maximum Online Exposure

There are several ways to grow your business online. From social media advertisements to PPC and content marketing, you have your pick on what to pursue. The last thing people think about when it comes to turning a profit is giving something away for free.

Giveaways are a great to put your business on the map and showcase your brand. Not only can giveaways be low in cost, but they can have a high return on investment.

Promoting a giveaway can be exciting for both a business and followers involved. Keep in mind that there are specific local and state laws in place regarding giveaways. Make sure to talk to a legal professional to make sure your rules and regulations are in order before announcing your giveaway.

A successful giveaway can generate hundreds to thousands of followers, subscribers, and an increase in sales. Giveaways can also help your business grow massive in a short amount of time. Here’s how to get started:

Have well-defined goals

By the end of your giveaway, what would you like your business to have achieved? Begin by putting together a list of goals to stay organized.

Focus on one key performance indicator and throw everything about your giveaway into achieving it. For your giveaway, you might want to think about:

• Creating excitement around a new product
• Increasing sales on a specific product or collection of products
• Growing your e-mail marketing list
• Increasing the number of followers on your social media accounts

Having an indicator to measure will make it easier to go back to see if your giveaway was successful. Don’t be afraid to set concrete number goals such as “a minimum of 1,000 followers” or “500 entrants”.

Giveaways are used to increase brand awareness and build and online following. You want your current followers to enter but you also want them to share to people who know nothing about your business.

Have an exciting prize

The prize is what people are here for—you need to make it worth it! The product is the first thing that will attract people to your contest. No excitement equals no participation.

Giveaway prizes come in several forms. Whether it’s a product or cash prize, it’s always something that will showcase the brand. Popular giveaway items include:

• A limited-edition product
• A collection of products
• Gift cards
• Travel

Limited-edition products are exclusive and will generate buzz just because the product may never be seen again. Not only is your product special, but the potential winner is too.

Even if your business isn’t large scale enough to giveaway something like a travel package, you can relate your products to such activities and still make them attractive.

Provide incentive for your giveaway

With a giveaway, you’re not just simply letting someone have your product for free. You are giving it away in the hopes that they’ll be encouraged to buy the product or explore what your business has to offer.

You must make your followers work for the giveaway. Think back to your original goals for this giveaway and tie it in with your incentive.

For instance, if you want to increase your followers on Instagram, require that entrants follow your page or tag friends in the comments to qualify. Do you have an attractive photo of your product? Request that users repost your photo to enter or hold a contest to see who gets the most likes to determine a winner.

Incentives like reposting and tagging of friends can work to validate entry, but they are a great way to gain free advertisement. Certain companies have asked that entrants post a video of why they want the product or why they should win. With this strategy, you’ll be reaching untapped timelines.

Promote your giveaway

Giveaways need constant hype to keep the ball rolling. Stalls in any type of contest lose traction and can become forgettable. You must go beyond personal promotion to achieve a successful giveaway.

You’re in charge of reminding your followers and the social media world that you’re holding a giveaway. Promote your giveaway across social media platforms, repost and re-share your entry rules, and engage with those who are participating.

Borrow the followers of someone else by utilizing partnerships with celebrities and influencers. Keep the personality relevant to your business so you know that you’re attracting your ideal customer. By partnering up with an influencer, you’ll increase traffic and spark engagement among followers.

Give credit to the winner

You spent a lot of time on your giveaway and the winner probably spent just as much time promoting it. Make sure to shine the spotlight on the winner when your giveaway ends. This also legitimizes your giveaway and builds trust for contests in the future.

Be sure to thank all the people who entered and take the opportunity to talk about your plans for future giveaways. For additional exposure, have the winner post a picture with their prize and share that as well.

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Burying Bad Reviews with Better Reputation Management

Your online reputation can make or break your chances of success. You need to maintain a positive image, whether you’re selling affiliate products or producing your own items.

When a customer leaves a negative review, it can cause potential prospects to reconsider their decision. You could lose sales due to these negative responses, which is why you need to bury them as quickly as possible.

Typically, you can’t make bad reviews go away. Once they’re posted online, they are there to stay.

But, with better reputation management, you can start to bury these reviews and limit their impact on future business.

Dealing with Negative Responses on Social Media

One of the biggest forums for negative feedback is social media. People love to share their experiences on Twitter and Facebook. You should have an email alert to let you know when someone mentions your brand in a post.

When you notice a negative response on social media, you should respond quickly. A fast response can diffuse the situation and this could be one of the few opportunities that you’ve got to actually remove a negative response.

Respond to the person leaving the negative response by sending them a direct message. Send them a message to find out how you can resolve their issue. If corrective action is taken, and they’re happy with the results, then you can publicly comment on their initial comment.

This public comment shows that you’ve resolved the issue, but it doesn’t include any details of the conversation that you’ve had with the customer.

Dealing with Negative Responses on Review Sites

If the negative response was left on a review site, you probably won’t be able to get the review removed. But, you may be able to keep the customer.

As with the previous tip, you’ll want to respond to these reviews as soon as possible. Always respond in a friendly manner and ask how you can solve their problem. You may need to offer a refund or a discount. But, that’s a small step when it comes to your online reputation.

Encourage Satisfied Customers to Leave Positive Reviews

The next step for burying bad reviews is to encourage your happy customers to leave good reviews. When you send an invoice to a customer, it should include a small thank you, along with a reminder for them to leave their feedback online.

You don’t have to directly ask your customers to leave a good review. But, you can encourage them. You can also leave these reminds on your order confirmation page or contact page.

Make a List of Negative Responses

You should also start compiling a list of negative responses to the products or services that you’re trying to sell. Make notes about the most common complaints.

If you start to see similar feedback from multiple customers, then there could be a problem with the items that you’re selling. These notes will help identify the main issues with your products or services.

If you’re responsible for the development of your products or services, you can use this feedback to improve your offerings. By delivering a better product or services, you can gain more positive reviews and comments.

In the end, the best way to overcome negative reviews to get positive reviews. At the same time, you can attempt to keep your customers happy. Respond to their negative comments in a timely manner. And, remember to encourage your satisfied customers to leave their feedback.

Along with these reputation management suggestions, you can find even more marketing tips and ideas, along with a system for generating conversion-ready internet prospects, by clicking here to learn about my done-for-you system.