Web Site Promotion

Why Use Giveaways and Contests

You can use a specific grass-roots marketing technique: give products away in high-traffic regions of the Internet. Let's say, for instance, that you are Mr. Acme Rocket. You have a good idea of what Web sites are of interest to you; the model-rocket-related Web sites. You may also have found a number of discussion groups related to model rocketry, and perhaps some e-mail newsletters.

Find the Busiest Sites

Now, the next step is to pick which of these are getting a lot of traffic. That's not always easy -- you have to take an educated guess. Is this a site (newsgroup, newsletter) that people talk about a lot and refer other people to? Is it a Web site that is obviously very well designed, with really useful resources for model-rocket hobbyists? The sort of site that requires a lot of time and energy, and perhaps even money? It's generally not hard to figure out the busiest sites.

Next, contact the site owners, the discussion-group moderators, the newsletter editors, and suggest a giveaway. The principle is simple. You offer to give away a number of your products -- a few of your mid-level rocket kits, and perhaps one of your top-of-the-line products as a grand prize. You might hold a contest for one particular Web site, discussion group, or newsletter, if it's big enough to warrant that, or perhaps combine a few together into one contest.

You'll set up a form at your Web site, in which entrants can provide their information: at a minimum their e-mail addresses, perhaps also their names and some sort or survey information that you may find useful. (But don't overdo things; if you make it too difficult to enter, you won't get many entrants.)

What's In It For You?

The Web sites, discussion groups, and newsletters can now publicize the giveaway. Why would they care? It adds value to them, of course. You'll find that many people are quite happy to be involved in such an arrangement; they like to be able to tell their visitors or subscribers about such offers (especially if it's an exclusive).

What's in it for you? First, you get mentioned in these places; it's low-cost advertising. Not only will you get mentioned in the places publicizing the giveaway, but you may even find that Web site owners go to other places and say, "come to my site -- we're giving away stuff."

Secondly, you get people to visit your site. You need to set up the entry form so that visitors can also see links enticing them further into your Web site. That shouldn't be hard. If they're interested enough to be at the other site, in the discussion group, or reading the newsletter, and if they're interested enough to enter your contest, then they're "well qualified," to use a sales term. That is, these are people you can be fairly sure are interested in your products.

Finally, here's another benefit. On your entry form you'll have a couple of option buttons, with the label, "Would you like to receive the Internet's best Acme Rocket newsletter free every couple of weeks?" or something similar. You should set the option buttons so that the Yes button is already selected. The entrants can change the button to No if they wish, and some will, but probably not many.