Growth: Viral marketing campaigns

The internet is a fickle thing. Cats, bacon, cupcakes and potato chips all go viral and we move on to the next big thing.

But every now and again, we see some old favorites that still have a few tricks up their sleeve.

One of those old favorites is giveaways. In today's tip, we'll discuss some of the ways that giveaways have been used as a viral marketing tactic.

Creating excitement by giving away

A great way to get people buzzing about your products and build up your company's social media presence is by running a giveaway on social media.

Oprah anyone?

This allows you to stay in the public's eye while also not having to spend a fortune on traditional marketing. There are many tactics you can use to make your giveaways resonate with your audience and increase retweets and favorites.

The giveaway is usually free. The goal is to involve the customers so they can share the giveaway with their friends. This way, even if the company does not make a profit with the giveaway, they will gain more customers and build a base of loyal customers who can continue buying their products and services. 

Giveaway campaigns are a great way to engage customers in the excitement of our product launch. For example, when we giveaway gift cards, people engage by telling their friends and family about what they’ve won and by using the gift card they’ve won. Imagine the excitement when they open up their gift card in the mail and see what you have to offer. 

Make your giveaways feel like a contest rather than a giveaway.
For example, you can send a survey or have them complete a poll. When you give something back, you show you treasure your followers more. Include a hard and fast deadline and a prize that feels like a lot to the recipient and which can be shared by people in their social circle. Ask your followers to like and retweet the contest to enter.

Make it a meaningful giveaway

I’ve seen companies give away gift cards, tickets to shows, and other items in order to get people interested in their products. This will not only reach thousands of potential customers, but it will also build excitement for when their product launches.

Another way to do a viral giveaway is to offer a free item with purchase. For example, if a customer buys a laptop, they can get a free notebook as well. This way, the customer will share the giveaway with their friends and family and hopefully will buy more from.

Begin with the end in mind

As with everything, resist the temptation to launch a new marketing campaign without a clear goal in mind.

Are you looking to increase revenue with this campaign or increase new signups for your newsletter?

Are you looking to generate a profit from your campaign or are you willing to take a loss in order to grow your prospective customer list?

One may lead to another but they are not necessarily the same from a campaign perspective.

The campaign that you're working on needs to be designed to produce a certain goal. If you are trying to increase new signups for your newsletter, you'll design a different landing page than if you want to increase your store's revenue with this campaign. It's important to pick the right goal for each campaign because design and copy need to match the audience and the goal of the campaign.