Everyone loves free promotional stuff. In fact,  American companies spend 20 billion dollars on promotional product giveaways each year. This is in part because promotional giveaways are one of the best ways to boost brand recognition, engage consumers, and increase revenue. Giveaways work to help drive consumers to your business and you should continue to incorporate them as part of a successful strategy to marketing.

Do you need some ideas to help refresh your giveaway strategy? We have you covered! Here are a dozen custom giveaway options to try that will actually work to get and keep people interested in your brand.

 

1. Custom Branded Daily Essentials

Giveaways should be functional to make sure you’re giving people what they need. Free company swag like promotional pens, Stylus Pens personalized shirts, and mugs are all essentials that consumers will love to get their hands on.

Here’s some added good news: these functional giveaway ideas have even been found to help increase retention among consumers! While these promotional giveaway ideas are small, they are definitely mighty when it comes to getting your company’s name out there for all to see.

 

2. Limited edition products

Limited edition products make for good giveaways because they help create a sense of urgency among people. These giveaway items can make the connection between your customers and your brand even stronger. Personalized giveaway products that are exclusive to only your most loyal customers or are only offered during a limited timeframe can help make customers feel included and special.

These exclusive products can be ones that you already offer or upgraded versions. You can also create new products specifically for your limited edition giveaways. Broadcast your limited edition products as instagram giveaway ideas to utilize your social media to its fullest.

 

3. Ask the people what they want for giveaways

Do not underestimate the power of your consumers! Something that is overlooked is asking your customers what products they want to see as giveaways. Asking your customers for their feedback reinforces that you are interested in them and their needs and that you are willing to listen to them. When people feel appreciated and respected, they will be even better patrons of your business.

Getting feedback from customers can help give you ideas on how to make improvements to your giveaway contests, as well as making sure you are staying current with their desires.

 

4. Themed giveaway ideas

Just like a good costume or themed party, a classic way to approach giveaways is with a themed one!

Bundled products are the perfect way to get people engaged in your brand. Whatever products you offer, pick a theme and giveaway several products at once. Themed giveaway ideas can make your brand even more appealing to customers because they are more substantial than just a one product prize.

You can cater your themed giveaways to specific products that you have or even include holiday or seasonal elements to further boost their appeal.

 

5. Host a hashtag contest

As we become more and more technologically advanced, there’s no doubt that having a presence on social media can drastically increase your marketing and recognition efforts. Give a hashtag contest a try to engage more customers in a fun and creative way. For the hastag contest, you’ll want a catchy #giveawayname that represents your brand and appeals to the people following along with your company.

Hashtags are a helpful tool to help track how engaged your followers are with your social media account. Hosting a hashtag contest is a simple and updated way to build community among followers from wherever they are.

 

6. Photo-op contests

Like the saying, “a picture tells a thousand words”, great photos are a smart way to help engage consumers. Photo contests are a fun way to meet your customers by allowing their creativity to show. You will get to see life from their viewpoint and how your brand fits into their everyday lives. These contests can be sponsored on Instagram or Facebook, which are popularly used by many.

What you can do is ask your followers to post pictures of them with your product and have them let you know why they love your product or what their favorite way to use it is. To up the social media giveaway ideas even further, you could combine your photo contest idea with the hashtag contests. Have the people entering the contest use the hashtag you created and use it as an extra entry into the giveaway.

One of the best parts about social media contests is that they are interactive and a great way to get testimonials that you can then put on your website or any of your other social media platforms.

 

7. Offer coupon codes

Did someone say discount?!

Everybody loves a good bargain and coupons can help make your products even more irresistible. Social media comes in handy again when it comes to coupon codes because it helps attract more people at once.

Coupon codes are a proven effective incentive to get customers to buy your products. It's hard to resist a coupon, especially when it's for a great product. Offering coupons also works to get people to browse and try out various products that you have.

 

8. Health and safety giveaways

Giveaways are also a place to embrace your community mindedness and help care for the health and wellness of your customers. Put your brand name and logo on mini hand sanitizer bottles, lotions, or individual first aid kits to help encourage your customers to be safe and healthy.

These are another great essential item to make a functional giveaway  your consumers will use constantly. It’s important to remember the health of your customers and this type of giveaway makes it simple to show your support to keeping them safe.

 

9. Go for a grand prize giveaways

Grand Prize. This term can pull people in and have them participating in all kinds of contests so they can win the big prize. Planning a well thought out grand prize to give away is a smart way to get more people involved. You can lead up to the grand prize with smaller prizes along the way to add to the excitement and make it even more interactive.

Multiple prizes will allow the grand prize winner to feel even better about winning the big prize over the smaller ones and it will continue to generate hype around your brand and products. 

Grand prize contests also help to stir up curiosity among your customers because it will have them wondering what and when the next big prize contest will be.

 

10. Gift card giveaway prizes

Gift cards are quick, easy, and something that continues to be a popular prize giveaway. These are very helpful when it comes to boosting your sales and you can easily get a lot of them to giveaway at once.

When people enter your gift card giveaways, it gives you an opportunity to see what interest customers have in your products. This can go a long way to helping you keep your products up to date and in line with what your customers want and need.

 

11. Giveaway events

Galas, picnics, carnivals, sporting events, all of these are great places to giveaway your custom promotional products. It’s simple to have a company table at an event as a sponsor. You could also host a picnic or family fun day to give your customers a fun day out while exposing them to your brand’s products.

Formal events like galas will help you say thank you to your consumers and donors or business partners. Think about having small giveaways for everyone as a thank you and drawing a ticket for a grand prize at the event. This will add a bit of extra excitement to the event and keep everyone interested at the prospect of winning something.

 

12. Make it a surprise

Surprise! It’s giveaway time! Doing random giveaways as a surprise can be a good way to get customers engaged on a whim. Think of doing your surprise giveaways mid-week or not around common times (holidays, weekends, etc.) to keep it more unpredictable.

You could giveaway a product or offer a surprise discount for the day on services. It’s up to you; just make it fun and something your customers will truly enjoy!

 

Conclusion

The reach of social media can really play to your advantage when it comes to reaching people with giveaways. Just remember to make your giveaways fun, interactive, and functional to help get more people interested in what your brand has to offer.

With all of these giveaway ideas for businesses, finding something to get consumers to engage with your brand is easier than ever.  These giveaway options are sure to work to get your brand recognized among customers and keep them coming back time and time again.

So, there’s just one question. Which giveaway idea will you try as part of your next strategy?