Forget squeezing in one last day at the beach or a leaf-peeping trek, the holidays are nearly upon us. For many companies, the holiday season is more than a time to ramp up marketing efforts – it’s also a time to give a little something back to their communities.
Does your company fit holiday giving into its lineup of annual traditions? Are you looking for a holiday giveaway idea or two to help you grow your audience?
We can help! Even if you already have giving initiatives in place, we’ve got a roundup of new ideas that’ll get you some great PR, and help you do some serious good in your community to boot. We’re calling it the “Giving Giveaway.”
How the Giving Giveaway works
Step 1: Round up a prize or prizes.
Prizes can be either cash or goods – but make sure you’re giving something juicy. The more exciting the prize(s), the better this campaign will work for your business.
Step 2: Round up some interest from local non-profits.
They can be related to your business, or just organizations that are meaningful to you or your employees. In the “Giving Giveaway,” participants vote for the organization they’d like to win your prize.
Here are a few examples of Giving Giveaways – each with its own benefit.
Example 1: A Basic Giving Giveaway
ShortStack’s “Voting Poll” Template was used to build this example. It includes some header text, the vote-able options, and Share icons in the footer. The beauty of this version is its simplicity. The easier a giveaway is to enter, the more participation you’ll get.
Voting Poll Campaign
Example 2: A Giving Giveaway that allows you to collect email addresses
In this example, people submit an entry form before they can cast a vote. ShortStack’s “Vote to Enter” template made building this Giving Giveaway a breeze. The entry form collects entries in a database to use for future marketing. Once the form is submitted successfully, the screen refreshes and the organizations appear. From there, people can vote.
Enter To Vote Campaign
Example 3: A Giving Giveaway that curates a feed from a designated hashtag (or hashtags)
As you can see in the example below, the Charity Hashtag Showdown tallies and displays entries, which creates a powerful visual statement for participating organizations. Although this campaign wasn’t built using a template, ShortStack’s design team can build a custom version just for you.
Hashtag Showdown Campaign
Here’s why the Giving Giveaway is a holiday win-win:
- Socially minded companies get more business. According to Entrepreneur, “Research has proven again and again that being socially conscious can positively impact your business’s bottom line.” And Forbes says that “Forty-two percent of how people feel about a company is based on their perceptions of the firm’s corporate social responsibility practices.”
- The reach of this giveaway is compounded by the number of non-profits you invite to participate. Charitable organizations work hard to cultivate a mass of cheerleaders to help rally for their mission. They’ll undoubtedly be tweeting, sharing and posting to ask their stakeholders to vote for them to win, hence driving (potentially) tens of thousands of new viewers to your brand.
- Giving back feels good. And a Giving Giveaway feels extra, extra good because it drums up excitement and lets you cross “holiday marketing” and “write donation check” off your to do list at the same time.
Non-profits work hard to make our communities better. They can always use a little more help around the holidays. Do some good while getting your business some warm and fuzzy exposure. Ready to try a Giving Giveaway for a holiday marketing win-win?
