Categories

  • Giveaway Tips
  • Facebook
  • Marketing
  • Product

The Art And Science Of An Effective Review And Giveaway

on June 4, 2012
by Justin Nutzman

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
This is a guest post by Justin Nutzman, co-founder of Giveaway Scoop, a site that makes it fun and easy to find and add giveaways for free. You can follow Giveaway Scoop on Twitter.

___________________________________

You’ve probably had this happen to you. You see a fantastic giveaway mentioned on Twitter or on a blog. Jazzed with excitement, you click on through to the giveaway and land where it’s being hosted.

What you see turns that smile upside down. The anticipation you once had gives way to shock, then to giveaway dismay. To start, your browser halts to a near stop as it tries to load a dizzying amount of ads.

Panicking, you quickly scan the page to find where the giveaway directions are. But you’re too late! A newsletter signup box pops up with gusto asking you to “SIGN UP NOW!”

But you’ve come too far to be thwarted by mere HTML! So you quickly cancel the newsletter request and resume your hunt to find this illusive giveaway.

Now, what’s this you see? A couple weak, feeble prize images with a few sentences that make the product sound tragically lame. What? No pretty pictures of the prize and not even a proper description of how helpful this new gizmo will be to your life? Where’s the payoff? Where’s the cool factor?

To top it off, the page is limping along, still trying to fully load in. *Sigh.* Tired and uninspired by the product giveaway and review, you close the browser tab to catch your breath and wipe the sweat away that’s formed on your upper lip. You vow never to return to this web site even if they’re holding a giveaway where one winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the moon. (Hopefully back to earth also!)

Baby Surprised!

Well, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. But what about an animated gif? I think this baby’s expression represents the feeling when anticipation turns into shock and then dismay when we click on an awesome giveaway only to be greeted with a page that is guilty of the above scenario.

OK, well maybe I’ve exaggerated the above story a tad. But you get the point! And don’t worry, it was just the sound of mom blowing her nose that surprised the cute little guy so much.

We view a lot of giveaways at Giveaway Scoop. We’ve learned what works well and what falls flat. In this post we’d like to highlight 5 tips of what we’ve seen that works well and how some bloggers are ensuring that they capture and retain as much of their giveaway audience as possible.

1. Photos: The Art Of A Tantalizing Giveaway & Review

There’s an art to making a review and giveaway combo page that will slowly draw more and more interest to the product as the user scrolls down the page. Ideally, the blogger should weave an interesting story and review around big, crisp photos of the product. They might even demonstrate the product in action.

Want to see this demonstrated? Check out a recent giveaway and review combo from Glenda at Busy at Home:

Chicago Cutlery Knives Review - Photo Credit: Busy-at-home.com

Big, crisp and well lit images have a big role in getting the user jazzed and zoned in on what you’re reviewing and giving away. The biggest tip for taking good photos is to ensure that you light the object well to prevent a drab and dark looking image. You can also ask brands for high-resolution photos to accompany your review if needed.

Notice on Glenda’s review how she breaks up the page with pictures and then spices in the review below each photo. This keeps the visitor engaged and the anticipation for the product builds as they scroll down.

In the end, Glenda takes a knife set giveaway and turns it into a page that is highly helpful, interesting and fun to scroll through.

After all, why give away a product and have all those tweets and backlinks wasted after the giveaway expires in 2-3 weeks? Why not create a giveaway page that features the product but also has a candid post of the product or brand that will be helpful to visitors for years to come?

Here are a few more examples of fine giveaway and review pages from other bloggers that hit it out of the park:

Home Pro Hair Cutting with Wahl - Photo Credit: Mamabzz.com

Home Pro Hair Cutting with Wahl Giveaway – This page has excellent photos that demonstrate the product in use with a real hair cut.

LiftMaster 8550 - Photo Credit: Grinningcheektocheek.com

LiftMaster 8550 Review and Giveaway – This is a creative way to integrate the product into one’s life and put it to a literal test!

2. Sometimes It Takes A Village To Build An Epic Review Page

Thumbs Up! Credit: Fallout AvatarA great asset to a giveaway is that you can ask your visitors to comment on the page of the review.

