20 Mar 5 Ways to Surprise & Delight Your Audience
Most of us know what a sweepstakes is versus a contest (if not, I’m here to help) but what about surprise & delights? It’s just like it sounds, surprise a fan and they’ll be delighted. Everyone loves a good surprise and fans love it even more when a brand they are devoted to notices them. This is a great option when you don’t have the resources to run a true sweepstakes or contest.
Hashtag Search
This is an easy way for a brand to reach out to people to show them that they are listening and care. Say you are a brand that offers a product that is designed to help new moms, try searching for the hashtag #NewMom or just a key word search on Twitter. You’ll find a plethora of mom’s sharing advice, their struggles, great moment or laughable mistakes. Offer up your product to help, not only will they appreciate you noticing them, the chances of them sharing it with their audience after trial is high helping spread your brands message.
Using Twitter’s advanced search is a great way to narrow down who you are looking for
Pose a Question
One of the best things about a surprise & delight is that it’s not a sweepstakes, you don’t need rules and you can pick whomever you want. In this example, we’ll pretend your company produces headphones. Ask your audience a question related to your headphones that’s engaging such as asking them how they currently cancel out other sounds. Surprise one or two (or a few) fans with a new way to cancel out those pesky outside noises.
Thank Them
Sounds simple, right? Have fans that are clearly your advocates? Why not appreciate them by sending them a small thank you gift (or big one depending on your budget)? Advocates are a great way to continue spreading the word about your brand or product. They already love you and speak highly on your behalf, thank them for it. Reach out, ask for their address and provide them with a token of appreciation. It can be anything from a free product, tee shirt, sticker, etc.
Host Meet Ups
Everyone likes to get together with others that share the same passion as they do for something. Whether it be Jeep vehicle meetups, food tasting events or a party hosted by their favorite brand. Host a pop up party and invite your fans, it’s a great way to show you appreciate them and it’s natural for them to share with their social audience.
Though not everyone enjoyed the takeover in 2014, Whatever, USA was a great buzz generator
Event Based
People attending events normally make sure to pack an extra bag (or leave space) for all the freebies, which is a great way to draw attention to your activation. Another add on would be to do live surprise & delights while attending an event. One idea is having a representative (a mascot would be even better) ask a question to random people perusing your activation. Randomly surprise those with the most creative answer or tie in to your brand with a special gift. It’ll create buzz with attendees conversing over what brands they liked to visit most.
These are just a handful of ideas, depending on the need and the type of brand there are many others that are easy to execute. Need help brainstorming or activating? Reach out to us, it’s what we like to do.
