The Anatomy of a Perfect Promotional Giveaway

Loss leaders are when you lose a little money selling or giving away one thing, so you make a lot more money eventually selling something else. They’re an old and common feature of marketing, which you might recognize from things like Black Friday doorbuster sales or that imprinted water bottle your gym gave you for signing up. 

You probably also recognize them from the umpteengozillion “give me your email and I’ll send you a free ebook” offers we see every month. That’s one example, and they’re good ones, and we’ll talk about how to use them well in another article. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about today. 

Today’s loss leader is the promotional giveaway. That’s when you give one (or a few) high-value things away for free to a few lucky participants in a promotion you put on. These have the potential to skyrocket your subscription numbers, boost your social media followings, and ultimately supercharge your sales. If you do it right.

Let’s talk about how to do it right. 

What Kinds of Promotional Giveaways Are There?