Enlist the help of visitors to help build your content by asking highly relevant questions as one of your giveaway actions. They will in turn add personal stories, tips or perspectives to the already relevant content you created.

For instance, if you’re reviewing a knife set and pairing it with a giveaway, go ahead and ask a question that will add to the conversation of the knife set. You could ask your visitors to answer one of the questions below for an entry point:

  • What experience do you have with the knives I just reviewed? Did they live up to your expectations?
  • Is there a certain brand of knives that you love or dislike greatly? Share with us your story.
  • What method do you find most effective to sharpen your knives? Automatic or manual?
  • What did you think of my recipe? Did you try it out?

Google Think Insight StatBy the time the giveaway ends, your review is made that much more authoritative by real comments that add to the conversation of the product or services the brand is sponsoring. I’d suggest at the end of the giveaway to go through the reviews and remove any comments from visitors that didn’t follow your directions and don’t add to the long-term helpfulness of the page. (e.g. great giveaway, cool product, I want to win, etc.)

It takes just a few minutes when you’re setting up the giveaway to think of what information future visitors would want to read about your product. Once you add it into the giveaway widget, you’ll soon receive lots of authentic user added content that will boost your review page for a long time to come!

Remember, everyday Google is encountering searches that it’s never seen before. All those helpful comments will get spidered and ranked. Don’t underestimate the power of long tail search!

3. Ensure Your Pages Load Faster Than Usain Bolt

Here’s some rather shocking but enlightening statistics to share with you on how visitors respond to load times. Some highlights:

  • According to the Aberdeen Group, a 1-second delay in page-load time equals 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and 7% loss in conversions.
  • 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
  • 20% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
  • Yahoo also found that a 400ms slower page would see 5-9% more people leave before the page finished loading.

Pingdom Site ToolsThe fact is that the longer your giveaway page takes to load, the more visitors will bail on you. Google also has revealed that how fast your site loads is one of the signals they use to rank your site and pages. So, you can rank lower and receive less traffic simply by not properly weighing features, ads and images against a reasonable load time.

Interested in seeing your site graded on load times? Gtmetrix offers a solid tool and so does Pingdom. Does your site need improvement? That’s a whole guest post to itself, but if you’re running WordPress, then a cache plugin would be a good start.

4. Produce Videos That Make Brands Swoon

Another layer of awesomeness for any giveaway and review is to demo the product in video. Video is impactful and provides another lay of versatility to your brand. Plus, some products and giveaways just shine best in video.

You can also reach a whole new audience that simply isn’t getting their daily fix of content through words and photos.

Dislike being in front of camera? That’s pretty normal. A great solution is just to do a voice over with you demoing the product. Or have a friend or family member who loves the camera demo it. You’ll give them the feeling of being a “super star” and you’ll get great video content.

Here’s a fine example of a blogger doing a product review that is tied into a giveaway. The brand sponsoring this product must be super stoked since this video product review makes the giveaway page valuable for search and YouTube traffic. Notice how she links back to her blog post in the commentary section below – a great tie in.

5. Finish The Giveaway With A High Five

After the giveaway is finished, properly pick and announce the winner.

Adam Samberg High Five - Credit: chrisbuck.comAnnounce the winner in a cool fashion to draw even more links to that page. You can do a video announcing the winner or announce it on Twitter and Facebook with a fun countdown.

Another great tie in for your blog is to ask the winner to take a picture of the product they won and post the image on your Facebook page or the brand’s Facebook page, along with a thank you for the stellar giveaway. This equates into kudos points for you since the brand and your blog will get more free recognition.

Finally, to impress the brand even further, you can export the entries or simply tally the giveaway social actions and email them to the brand. Here’s a quick example:

The giveaway you sponsored was a stellar success! I wanted to pass onto you the tallied results for your brand’s social actions. I hope we can do another giveaway and review soon! Your brand’s increase in fans and followers from this giveaway:

  • Facebook Fans: 458
  • Twitter Followers: 385
  • Tweets: 340
  • Newsletter Subscriptions: 41

Establishing your brand with my readers: Priceless!

