By Allison Howen & Derek Schou,
Website Magazine Associate Editors
Giveaways have risen as one of the most effective ways for businesses to stand out in social media's crowded newsfeeds, as well as foster consumer engagement with their brands.
Amazon has taken notice, and is unveiling a new offering to help businesses create their very own giveaways. The self-service tool, dubbed Amazon Giveaway, enables anyone from authors and non-profits to brands and bloggers to leverage Amazon's tool for creating and hosting their own giveaway to generate awareness for their brand and reward their audiences.
"The idea of running giveaway promotions is easy," said Steve Shure, vice president consumer marketing at Amazon. "They are a really effective way to attract attention and build engagement, but giveaways often come with hidden costs and complexities which makes the reality of running one hard. Amazon Giveaway is the first self-service tool that takes care of all the hard work of a giveaway, from setting up all of the rules to shipping prizes directly to winners."
Although the tool is pretty straight-forward to use, it is important for businesses to know all the facts before running their first promotion. Discover all you need to know about this handy new tool by checking out five Amazon Giveaway facts below:
Those who would like to become a giveaway host must first select a prize, which can be done on Amazon.com.
Users simply need to find an eligible product, which will display a "Setup an Amazon Giveaway" section near the bottom of the product detail page. From there, users can set up the giveaway details and include custom content for their promotion.
Amazon Giveaway currently supports two types of giveaway models.
The first giveaway type is a first-come, first-serve model, in which prizes are awarded to the first set number of eligible entrants. This type of giveaway encourages consumers to respond quickly, as the giveaway ends when all prized are claimed.
On the other hand, the second giveaway type awards prizes to "lucky number" entrants. With this model, the host can select a lucky number, such as three, and the promotion will award the giveaway prize to every third entrant until all prizes are claimed. This model will likely last longer and generate more awareness for brands.
(It is important to note that hosts select their model type during the giveaway setup, and can reward as many as 50 prizes per giveaway with a total value of up to $5,000.)
For brands, one of the best features of Amazon Giveaway is the fact that users can require entrants to follow their Twitter handle. This feature is particularly helpful for the lucky number giveaway model, as it can help brands not only generate awareness on the social network, but also grow their social following.
Perhaps the best thing about Amazon Giveaway is that it is free. In fact, hosts are only required to purchase the prizes at the price on Amazon.com, as well as pay for sales tax and shipping to winners.
Hosts should keep in mind, however, that since the locations of the winners are not known during the giveaway setup, hosts are charged an "estimated amount" to cover sales tax and shipping. That said, hosts are refunded any excess after the giveaway ends. Plus, if prizes are unclaimed when the giveaway ends, the prizes will be returned with that money being included in the host's refund.
Once the setup of a giveaway is complete, hosts will receive a unique link that they can share with their audiences. This link can be promoted in social media, email, on blogs and websites, on posters, as a QR code and even in text messages.
Also, Amazon has taken steps to prevent consumers from entering giveaways more than once, as the company only allows one entry per Amazon.com account and one per Twitter account in cases where consumers are required to follow a brand to enter.
First GIVEAWAY Beats by Dre (headphones) Enter for a chance to win! https://t.co/5dwsPh6qiN Follow + RT - Ends Feb. 17th #amazongiveaway - Shout (@shouttheapp) February 10, 2015