Shop Talk: Collaborations + Giveaways

May 7, 2015

Oh, online giveaways and sponsored blog posts! How wonderfully powerful yet confusing these opportunities can be for those of us in online retail! It’s not enough that we have to wonder what to give, but thanks to social media we have to consider how entries will be earned, what social platforms to use, and which opportunities are really worth it. Yikes!

After more than a few giveaways and promotional blog posts under my belt, I thought we all might benefit from talking openly about this fairly new marketing opportunity. From online giveaways to bloggers who want to feature your products, each opportunity has a few things in common that we should always keep in mind. Keep on reading for my best recommendations when approaching new giveaways or blogger collaborations!

b is for bonnie shop talk: a quick guide to online giveaways & collaborations | a series for ladies in online retail | via b is for bonnie design

Know How Much You Can Give

Whether it’s a sponsored blog post or a straight up giveaway, you don’t want to be generous to the point of bankruptcy! Sit down and figure out financially how much product you can offer, and stick with that amount. This may look like being more strategic about which Instagram giveaways you join or bloggers you work with, and that’s okay! Budget out what your giving limits are per quarter, month, or year so you can offer products for cross promotions or collaborations with ease. Once you hit that limit, don’t feel bad about turning down new opportunities. Kindly explain that you’ve reached your giving budget for the month/quarter/year and that you’d love to touch base again in the future for new opportunities. Your fellow shop owners or social media influencers will totally respect that answer, and will secretly be impressed with your forward thinking!

Give Smartly

Whenever you are approached for a blog feature or a giveaway, don’t be afraid to ask for more details about each opportunity. Not only is it important to know who you’re working with, but also what audience your product will be shown to, what the rules for the contest are, and/or what the format of any press (like blog posts) will be. It’s crucial to ensure that you’re sending product to brands and bloggers who will be a good fit for your business, and who will represent your product in the best light possible. There’s also nothing wrong with doing a little research and seeing if their social media following, blog audience and content are in line with your target market and style. There’s nothing more disappointing then offering free product in exchange for exposure, only to discover the giveaway or blog post didn’t come close to reaching your desired audience! Save yourself the heartache and lost money by asking for a press kit from an interested blogger, or asking for social media stats for online giveaways before committing.

Make Expectations Known

Once you know you’re about to work with the perfect blogger or giveaway for your little business, don’t hesitate to make your expectations for this partnership clear! For blog posts, feel free to ask bloggers to include a minimum number of images or specific links back to your shop. If you have any specific context in which you’d like to see your product used, feel free to politely include that request, too! Many bloggers will be happy to incorporate your requests and will appreciate the kind guidance.

For giveaways, be sure you know how entries will be earned, tallied and how and when the winner(s) will be announced. Will you be shipping directly to the winner or will the host handle that? Will you be responsible for sharing images at a specific time and on a specific platform? Keep in mind that if you want to receive something specific out of this arrangement, like more Instagram followers or more website hits, you can discuss including entries that drive traffic to these desired locations as part of the giveaway. It’s much easier to work in these specific requirements in small giveaways, by the way! If you’re participating in a large loop giveaway, then you will most likely need to adhere to whatever rules are already in place by the host(s).

Don’t be shy in making your expectations known whenever you’re giving away a free product or service! Whenever someone is benefiting from your gift, it’s always nice to be able to turn that generosity into a profitable return.

Measure Results

Once you decide to move forward with a partnership or collaboration, keep a close eye on your blog metrics or social media stats before, during and after the giveaway or post goes live. In order to fully understand the reach of this opportunity, it’s important to monitor the number of views, purchases or followers you receive as part of the collaboration. Free websites like Iconosquare.com make it easy to track new Instagram followers, and your website’s built-in stats will enable you to view how many new visitors are checking out your blog as part of a blog feature or giveaway. It’s one thing to monitor how many new visitors or followers you may have, but it’s also crucial to see how many of these new fans are turning into new customers. Utilize the built-in stats features on shop platforms like Shopify, BigCartel and Etsy to see what views and searches are leading to the most sales, and see how this fluctuates during increased traffic due to giveaways or promotions.

Stay True to Your Brand

No matter how sparkly or incredible an opportunity may be, don’t become so starry eyed that you accept a collaboration that is a poor fit for your brand. After months and years of building trust and credibility with your audience, it only takes a few poor decisions to ruin that hard-earned respect. Whenever you are approached by an interested party, be sure they emulate the kind of experience you’d want your brand to be associated with. Make sure that your audience would also enjoy their content, and that their audience would enjoy your content! The best collaborations are mutually beneficial for all involved, so be sure that each partnership enables both parties to add value to or enhance each audience’s experience.

Examine everything from their brand voice to core values to photo aesthetic to ensure that this potential partnership will only strengthen your brand’s credibility with your ever-growing audience. And remember, there’s no shame is turning down an opportunity that’s a poor fit for your brand! Although it may be disappointing now, it will be doing such great things to protect the integrity of your brand in the long run.

What tips and practices do you lean on during potential giveaway or blogger partnerships? I’d love to hear what methods work well for y’all, friends!

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My name is Bonnie – I’m a brand designer, strategist, and writer which all adds up to one eclectic conglomeration of qualities that enables me to serve you well! Past clients have dubbed me "the Joanna Gaines of brand design," and I've had more than a few call me a dream maker, a game changer, and a design wizard (my Harry Potter-loving heart didn't hate that one, let me tell you!). At the end of the day, I'm a big-hearted creative who will get teary-eyed as you share the heart behind your business; who will lose sleep over the perfect font pairings and color selections to bring your brand to life visually; and who will work tirelessly to empower, encourage, and equip you to share your work with the world intentionally. 

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