How To Create Engaging Promotions For Your Small Business

By John Brackett, founder of Smash Balloon, the world’s leading social media feed plug-ins for WordPress.

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Do you want to create engaging promotions for your small business? Marketers and brand leaders know that a ton of thought goes into planning promotional campaigns, and they don’t always succeed.

There are a few reasons a marketing strategy can fail. In most cases, it boils down to audience engagement. People are interested in interacting with businesses like never before. The internet has made it easy for people to connect with their old favorite companies and find new brands. 

Online business owners are expected to interact with their audience in ways they may never have imagined. As new marketing tools make their way to the digital landscape, we’ve noticed an increased demand for both engagement and personalization from e-commerce customers. 

If you’re not engaging with your audience, there’s a good chance you’re leaving money on the table. Today, I’ll help you improve your marketing campaigns by showing you how to create engaging content across some of the most widely used platforms. 

Let’s get started. 

Host A Social Media Giveaway

Social media is an excellent place to reach your target audience. Over 3.8 billion people use websites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram every month. It’s no surprise that business owners have found several innovative ways to engage with followers using these various sites. 

Online contests are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get your social media audience to interact with your brand. Most people love the opportunity to win something, and your customers are no exception to this rule. 

You can choose what type of product you want to offer during your giveaway. Some businesses use somewhat generic prizes, like Amazon gift cards. Others prefer to put their top-selling product or service up for grabs to the lucky winner. Both are effective at getting more engagement. 

I like using giveaways because you have control over how you use the event to grow. For instance, you could ask subscribers to share your post and tag friends for a chance to win. If you’re interested in growing your email list, invite visitors to subscribe for an additional entry. You can even get event registrations by hosting a social media giveaway. The choice is yours. 

Gamify Your Website

It’s possible to get people interested in your brand by gamifying elements of your website. Games encourage people to stick around, which means there’s a good chance people will browse your product selection, read your content and, of course, participate in the events you’ve created. 

There are a few ways you can add game-like elements to your website. You could do something simple like encourage new visitors to check out your forum and participate in games and trivia with moderators. 

It’s also possible to make your promotions more interactive by gamifying them. For example, if you want to entice visitors into buying something from your website, you could introduce a spin-to-win wheel. Use this opportunity to give people a random chance to win a discount or bonuses with their order. 

You’ll find that when people are caught up in the moment and having fun, they are more likely to have a positive experience on your website. As a result of their experience, they will likely come back for future orders and spend more time engaging with your brand. 

Offer Personalization During The Sign-Up Process

Personalization plays a significant role in engagement. People want to see products, services and content that resonate with their goals and pain points. Instead of showing everyone the same promotions, consider segmenting your leads when they sign up for your email list or site account. 

You can use what you learn to bolster your email marketing strategy and effectively connect with users while they are on your website. The key is to ask users what kind of offers they would like to see when they sign up. 

Include a couple of optional questions on your sign-up form. Use your audience segments to decide what kind of questions you should ask. For instance, the owner of a pet product e-commerce store might ask their new subscribers what kind of pets they own. 

The marketing team can then use that information to send promotions for dog products to pet owners who fit the segment. Use this strategy to speak to the various buyer personas that make up your customer base. 

Over To You

Creating engaging promotions takes time and plenty of patience. If you stick with it, you will see substantial growth, especially if your company is new. You can use the strategies outlined today to reach potential customers on your site, through email and across various social media platforms.