Summary: Pat Yourself On The Back For Creating Such Stellar Long Living Content.

Jumping Dog!

The half life of your giveaway and review page will be so much longer than the average 10-21 days of a giveaway-only page. Instead, it could be many months or years that Google and Bing will send you a steady amount of traffic and you will keep adding engaged readers to your top notch content.

No doubt it takes time and effort to accomplish reviews and giveaways that rock, but when you combine the long-term search traffic, decreased bounce rate and increased readership loyalty, it’s very much worth it.

In time, big quality brands will be jumping at the opportunity to have you conduct a giveaway and review for all their products!

Have Any Tips? Join The Conversation!

This is where we ask you to add your valuable voice to this post by relaying your experiences and insight to your fellow bloggers. To get the ball rolling, here’s a few questions:

  1. What tips or practices do you deploy to make your giveaway and review pages stand out from the rest?
  2. Do you have any photography tips to share that allow you to capture the best images for your reviews?
  3. What are your favorite ways to promote your awesome giveaways?
  4. What plugins or tweaks have you deployed to successfully speed up your site?
  5. How do you handle brands and educate them on how effective your services can be?

Let’s Run A Giveaway In 3, 2, 1…

At Giveaway Scoop we’d like to say kudos to all you bloggers who each day write, design and create fantastic giveaway and review pages. Unless someday our last names change to Gates, we can’t offer each one of you a cool prize, but we want to say thank you by giving away a 3rd Generation Apple iPad to one smart, hard working and lucky blogger. Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to sign up to win! :)

Thanks again to Justin and the rest of the folks at Giveaway Scoop for sponsoring this opportunity! Below is a giveaway that is open to folks in the US/Canada. Giveaway ends on Wednesday, 6/20 at 12:01am. One winners will be chosen and shipped a 3rd generation iPad. Feel free to read the full terms and conditions in the Rafflecopter widget for more info!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related articles
  • How Many Giveaway Entry Options Should You Use? (rafflecopter.com)

Filed Under: Giveaway Tips, Marketing

About the author

Justin Nutzman

Justin Nutzman is a co-founder of Giveaway Scoop, a site that makes it fun and easy to find and list your giveaways for free. Follow them on Twitter at @giveawayscoop.

  • Hafis

    nice and well written article… rafflecopter is the best…

  • Liam Dunn

    oooo iPad….nice :)

  • sue seaman

    ooo fantastic prize, sharing on fb and twitter, grudgingly lol

  • Sheila Eyre

    Would love a chance to win this. Not sure I can enter as I am from the uk but will try just the same. :-)
    Seyre509@aol.com

  • Amy Kronstedt

    Love your tips! Thanks for linking to my site as well! (I’m the one with the Liftmaster Giveaway post!)

    • Giveaway Scoop

      Our pleasure – we were really impressed with how you put the
      product to a literal test. Well done! :)

    • Rafflecopter

      You bet! It was a great post :)

  • Kevin Riedel

    Good stuff! Although the animated gifs made my eyes a little nuts and I couldn’t read the copy when they were on the page. Blame it on my ADD…

    To answer your questions:
    1. I use video to stand out. I agree with all you said. I think keeping video length in the 3-minute (or less) neighborhood is very important. Your example, while good, was too long.

    2. Photography tips… get an SLR and learn how to use it. Not just automatic settings… educate yourself on the basics of photography – there’s plenty of info out there on the web/ And you don’t have to buy a top of the line one. Entry level is fine and the new ones shoot great HD video… so there’s no excuse not to create great video content too!

    3. My favorite way to promote is on Twitter. It’s kind of like fishing… persistence and luck pay off! I also list on some of the big giveaway sites to get some attention.

    4. I’ve done nothing to speed up my site… and I need to! I was pretty psyched to read the part about cache plugins for WP. I’m all over that. Thank you… If it works, beers are on me.

    5. I’m just starting out, so I’m just being sincere at this point. I tell them straight up that I’m a small startup looking to break through and ask them to give me a chance. Small businesses owners rock and tend to help each other out.

