The best prizes for your instant win or giveaway campaigns are ones that interest your audience. Of course, you also need affordable options. Plus, if you give something away that practically everyone wants, you may end up with a bunch of leads who won’t convert. While this does initially boost your brand awareness, you’ll get better results long term by selecting prizes that closely align with your audience and brand.
Google reports, “Consumer behavior is changing rapidly and unpredictably amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” Brands that pivot and stay in tune with their client’s shifting needs will excite fans with value-added content and relevant prizes.
Generate interest from your target audience by knowing what they want and selecting unique prizes that suit their lifestyle. Explore ways to boost your campaign reach while finding creative prizes to reward new fans and loyal customers.
Discover What Motivates Your Audience
Capture your ideal audience’s attention by looking at ways their needs or habits have shifted. For example, many people are cooking at home more and starting fresh gardens. The rise in remote work led to tons more searches for ways to stay connected, improve home offices, and keep kids busy while parents work.
Changes to demographics: Consider how job loss or a reduction in income affects your audience demographics. Some people are switching occupations or heading back to school.
Changes to psychographics: Look at how lifestyle changes affect routines, habits, and hobbies. Your audience may prioritize new interests during the pandemic.
Ways to Identify Audience Changes
Learn how the pandemic is effecting your audience by conducting research, talking to your teams, and digging into your analytics. Use your data to paint a clear picture of your ideal buyers:
- Leverage surveys, quizzes, and polls to assess customer sentiment and lifestyle changes. Ask questions on social media and via email to find out what challenges your target market faces and identify new interests.
- Talk to your sales and customer support teams. Your employees can share their experiences with what questions or concerns leads and clients have right now.
- Review social media, email, and website data. People may be getting online at different times, searching for new terms on your website, or opening certain types of emails at higher rates.
Pull together this information and use it to inform your buyer personas. It’s also a good idea to revisit your data more frequently, because new problems may arise as states reopen and people adapt to a new normal.
Boost Campaign Reach With Promotional Contests
Design one or more promotional activities to raise product and brand awareness while you generate leads. Keep it simple by choosing audience-appropriate prizes and using a Winner Picker tool.
Additionally, right now certain contest formats are in high demand:
- Instant Win contest campaigns. You control the odds of winning, making this a budget-friendly choice.
- Giveaways. Publish and share your giveaway anywhere. Plus, you can increase engagement by awarding bonus entries for referrals.
- User-generated-content contests. Collect photos, videos, captions, and comments via hashtag or direct submissions.
Put Your User-Generated-Content to Work
Uncertain times lead to a lot of different emotions. People can struggle to trust information online, and communication missteps may reduce confidence in a brand. Help your potential customers feel secure by displaying some user-generated content (UGC). Some great ways to get the most from your UGC photo, video or comment contests and giveaways include:
- Exporting fan comments from your Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube post
- Highlighting photo and video galleries on your website, landing page, or Facebook page tab
- Using customer testimonials in social media posts, videos, and emails
Pick Highly-Relevant Prizes for Your Giveaway
With recent audience research in mind, design updated campaigns to reflect current motivations and shared experiences. You don’t have to spend tons of money to award fans with desired prizes. Take these steps to choose unique rewards:
- Decide on your budget.
- Offer a grand prize or many smaller awards.
- Partner with other businesses to increase the prize value.
- Match your prize to a direct customer need and giveaway theme.
You may purchase the reward online, use your own products, partner with other local brands, or offer a coupon or voucher for your services and products. Based on a thorough review of the top trending categories in Google searches, we’ve chosen a broad range of ideas for your next giveaway. Find the best prizes for your audience by searching through these 31 examples.
