Wait now—before you say, “I can’t afford to give everyone a prize!” that’s not quite what we mean. You need a grand prize, but for a giveaway that really works marketing wonders, everyone should feel like a winner. How? Read on…
Why You Should Make People Feel Good
When people enter giveaways, what do they get? They get the chance to win. Every giveaway entry is an emotionally-enhanced moment, because every giveaway entry is based on hope. At the moment of entry, the entrant is imagining what it would be like to win the grand prize.
Of course, you can probably only afford to give away one or a few grand prizes—so only one or a few people get the emotional payoff of winning.
But what if you could create that emotional payoff without paying for thousands of grand prizes?
If you could, you’d establish a positive relationship with each and every entrant, likely making them more disposed to follow your company and maybe even buy from you.
The key is to make each of your sweepstakes entrants feel like a winner by giving them something useful or of value.
How to Give Prizes to Everyone
Now, “useful or of value” does not mean expensive! But it should be something that your entrants will appreciate.
If you have a lead magnet on your site—perhaps an ebook or a report or even a discount—that you give people when they sign up for your newsletter on your site, that would be perfect.
What if you don’t currently have a lead magnet? You could quickly compile a PDF of your most popular posts, or create a short video with your best tips. Just make sure it’s useful and relevant.
We talked previously about creating a dedicated welcome email for people who sign up via your giveaway. This is a perfect way to follow up that email once your sweepstakes is over.
Remember that you’re sending them something special. So a subject line like, “Congratulations! I have something special for you” is completely reasonable. Even just, “Congratulations!” might do.
In the body of the email, let them know that they didn’t win your grand prize, but that you have good news—you’re sending them a prize, anyway!
Describe what you’re sending, and explain its benefit to your new subscriber. If your other subscribers have raved about it or given you testimonials, you could include those here, too.
Then, of course, deliver this “prize” to them—likely via a link in your email.
Remember that the tone of this email should be excited and congratulatory. Sure, they didn’t win your grand prize, but they might even be getting something better: free access to your expertise.
