Can Your Product or Service Fit in A Gift Box?
Gifts, Freebies or Samples – whatever you want to call them, it’s obvious that they will always bring in custom for businesses. We all love something for nothing and giving away samples/vouchers of your product, if applicable, is a great way to generate a positive buzz around what you do and who you are as a business.
How great would it be if you could make some money from samples?
Here are just 3 ideas to give you some ideas…..
Marketing your gift-boxes doesn’t have to be a struggle, use the tools around you and don’t consider it cheating if you promote via social media because the majority of companies are doing exactly the same. Get some great shots of the box up onto Twitter and Instagram, encouraging shares and retweets is a great way to get some free promotion.
Remember: the ‘fear of missing out’ is a real phenomenon! An attractive gift-box encourages curiosity and generates revenue, there’s no better time to get creative with Christmas looming.
Here are just 3 ideas to give you some ideas…..
1. Daily Deal Sites
You’ve probably heard about (or even shopped at) sites like Coupon, Groupon, Daily Deals or even Amazon, but have you thought about selling your products there? Many of these sites have tens or hundreds of thousands of customers who are looking to discover and buy new products. So why not leverage their network and get your products in front of them?
While you will have to provide a discount on your products in addition to the site’s usual fees, the exposure you’ll get is HUGE! Some sites will sell your actual products while others will sell a gift certificate or voucher for any product on your site.
There are a lot of pros and cons of working with daily deal sites, but if your pricing is right (i.e., your retail price is at least 4 times your manufacturing costs), this can be a great way to bring in new customers and get your brand name out there.
2. GIFT YOUR PRODUCTS TO SOMEONE WELL KNOW
Ok, this is not a guaranteed return on your investment, but if you hit the jackpot and are lucky enough to have your products photographed on a celebrity or at least someone well known either in your area (Councillor, prominent business person), it can mean a new level of fame for your business. Obviously this works best if you have a product that a celebrity or other can wear or use in public, such as clothing, jewelry or baby accessories.
Send your product in a unique or beautifully wrapped package to your celebrity, your packaging matters. Include a hand-written note to the person in question and include a self-addressed stamped envelope with a Thank You card to make it easy for the person to respond. You may not get any response but if you do this could be a game changer for your business.
3. DO A PRODUCT REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY WITH BLOGGERS
This is something you should be doing as an ongoing part of your marketing strategy. While this doesn’t necessarily translate into sales right away, it can mean more Facebook fans, Twitter followers, email list subscribers and more links back to your site (which Google loves!).
When you do a giveaway or product review with a blogger, keep in mind that you’ll have to send at least one free product per review and one or more for the giveaway. Pick a blogger who has a good amount of traffic (I recommend at least 3,000 monthly unique visitors – you can check this number with the blogger before you submit your products). Also, read through previous blog posts to make sure that you like the blogger’s voice and style and it fits in with your brand.
Once you get a positive review, you can share it with your customers, with your retailers, post it on your site and on your blog and Twitter and Facebook pages.
I hope this gives you some fresh marketing ideas to get your brand name out there.
