The power of free is still as strong today as it has ever been, and prized campaigns are versatile tools for customer acquisition and loyalty. But how do they actually convert customers and maximise the ROI of a campaign’s budget? From increasing brand awareness and reach to sourcing high-quality first-party data, here are some of the most advantageous benefits.
Positive Brand Association and Loyalty
Prizes by their very nature are fun and engaging, and people love to feel like they could be rewarded for interaction with their favourite brands. However, rewards and prizes can also help encourage long-term loyalty and emotional connections that transaction-based advertising can’t match. Developing competition websites is a powerful first step that can help associate your business with exciting rewards, while at the same time enhancing the overall brand image.
Increased Brand Awareness and Reach
Brand awareness is one of the most reliable strategies a company has when acquiring new customers. If nobody knows who you are, what you are about and the solutions you offer, then client and customer growth will stagnate. However, among some other powerful methods, campaigns with rewards can help grab the attention and focus of more potential customers. One example is social media sharing, which cuts through marketing noise and expands reach.
Prize-Based Campaigns Boost Conversion Rates
Data from various studies suggest that 81% of consumers are more likely to engage with brands that offer rewards and prizes over those that don’t, helping to optimise your ROI from campaigns. But it doesn’t end there. In comparison to brands that don’t offer incentives to engage, 65% of consumers are also influenced to make a purchase decision that they hadn’t even planned for when offered a prize-based competition, driving home the power of “free”!
High-Quality First-Party Data
It is surprising how much data people will hand over, especially when there is something in it for them. We have all done it, and maybe even regretted it later on, but data is necessary if you are to hand out something for free. Without paying, that is the hand-off. While data is used to send the prize to the right address, it can also be stored (with permission) for further ad campaigns later on, and email addresses and phone numbers can be captured for improved leads.
Immediate Buzz for New Products
Product launches are among the riskiest moves for most companies, especially startups. They can cost a lot to market, and there is no guarantee of a strong ROI. However, you can use prize-based systems to generate buzz for a new product, as users might try something they never usually would. For example, you can offer the chance to win something if a customer tries a free sample of a new product, which can lead to dramatically faster market adoption.
Summary
Positive brand association is just one of the major benefits of using prize-based campaigns as part of an overall strategy for modern consumers. This can also lead to those all-important conversion rates and encourages users to try new products when there is an incentive.