Amazon has just announced the launch of a new tool that can add fun and excitement for marketing your brand. Promoted as “the first self-service giveaway tool,” Amazon Giveaway allows you to easily offer a prize that your customers and prospects can enter to win in just a few steps.
Step 1: Create an Amazon Account – If you do not already have a user account on Amazon, you will need to create one. If you already have a user account, the only requirements are that your account is in good standing with a valid credit card attached.
Step 2: Select A Prize – Amazon has identified millions of items in its inventory that are eligible for giveaway prizes. Items that are eligible have a “Setup an Amazon Giveaway” section on their product detail page. Tip: To more quickly find qualified prizes, filter products by Seller, selecting only those products sold by Amazon.com. Once you have identified an eligible prize that will appeal to your target audience, click the Set up a giveaway button.
Step 3: Enter Details – There are two easy steps in the Amazon Giveaway setup wizard. The first is to enter details. In this step, you will need to decide how many prizes you would like to purchase to give away and how you would like to select your winners. There are two types of giveaways – Lucky Number or First-come, First-served.
• Lucky Number – This entry method will allow your contest to last longer and have more entrants. If you choose to give away ten prizes, for example, you can select to have every 100th entrant win until all ten prizes are claimed. Amazon suggests using this giveaway type if your goal is to grow fans or followers.
• First-come, First-served – This entry method awards your prizes to the first entrants. In our example, if giving away ten prizes, the first 10 to enter the contest would be winners. This giveaway type creates a sense of urgency and rewards those followers who engage when the contest launches.
You also have the option to require entrants to follow your brand on Twitter or have no additional requirements. If your goal in this marketing campaign is to grow your audience, be sure to require entrants to follow you on Twitter.
Step 4: Design Your Giveaway – In step two of the setup wizard, Amazon allows you to customize your giveaway by entering your giveaway title, welcome message, message for winners and message for entrants who do not win. You can upload your company logo or image to personalize your campaign further.
Step 5: Checkout – Finally, you simply need to check out. Your credit card will be charged for the total of your prizes, as well as estimated shipping costs. Your total will be adjusted for actual shipping charges once the shipping location for actual winners is known. If, for any reason, all prizes are not claimed, your card will be credited for prizes not shipped.
Amazon then takes care of the rest including notifying winners, fulfilling prizes, maintaining compliance with local laws and regulations and handling any income tax reporting. You pay for nothing more than the cost of your prizes and shipping charges. You will receive via e-mail a link to your Amazon Giveaway. Post this link on all of your social marketing channels, on your company website, and any other places where your customers and prospects can find and enter.
This sounds like something MWW PR & The Red Consultancy – PR firms that work with Amazon can make a lot of PR noise with.