If your business does any local networking, trade shows, or exhibitions, it's time to start thinking hard about your swag bags for next year. You know you've got to have something to hand to interested attendees to get them to stop by your table, but in the past, what you gave out may have been an after-thought. Like most business owners, you sink a lot of resources into your display, your marketing materials, and your personnel for these events. By the time it comes to filling the bag, you may start contemplating leftover hard candy from the holidays because this element either slipped your mind or you ran out of budgeted funds before you considered swag.
Now is the time to give some thought about the events where your business will have a presence next year - and everything you'll put in that bag for prospects who visit your booth.
The choice of giveaway is important - you need to choose something with relatively high perceived value, low cost, and if possible, something appealing enough to make the difference between people passing your booth by and stopping. But the importance of the choice of giveaway pales in comparison to the strategy behind it.
After the event, people to get back to their home, office, or hotel room, sort through their loot, and then take action. If your giveaway doesn't compel recipients to take the action you wish them to take, you've wasted your time and money. You must plan and include a call to action. That's the best way to nudge your prospects to do what you want them to do next.
Here are some tips on creating a powerful call to action to use with your giveaways:
- Be clear on the benefits of following your call to action.
- Show how you'll solve a problem for your prospects.
- Use action words in your call to action: Visit, Buy, Click, Donate, Claim.
- Tell them to take action immediately by giving your offer an expiration date.
Also, make sure you've defined your follow-up process clearly and that your team is prepared to take your prospects to the next step in the sales funnel when they respond. Always measure your results and analyze how you can improve for the next time. The only way you'll get better results is by measuring, tweaking, and doing it all again. If you do this well, you'll find keeping a packed sales pipeline easy.
