How to: Use giveaways to boost your business

by Mark Nagurski, May 14th, 2008

AdAge points to the raft of big brands using product giveaways and sampling to boost sales. Often considered a poor man’s alternative to mass media advertising, sampling is becoming an increasingly popular driver of traffic and encourages trial.

Sampling is becoming the new medium as megamarketers give away mega amounts of product. Some recent examples:

May 15	McDonald’s will give away 2 million Southern Style chicken biscuits and 6 million Southern Style chicken sandwiches.
May 15	Dunkin’ Donuts will hold its second-annual Iced Coffee Day and expects to give away 4 million cups of coffee.
April 15	Dunkin’ Donuts holds Tax Day promotion and gives away a doughnut with the purchase of a cup of coffee.
April 7	Starbucks holds a tasting of its new blend, Pike Place Roast.
Feb. 28-29	McDonald’s gives away 3 million McSkillet burritos to celebrate Leap Day.
Feb. 26	Dunkin’ Donuts offers 99¢ lattes while Starbucks is closed for barista training.

– From AdAge article

Samples of sampling keep popping up all over the place:

AdAge video
Nationwide ‘tryvertising’ from Springwise
More Springwise
And one more for fun

Needless to say, sampling and freebies can help raise awareness and buzz, and likely lead to knock on sales further down the line. And, of course, if a customer likes a sample they may well become lifelong customers.

Having said that, apart from the more obvious benefits, what can you do to increase the impact of your free sample giveaway?

5 Quick Tips for Getting the Most from Freebies

Make sure to mix your giveaway into your traditional advertising - it’ll increase awareness even further. The same can be done by sending out press releases in advance.
Document the event - pictures of customer queueing up to get free samples will play great on your website or in a further press release
Introduce some form of data capture - it’s a great chance to collect details for followup via email or SMS
Drive traffic to a unique landing page to turn ‘triallers’ into buyers or (at least) subscribers
In either case, use followup offers to keep them coming back for more

Do you know of any creative examples that use sampling?