The holidays are right around the corner. And if you want to promote your business, connect with customers and ramp up holiday shopping, one of the best things you can do is host a giveaway. Christmas giveaways are a great way to get your customers into the spirit of the season—and encourage them to shop with your small business for all their holiday needs. Plus, a great giveaway can help keep your small business top-of-mind even after the season is over.
But what kind of giveaway is the right move for your business this holiday season? Let’s take a look at 6 holiday giveaway ideas that will help you spread cheer and drive plenty of holiday sales in the process:
- Give a free gift with every holiday purchase.
- Offer a holiday-themed BOGO promotion.
- Run a “12 Days of Christmas” promotion.
- Host a giveaway on social media.
- Create a holiday giveaway contest.
- Partner with another local business for a holiday giveaway.
1. Give a free gift with every holiday purchase.
During the holiday season, shoppers are out searching for the perfect gift for everyone on their list (’tis the season of giving, after all!).
But because they’re so focused on getting holiday gifts, most people aren’t shopping for themselves in December. So, why not show your customers that they’re on *your* holiday list? Offer them a gift they can enjoy with their purchase—you’ll be treating your customers during a time when they’re unlikely to treat themselves.
A gift with purchase is not only a great way to thank your customers for shopping with you during the holiday season, but it gives them an incentive to shop with your business. And if they don’t want to keep the gift for themselves, they can use it as a stocking stuffer for someone else!
2. Offer a holiday-themed BOGO promotion.
A holiday-themed buy one, get one free promotion (often called “BOGO”) is another great way to incentivize your customers to do their holiday shopping with your business. And as an added bonus, a promo like this can be a great way to get rid of excess inventory. Maybe you have an item that’s not selling as well as you expected and you want to get it off the shelves before the New Year—you could offer it as a BOGO deal during your holiday promotion.
3. Run a ’12 days of Christmas’ promotion.
A 12 Days of Christmas theme is a win-win for you and your customers. You get to stretch out all the fun and business exposure of a holiday giveaway for a full 12 days. Plus, your customers get more chances to cash in on your giveaway…instead of one opportunity to receive a holiday gift or win a prize, they get 12!
There are plenty of 12 Days of Christmas giveaway ideas you could run with. You might give away a different piece of branded merchandise to shoppers each day of the promotion – a tote bag on day 1, a hat on day 2, a water bottle on day 3, etc. Or, you could raffle off a larger prize or gift card each day of the promotion.
Another way to build excitement for your giveaway is to keep each day’s promotion a secret. Unveiling the details of your 12 Days of Christmas promotion in real-time will create a sense of anticipation with your customers. They’ll be sure to tune into your social media channels, visit your business website, or stop by your brick-and-mortar location each day to find out what gift or promotion you’re running—and this increased level of engagement can lead to increased sales.
4. Host a giveaway on social media.
Social media is a great place to advertise your holiday giveaways. But if you’re strategic about your delivery, a giveaway can also be a great way to build your social media following—and increase your audience before the ball drops on December 31.
Choose a high-value item you want to make the center of your holiday giveaway – maybe a gift basket of your best-selling products or a shopping spree at your retail location. Then, host the giveaway on your social media platforms—and use the giveaway to encourage social sharing. For example, let’s say you’re hosting your holiday giveaway on Instagram. You could let your followers know that, for every person they tag in the comments, they’ll get an entry to win the big prize. This can act as an incentive to tag their friends—and the more friends they tag, the more your social media following grows.
5. Create a holiday giveaway contest.
As the name implies, you could just give something away for your holiday giveaway. But you could also make your customers work for it—and turn your holiday giveaway into a holiday giveaway *contest*.
While many December giveaways choose a winner at random or give a small prize to every customer, a holiday giveaway contest adds an extra element of fun and creativity—both for you and your customers.
The theme of your contest can take whatever form you’d like. You could ask your customers to rewrite their favorite holiday jingle with your business as the theme—or you might have a contest to see who can write the most original caption for one of your company’s holiday Facebook photos. Does your business serve a lot of families and children? Offer a festive coloring contest for the kids. As long as the contest is fun and holiday appropriate, it’ll drive engagement with your business throughout the holiday season (and, hopefully, drive sales right along with it).
6. Partner with another local business for a holiday giveaway.
Partnering with another local business is another great way to spread the holiday cheer as far as possible this season. Since both you and your partner business will be advertising your holiday giveaway, you each get exposure to the other person’s audience—which can introduce your business to new people and increase your customer base.
Look for other businesses in your community that would make sense to partner with for a giveaway. Do you own a coffee shop? Partner with a local chocolatier to put together a Christmas morning gift basket, filled with a selection of coffee and chocolate. Or let’s say you own a yoga studio. You might launch a ‘New Year, New You’ giveaway and partner with other local wellness businesses to create a resolution-inspired giveaway package.
Partnering with another local business can add more value to your holiday giveaway and help you get in front of more potential customers. It’s a holiday win-win.
