The Effects of a Promotional Giveaway

Why it May Not Cost as Much as You Think

Robin Cena
In today's competitive market, small business owners sometimes discover they're up against much bigger rivals. Such one-man operations frequently have trouble when they need to advertise their own products alongside those of the bigger corporations.

In such an atmosphere, small business owners have to take the entire "think outside the box" phrase to a whole new level. Creativity is key. They have to think using non-traditional methods so they can stay afloat against their larger, more traditional rivals.

One incredibly efficient technique to reel in a larger client base is by using giveaways to promote your service or product line. It may sound unproductive to simply give your service away for free when you're already hurting for a return on your investment, but in reality a giveaway can bring in far more revenue than they take from your wallet.

There are innumerable methods you can implement to get your giveaway started. If your company revolves around a service, you can extend a limited-time offer for prospective clients to take advantage of. Such an offer can be promoted by handing out ads to other nearby stores for them to pass around to employees and clients. Alternatively, you can distribute the coupons yourself to customers who live in the area, with the offer and address of your company printed on them. Such coupons are rather inexpensive to create, and can be printed fast and efficiently. You don't even have to go door-to-door; simply visit your local post office and have them sent out to a specific location in town.

In the same vein, print advertising can be an effective technique when promoting your service or product in this fashion. While you're passing around your promotional ads to clients in a certain location, the ad also needs to focus on a certain demographic inside that location. A business that sells products mainly of interest to the common working man won't need to focus on the more luxury-minded companies, where their clients are usually higher up on the salary scale. Such a business would normally want to focus more on middle-income neighborhoods, where the client's income is more limited.

Along with using print ads in your giveaway, you have other choices too. If you have the available materials, you should consider printing a short brochure or other similar creation and give it out free of charge to capture everyone's attention. Or, if you're more comfortable with verbal forms of communication, think about using a TV or radio spot to promote your giveaway.

There are countless techniques you can use to tell potential clients about your giveaway, all of which will only help you and your business in the long run. Admittedly it takes a certain amount of financial resources to launch a giveaway campaign, but your ROI will far outweigh the amount you put into the endeavor (as long as you use common sense.) Using a giveaway to promote your business is a proven method for increasing business as they can be marketed directly towards the target demographic, and the ROI is often faster than if you use other methods.

Published by Robin Cena

Just your average twentysomething with a lot on her mind.  View profile

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