    Thanks again for the great post. Very relevant to what I do!

    • Giveaway Scoop

      Nice – extra points to Kevin for answering all the
      questions :)

      Dig how you narrated your giveaway/review video – great
      quality too. Thanks for taking the time to share some helpful tips in producing
      crisp and concise video!

      • Kevin Riedel

        Thanks for the props on my vid!

    • Georgene Harkness

      Kevin, just hit the “escape” key, and that will stop the animated gif’s right in their tracks. Then you can read! :-)

      • Kevin Riedel

        Holy crap, Georgene! You friggin’ rock the nation. Thanks so much for the tip. :)

    • Rafflecopter

      thanks for the thoughts, Kevin. whenever I think of a video review site or someone is looking for an example of one that focuses on video, you’re always our go-to :P

      • Kevin Riedel

        Much appreciated!

  • Toan Ngo

    Thanks for the tip of http://gtmetrix.com/compare/v0OecGdl/Y6McU8n1. Useful. Like ur gifs 2

  • Another Cent Saved

    Great article and very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to share with us :)

    • Rafflecopter

      thanks for reading :)

  • Grocery Alerts

    THis is a good point (#5) but how do you get the stats to find out how many fans or readers they gained as part of the review?

    • Rafflecopter

      If you’re using Rafflecopter, sorting your entries in your list on the moderate page by ‘entry option’ gives you a nice rundown. Here’s a screenshot as an example: http://cl.ly/3Z0q190n2s0I461d3i0B

      • Rachel R.

        I don’t know if you have updated this feature, but when I try to do this, it gives me multiple pages (depending on how many entries there were) with Facebook entries, tweets, etc. listed multiple times across several pages. So I have to manually scroll through each page and tally them up, and I’m not sure if the numbers are accurate.

        • Juan Patten

          Hey Rachel, I think Greg may have mis-typed “sort by” but meant “group by”. “group by” will give you the same thing that’s in the screenshot he posted. Does that work for you?

  • Tammilee TIps

    Thank you for this great article! So many great tips to start implementing in our giveaways.

  • Ness

    Can I enter even though i’m in the UK but can give a USA shipping address? Or is it for “residents” only?

    • Giveaway Scoop

      Hi Ness – Yes, as long as we can ship it to a US or Canadian address it will work. Cheers.

  • Anastasia Borisyuk

    Great tips, thank you!

  • Rachel

    Love it guys, thanks for the advice.. And some idea’s that I will be implementing of course. Fab tip Kevin, great Photography makes a huge difference. readers love to see great pictures.

  • Amy Manges Blevins

    I have learned that if you stand between the window and your subject the window actually helps light the photo instead of hindering your camera.

  • Jenn Cloud

    Such a great entry! Thanks for this!

  • Julie A. Shearer

    This is so great. Good luck everyone !

  • Regan Walsh

    Thanks for the tips.
    Susan

  • GenevieveCrabe

    Thanks for all the great tips. My pet peeve is about giveaways where you have to do five different things while standing on your head before you can be eligible for the giveaway. :-)

    • GenevieveCrabe

      I should add that Rafflecopter goes a long way towards simplifying this process.

  • Pingback: Dealing With Difficult Dogs | Paws Kennels Blog()

  • Buddro Man

    Wow, nice site. Entered the iPad contest. Thanks Giveaway Scoop!!!

  • Heidi Hoang

    I would love to win one! Currently don’t have one :(

  • Amanda Burchell

    Would love to have an iPad :) I have followed both on Facebook & Twitter. Also have tweeted about the giveaway. Fab prize

  • Su Abby

    Great stuff..well written! and thanks for the giveaway!

  • Robin Taylor Castillo

    Would love to win an iPad! Thanks for this opportunity!

  • Pingback: Enter to win a 3rd Generation Apple iPad - ends 6/19/12 | Blog Giveaway Directory()

  • Pingback: The Hangar – iPad Giveaway | Product Sweepstakes()

  • Pingback: 3rd Generation Apple iPad | Big List of Giveaways()

  • Pingback: Giveaway Promote | 3rd Generation Apple iPad Giveaway | Find and list giveaways and giveaway events.()

  • Gina

    What a nice giveaway!