Support Sports and Recreation
With summer sports programs canceled, many folks are looking for ways to do what they (and their children) love while staying home. Others are taking full advantage of sports where participants can social distance while having fun. Consider giveaway prizes like:
1. Golf bag accessories
2. Roller skates
Encourage Customer Well-being and Health
Support physical well-being by gifting rewards that encourage healthier lifestyles. Consider doing caregiver-specific contests, essential worker instant win games, and Facebook giveaways that inspire fans to take time for themselves. Select prizes such as:
3. Skincare masks and peels
4. Bath and body gift sets
5. Teeth, nails, or hair care kits
Improve Indoor and Outdoor Spaces
Enhancing indoor and outdoor living spaces is a way that many people are coping with social distancing. Generate interest in your giveaway by choosing prizes that your audience can customize (like a choice of colors for pillows or candles) or use to improve their home spaces (such as a basket for organizing). Ideas include:
6. Porch swing pillows
7. Umbrella, gazebo, and canopy accessories, like lighting, mosquito netting, or table decorations
8. Outdoor lighting prizes such as a pair of lanterns or solar lights
Stay Connected Prizes
Keep it simple and give fans more ways to stay connected. These ideas work great for all demographics, including a family prize. For example, create a greeting card giveaway so young children can send their grandparents, teachers, and daycare workers notes. Plus, many communities give neighbors small gift baskets, so a giveaway that includes unique tags or labels is a great incentive.
9. Greeting and note cards
10. Printable gift tags and labels
Host Small Gatherings at Home
As families get back to hosting small gatherings, it’s possible that restaurants and other entertainment centers may not allow larger groups. Instead, your audience is searching for more ways to host a party in their home. Create a giveaway so fans can win:
11. Party decorations, like streamers or balloon sets
12. Fresh cut flower delivery
13. Bar accessories like ice crushers and shavers
14. Cocktail mixes or a grand prize of a frozen drink maker
15. Party supply kits
Deliver Staycation Supplies
Cities across the United States are keeping public pools and water centers closed. And travel is likely to be down this year, leading many people to recreate fun experiences in their backyards. Help your audience design a meaningful staycation with instant win prizes such as:
16. Children’s outdoor water activities such as slides or pools
17. Pool accessories like floats, lounges, and toys
18. Outdoor games for kids and adults, like big versions of Connect 4 and Yahtzee
19. Sandbox bucket and toy sets
Promote Trending Vacation Styles
Top trends in travel right now include places where social distancing is easier. Think camping, boating, and smaller family-focused trips. Use your research to come up with unique prize ideas that’ll keep your brand in mind while your audience travels. Reward loyal fans with items like:
20. Evaporative coolers
21. Fun boat accessories like tubes or rafts
22. Fishing gear for adults and kids
Celebrate Home Cooking
Although people are anxious to get back into restaurants, they’re also cooking at home more. And it’s not just parents. Younger couples are figuring out how to make their favorite dish at home while sharing a glass of wine virtually with friends. Parents buy extra equipment to replace their favorite take-out family treats like snow cones or slushies. You’ll find tons of prize ideas to suit all types of budgets, such as:
23. Deep fryer and accessories
24. Kitchen utensil sets
25. Tortilla and flatbread makers
26. Mixers and blenders
27. Cookware sets
28. Mixing bowls
Don’t Forget About Pets
It’s not only people who’ve had to forgo hair cuts. More folks are searching for tools to keep their pets clean and trim. As people head back to work, we’re likely to see a rise in dogs missing their work-from-home parents. Give your pet-loving fans a treat with gifts like:
29. Pet fur and nail tools like clippers or trimmers
30. Pet training sprays
31. Anti-anxiety toys for those heading back to work
Get the Best Results With the Right Prizes
By picking prizes that match your ideal audience’s interests, you deliver a great customer experience while narrowing your list to potential leads who care about your products or services. Spend a few extra minutes finding a suitable reward that fits your campaign theme and target market. In return, you’ll get more fans clamoring for your products.
Need Help Choosing a Giveaway or Instant Win for Your Campaign?
Woobox offers a variety of options to fit every budget. Discover new campaigns or get help meeting your goals by reaching out to Woobox support. Our team is available from 8 am to 5 pm PST, Monday through Friday at 1-360-450-5200 and support@woobox.com.
