How to Plan a Successful Bag Giveaway
Are you looking for an effective way to build brand awareness with customers? A giveaway campaign just be the key. Giveaways are an incredibly powerful tool in reaching new customers, engaging with target audiences and creating a memorable brand experience. However, planning a successful giveaway campaign requires some strategy and planning, part of which is choosing the optimal giveaway item.
Promotional bags are an ideal item for giveaway campaigns due to their low cost, popularity and branding potential. With a large printing surface and endless uses, promotional bags provide the perfect canvas to showcase your messaging and ensure it’s seen time and time again. If that’s not enough motivation, consider this: every time someone uses your bag about town, they become a highly visible, walking endorsement for your product or service. In this post, we share our top tips for planning a successful bag giveaway. Begin by asking yourself the following questions…
How to plan a bag giveaway campaign
1) Determine the goal of the giveaway.
Begin by asking: What is the primary purpose of my campaign? Do you want to build general brand awareness? Introduce a new product or service? Grow your contact list? Increase the number of your social media followers? The goal of your campaign will inform how you plan and execute it. It should also identify who exactly it is you’re trying to reach with the giveaway. Perhaps this is based on factors like age, gender or location. Or it could involve specific behaviours or actions – like family decision-makers shopping at the market or active people heading into a gym.
Clearly articulating your goals will help you set a budget and allocate your resources, from selecting the style and quantity of your bag to identifying the best way to get it into the hands of your customers. Identifying clear goals early on will also help you analyse the success of your campaign for future improvements.
2) Select the right bag.
Your next question is a fun one: What kind of bag will you give away? At Rocket Bags, we have such a wide range of bag styles to choose from (from cooler bags to shoppers and everything in between), that we understand it can feel a bit overwhelming. But since you have a clear goal for you campaign, we can help you narrow your choices down to select the perfect product.
For example, let’s say you want to grow your list of contacts in your database for future communications. You could ask for basic contact information (such as name and email address) in exchange for a free bag. You’ll want your customers to perceive enough value and function in the item to willingly share their information. A tote bag is a perfect choice here. It’s versatile and durable enough that it can be used by nearly everyone. And while it has a high perceived value, it’s also a cost-effective choice to help you stay within budget. For example, our Peru Cotton Tote would make an ideal giveaway bag. It has a large print area, comes in a range of vibrant colours and is available for £1.22 to £1.95 each, depending on quantity ordered. As a bonus, it’s also made from environmentally-friendly, partly-recycled REACH compliant polypropylene.
3) Plan your giveaway.
Your third question is: How will you plan and execute your giveaway campaign? Successful campaigns take a number of forms, from social media contests to more guerilla-style campaigns in which you hand out bags to people in person, perhaps at bustling places within your community like the gym, library or a popular coffee shop. Be sure to reach out to the establishment in advance to seek permission to set up a booth or table or to linger in front of the store.
Many brands host social media campaigns because you can effectively reach a high number of people with very little investment in time and cost. Clever hashtags are a must for this type of campaigns, and you can also include a fillable form to solicit contact information from potential customers. However, with any sort of online campaign, be sure you have a plan and budget for mailing the giveaway bags to people. Will you offer only local shipping? Will people have to pick their bags up from you? What happens if someone from outside the UK requests a bag?
Festivals and events are great settings for a bag giveaway – they’re often highly trafficked and the allure of a “freebie” will help entice people to visit your booth or table. Farmer’s markets are around the corner; consider partnering with other small businesses, farmers and makers to offer your bags at their stand. No matter how you plan your giveaway, be strategic and think about where your audience is likely to work and play – and bring your campaign to them!
4) Promote your giveaway.
Your last question is: How will you promote your giveaway campaign? After all, if people don’t know about it, it will be hard to achieve your goals. Do you intend to run your campaign for a limited time or over the course of a month or an entire year? For an easy lift, promote your giveaway across established channels, like your website, social media handles and newsletter groups – use the same hashtag and special graphics for a clear and consistent presence.
Another way to generate excitement around your campaign is to include a compelling photo of the actual bag you’ll be giving away, like this Shinny Shopper Bag. This bag is from an exciting new line we offer that allows your brand to be seen on every single side of the bag. Talk about great exposure!
In addition, you could reach out to local bloggers or media outlets, or add your campaign to community event boards and listings. And once the campaign is underway, ask people to share their own photos with the bag on social media along with the campaign hashtag.
What other ideas do you have for your bag giveaway campaign? We’d love to hear all about it, and share a few more tips to ensure that you plan and run a succcessful campaign this year. Please get in touch with us today!
