When it comes to building brand awareness for your business PR is one of the most effective forms of marketing because it’s so multi-faceted. With a successful PR campaign you get media coverage, backlinks and so many other benefits.
One tactic which can bring rewards is hosting competitions and giveaways to create buzz and excitement around your products or service.
If you’re looking to put your business in front of new audiences or you want to encourage people to try your products then running competitions might be a good strategy for you.
When done in the right way, competitions can be a great push for your business. This is something we’ve done with clients in the past like Public Desire and Bobbin Bikes just to name a few.
But why are competitions good for brand awareness?
They create a buzz
People love getting stuff for free so offering them the chance to receive a free product or service of value will definitely get people excited and it will entice them to look into your business before entering.
They expand your reach
Hosting competitions through a publication on their website or social media will put your business in front of the right audience who may not have heard of you yet.
It can boost your social media profile
Competitions hosted on social media can help boost your exposure. Prompting people to ‘share’ your post or follow your page as part of their entry process will ultimately boost your social media engagement and presence. Take a look at this competition we ran for our client Bobbin Bikes with Fabulous on Instagram. But once you have new potential customers it’s important to remember to keep them there.
Keeps customers engaged
Hosting competitions on your own website is a good way to keep your customers engaged. It’s a good incentive that makes them feel as though they have exclusive access to a competition because they are already familiar with your business.
Generates new leads
Competitions are a great way of gathering potential customers. Essentially all of your entrants are new leads, you can use this to your advantage when planning your next steps. For example, why not offer a one off discount code for entrants as a thank you for entering the competition. They’ll try your product and it may even turn into a repeat purchase. If you’re a smaller business who may struggle to do this you can always try doing this around seasonal events like Christmas.
It shows you appreciate your customers
As well as generating potential new customers, competitions also show your existing ones that you value them and want to give something back as a thank you for supporting your business.