  • Pingback: 3rd Generation Apple iPad Giveaway at The Hangar | Contest Corner: The Best Giveaways on The Net!()

  • Dan Williams

    twitted this, 14/6

  • ellens

    great article. over my head but helpful. nice giveaway.

  • Pingback: Win The New Apple iPad From Rafflecopter | Giveaway Of The Day()

  • Carol

    I love the dog video, wanna go for a walk…great site,,thank you , lots of info!

  • Christine Tolhurst

    As much as I love you Rafflecopter and as much as I think this is a good article, it is totally clogging up my twitter feed. It is being way over-tweeted lol

  • S. C. Edwards

    https://twitter.com/jackalJarrod/status/214396790861078528

  • lorri

    Thanks for the great article and contest!

  • Pingback: Rafflecopter iPad 3rdGen Giveaway « of non-intelligence and daily babbles()

  • Brandon James Starcevic

    What a fun article!

  • Pingback: Questions to Ask your Doctor about ADHD | Health Clubs - healthylifestylereview.info()

  • Rose :: FineCRAFTguild

    Thanks for the advice and thanks for making me laugh! Really funny gifs.

  • Dubai Expo

    Great work done by you. This was really a valuable experience. I will ensure that my friends also read this as soon as possible. I cannot wait to share this.
    Jobs in Dubai
    Dubai jobs
    Hotels in Dubai
    Job in Dubai
    Dubai Hotels
    Dubai City
    Expo 2020 Dubai
    World Expo 2020 Dubai

  • dubaiexpo 2020

    I usually do not comment on posts but this article stands out from others. I could learn several new things from it. It is great when you are able to gain an understanding on topics that were unknown. Thanks for that. dubai expo 2020 jobs

  • dubaiexpo 2020

    I will make sure that I read all of your blogs in future. It will definitively enhance my knowledge. rta bus timing

  • Lancer Guru

    you will keep on offering good content like this more often. I feel more and more people should know about this. Also, I agree on most of the points you have made.
    lancerguru

  • arunjeet

    I am sure that this is going to help a lot of individuals. Keep up the good work. It is highly convincing and I enjoyed going through the entire blog. Cheers!
    Kara Sarab Lohae
    kirpan
    kirpanonline
    turban online
    sikh turban online
    turbans for sale
    punjabi turban online
    turban online shopping
    onlinekara
    pagg
    a turban
    kurta pajama
    sikh accessories
    buyonlinemenbeardaccessories
    turban
    kirpan
    kurta pajama for men
    punjabi kurta pajama
    kurta pajama stylish
    punjabikurta

  • harry

    good to see this stuff if you want to see pros and cons of battery visit Trollingmotorbatteryguides.com

  • Albert Mick

    It is brilliant blog. I like the way you express information to us. It is very useful for me. You are doing great job and thanks for sharing.What a wonderful post is it, i am very happy and i appreciate your effort. You are doing great job. Thanks for sharing your blog.The App Developer Dubai provides good service you visit here site https://www.mistersaad.com/

  • Albert Mick

    This site is full of valuable ideas and significant information which we can share to our family and friends, thanks to the site administrator you really did a great job.get best Dubai Social Media Marketing online from http://www.digizonemedia.com/social-media/

  • Mick John

    I went over this website and I believe you have a lot of wonderful information. I am very happy to see your data because is very useful for us. I will only say thanks to you for sharing. This is a well written article on this subject. I have been looking at starting a new business and this is valuable information to help me in my decision. Thank you so much for sharing and keep it up. Get best Remote Working Jobs so visit here for more info from https://www.smartjob.ae/

  • rahul ksharma

    Thank you for sharing a useful information and find the best social media agency Dubai

Run Your Own Giveaway!

Rafflecopter makes it easy to run
a giveaway online. Create & launch
your next giveaway in minutes!
Sign Up For Free