Let’s play some word association. If I say wedding, you’ll probably say something like white. If I say baseball, you might say homerun. If I say boy band, you might say N’SYNC. And lastly, if I say giveaway, you’ll probably say winner.
Although winners get all the glory in giveaways, they’re not your biggest asset as a moderator. The losers are.
Yup. You read that correctly. Losers. The folks who don’t win your giveaway are infinitely more important than the people who do. Think about it: the non-winners are your customers (or could be one day). They’re your social media fans. They’re the ones that share your content. They tell their friends about your business. Well now, it’s important you keep these people happy, isn’t it?
You have the opportunity of turning the act of losing a giveaway into an awesome brand experience. Here are a few simple ways you can utilize the full potential of a giveaway by harnessing the power of your losers.
Run Another Giveaway
Got Milk? Just Do It. Where’s the beef? Do all those sounds familiar? Yeah, they’re ingrained in my brain, too. And the reason is obvious: Repetitive brand exposure. Think about how many times you were exposed to the slogan “Just Do It”. Did you run to a Nike store after seeing a billboard with that slogan plastered on it? Probably not. However, you better believe that repetitive brand exposure has contributed to you perceiving Nike as a top manufacturer of performance clothing and shoes.
How is this relevant to giveaways you ask?
Well, running regular giveaways is the perfect solution to repetitive brand exposure for the folks who don’t win your giveaway. If they enter once, you can bet they’ll enter again. And again. And again.
The more they enter your giveaways, the more they’ll see people flocking to your product or service. And if they don’t ever win your giveaway, there will likely come a day when they’ll need to purchase your product and the repetitive brand exposure of your giveaways is the perfect tool to keep your brand top of mind over your competitors.
You don’t have to take my word for it, we recently wrote a blog post about folks who frequently enter giveaways called ‘sweepers’. In the comments of the post, an overwhelming amount of folks gave us some insight into this very concept. “I enter the competition, but also find myself browsing their websites and finding some real gems which I have often purchased and been delighted with, whether I was their winning entrant or not!” Said Wendy C. on the post.
Moreover, Bridget over at Giveaway Promote, a giveaway promotion service, has seen the benefits of this firsthand saying, “When a winner is announced on our Facebook page, we include a link to our current, live giveaway to give everyone another “Didn’t win? Try again!”.
Give a Consolation Prize
I’ve talked at length about what goes on in your brain when you win something. Because of that, offering a consolation prize to the folks who didn’t win your giveaway is an amazing opportunity to turn an entrant losing the giveaway into an amazing experience and make your brand much more engaging! It doesn’t have to be anything huge or costly. Even something as simple as some stickers in the mail can say to an entrant “I’m sorry you didn’t win but I still value you as a customer”.
Leveraging the psychology of winning with the folks who don’t win the grand prize of your giveaway can also be an opportunity to humanize your business. In the age of the internet where everything is transactional, making sure every entrant is a winner opens up the doors to establish a real connection with your current and potential customers. You’ll likely hear stories and opinions related to your brand that will provide invaluable feedback you can use to improve your product and keep making things valuable to your audience.
Offer a Promo Code
Now I understand for some people it’s just not possible to mail all their entrants a consolation prize. It would be too expensive. Offering your entrants a promotion or discount code can be just as effective though.
If you’re in compliance with CAN-SPAM laws you’re allowed to email the entrants in your giveaway. This has a ton of potential to turn the losers of your giveaway into engaged customers. If an entrant has participated in your giveaway you know they’re interested in your products or services. A discount or promotion code might just be the the push they need to turn them from a visitor into a happy customer.
Closing Thoughts
In the world of giveaways, the winner gets all the glory. While that’s logical, the often overlooked benefit to you as a giveaway moderator is to engage and keep the folks who don’t win your giveaway happy and coming back for more :)
Do you have any tactics that you have used to engage the folks who don’t win your giveaway? If so, share them in the comments below!
