How to Succeed in Giving Away Product at Promotional Events to Bloggers or Celebrities

In the last few months I’ve been to a few outstanding private blogger events.  Usually I’m on the marketing side where I’m trying to figure out how to capture the attention of women business owners but this time I was being marketed to so I was able to think about how I responded to the various marketing messages and analyze what worked for me and what didn’t. This was a great experience because now when I do my own giveaways for my business, I hope I will be able to think about these lessons. I’d love to hear your input as well…

Here’s what works (for me) with giveaways at events:

• Try before you buy rocks. We all love this… that’s why dressing rooms and return policies are awesome… but this is especially true with beauty products. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to try a certain skin care line or make up product and if there was a sample product at the spa, salon, department store (or in the swag bag) then I was suddenly giddy with delight because I could experience it before making a commitment. M2 Skincare was a new product I received to try and while I’m a bit of a skincare snob, their marketing message and packaging appealed to me and I wanted to try their product and see what all the fuss was about. Now after 2 weeks I find myself reaching for their product over my French skincare line that I’ve used for years.

• Beautiful packaging sells, every single time. I love how when something is artfully wrapped and presented it makes the recipient feel special.  Ribbon, tissue, stickers, silk flowers, all good! Especially if you’re targeting women, we eat this stuff up… the prettier the better. BTW, I don’t care if it’s a freebie Harmon’s “go green” grocery reuseable bag, embellish it with pretty ribbons and it’s suddenly not the same bag I can get at the store (thx April Atwater from Sweet Life in the Valley).  Especially if your product is being given with multiple other products it’s important to give it with style.

• Tell me why and how to use the product. It might seem simple to you, but I want to know what to do with your product, why you think it’s unique and what press you’ve received about it.  Celebrity Make up Artist Starley Murray recently gave away some beautiful cosmetics at our Startup Princess Academy and included a color copy of an editorial that explained a lipstick application tip and so it first validated that she’d been in a major fashion magazine and second told me something new of how I can use her expertise and lipstick in a new way.  I kept the editorial copy in my make up drawer as a reminder and also continued to think of Starley when I used her make up.  Another example was doTerra essential oils, they provided a lovely introductory sample kit and marketing materials that told exactly what to do with the oils to have the maximum benefit, plus a personal letter from the sponsor

• Please Share your Contact Information. I can’t emphasize this enough, but if I love your product I want to write about it  and I don’t want to have to contact the organizer of the event to reach you if I have questions, comments, or want to get photos, etc.  It’s clear that if you’re giving away product you want to reach out, so please don’t be private about contact info.  I want to know who to talk to, who to link to, etc.  I loved that the ShirleyJ specialty foods company added a “contact us” card with their product and details for connecting via email, blog, twitter, facebook, flickr and website.

• Give Something Unexpected, (not necessarily expensive). I was pleasantly surprised when I received a package from Overstock.com with a pretty strand of freshwater pearls inside. It reminded me that Overstock IS a great source for jewelry and it was nice to get a gift certificate for free shipping for my next order as well.  At another event I was grateful to try The Chocolate treats and be given permission to try a sliver of every single variety cake (if I wanted to), I felt like a little girl, so fun and of course, delicious.  I also loved that she had pre-wrapped cookies for us to take home to share with a loved one.

• Create Opportunities to Connect or Reach Out to the Readers of My Community Here’s another added touch that shows when the company understands bloggers- offer to do a giveaway of a similar (or even more cool product) for their readers.  Cherish Bound and Timpanogos Storytelling Festival recently did this approach, they identified a handful of bloggers whose demographic matched theirs and offered to do an additonal giveaway with them (check it out @ Petit Elefant)

What has been your experience with receiving swag or product and what makes a successful campaign?  Also on the other end, what makes the return of gifting product worthwhile to your company?