Stir up traffic into your business with a free giveaway.  

Using a FREE promotion is a great way to get people to buy other things. Simply using the word FREE attracts the eye and piques curiosity. People will read your message!

Giving away something of value as a bonus for buying something else at regular price really works. Execute this tactic and gain new customers, create traffic, attract sales and entice people to try new items or services.  

Some ideas:

• FREE Dessert with entree. Many people may never order dessert either because they don’t want to spend the money or they don’t care to over-eat. Giving a free dessert gets them to try something they may not ordinarily get. This opens the possibility they may like the dessert enough to order it and pay for it next time. For regular dessert-eaters, this just may be the tipping point which gets them to come to your place instead of your competitor tonight.  This idea may applied in lots of other ways. Use your imagination.
• FREE GIFT CARD. Lets say you’re in the clothing or shoe business, for example. A coupon entitled, “FREE $20 GIFT CARD” is a great attraction. No-strings attached or a very low minimum purchase requirement will help boost response. Yes. Some people will buy the minimum but some of them may just have discovered you for the first time and others will buy plenty more.  Another gift card idea is to give one to a customer AFTER they just bought something from you. This gift card should give them an incentive to come back soon.  This is called “bounceback” marketing and will be the subject of a future post.
• FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE: This is really attractive. The idea of getting a gift is a great incentive. You see mail-order office products companies doing this all the time. Have you ever ordered some office supplies because you wanted the chocolate ship cookies or jar of jelly beans they were giving away? When you did this, chances are strong you didn’t go to great lengths to compare prices.  Great giveaway items are things you already sell but aren’t very-well known. Perhaps getting these things into peoples hands will turn them into paying customers for them later.  Buy company-printed shirts or hats for your employees? These make great giveaways. People love ’em and they’re surely be glad to have yours. When they wear it, they’re instantly advertising for you and a walking testimonial.

Watch how other businesses are using FREE in their marketing. Incorporate ideas you see outside what’s typical in your industry. That’ll help you stand out. Use imagination.

****Here’s a couple very important points to remember when rolling our your FREE promotion:

1. Don’t give away something free that no one wants at regular price. If it’s a dud, it’ll have zero, or close to zero attraction as a FREE giveaway and won’t give your promotion the results you’re looking for.

2. Use the word FREE liberally but DON’T use it in the subject line of your emails! Many email spam filters will block emails having the word FREE in the subject line.

I’m Andrew Mazer, creator of moderncoupon.com, the 21st Century-Style Small Business Marketing System. To get your small business discovered by more people, you’ve got to have an online marketing strategy. Mine works for you all year for about the price of a cup of coffee a day. Contact me at info@moderncoupon.com.  

If you’re already a client, I thank you and ask that you pass this along to someone else you know in business who may benefit from it.  Thanks!