A thoughtful present is always well received. You'll have a hard time finding someone who won't gladly take something for free as long as it's something they genuinely want to get their hands on, but if it is, you shouldn't have much trouble doing so. It should come as no surprise that this implies that gifting is perhaps one of the most powerful methods that can be found in the arsenal of any marketer.
According to the professionals, "when you look at the method of giving, it is easy to see how it works as a sort of marketing." This is one explanation for why charitable giving is effective. "A present is given to satisfy the needs of the receiver”. The person who gets it puts it to good use and expresses gratitude to the person who gave it to them. The recipient starts to think of the provider in positive terms, which helps trust between the two parties grow.
To put it another way, one can do wonders for the reputation of a business by presenting the appropriate presents to the appropriate individuals. You can earn a lot of goodwill with your audience by providing them with what they require or something they want. Not only that, but the mere mention of the chance of receiving a present is enough to cause a shift in the manner in which customers behave.
According to a study, "by providing shoppers a gift, companies obtain hyper-efficient advertising that can impact customer behavior and produce lucrative businesses at a scale we need." The central principle can be readily transposed into the realm of event management. To put it another way, by providing appropriate incentives in the form of gifts, you can encourage a greater number of individuals to attend, so significantly increasing the turnout.
Let's discuss-
What Should You Be Donating to Charity?
Your first order of business is to determine what it is that you should provide for your visitors. After all, it is not sufficient to merely dole out a few arbitrary treats to everyone. A financial conference attendance won't be greatly impacted by offering a discount on farm goods, for instance.
The best kind of gift is the kind that has some sort of practical use. Participants in a conference spend the entire day standing up and traveling to a variety of different panels, which might take several hours. We've discovered that providing a branded care package containing aspirin, patches, a quick snack, a pen, a notebook, and perhaps a USB drive with company data is the greatest way to make a statement.
The key, while working from statements, is to grasp what your visitors will value and that a gift doesn't even have to be that difficult. You may, for instance, provide previous attendees with a discount or distribute download codes for an appropriate eBook or application. Even something as straightforward as providing attendees with free food has the potential to significantly boost attendance at your event.
What Marketing Strategy Should You Use for Your Gifts?
Now we go on to the second step. You've finally decided on a present to give out to the people who will be attending your event. How exactly do you plan to get the word out there?
This step is a lot easier than actually planning your gift-giving campaign. Use the channels you've previously put up to promote the giveaway, such as teasing it on social media, including it in your event's normal marketing campaigns, contacting the appropriate attendees for a special discount, etc.
Make sure that the gifts are not the primary focus of your attention. Your objective here is to provide reasons for people to participate in your event. As a consequence of this, the actual event itself ought to continue to be your primary priority.
What part does your financial plan play in this scenario?
If you intend to provide your guests with a gift of any kind, you must include sufficient funds in your spending plan to cover the cost of the gift. This is something that should be rather obvious. This is essentially unimportant in the context of digital downloads, tweets, shares, etc. The issue starts to become a concern only when you start handing out real-world objects as a reward for good behavior.
The only piece of guidance that we can offer in this regard is to make sure that whatever it is that you are giving away provides enough of a return for you to be able to afford to pay for it and to keep in mind that not all gifts have to be given at a cost to the recipient.
Conclusion:
Everybody appreciates getting free stuff. Gifts and giveaways are a terrific way to motivate greater attendance at your events, so long as the item you give away or give away as a present is something that your visitors would be interested in receiving. The next time you organize a gathering, don't be hesitant to extend a helping hand; you never know what you might get in return.