Discounts and giveaways have been known to generate engagements – who doesn’t want a chance to win prizes? Of course, throwing giveaways every time is costly and might also show a brand’s lack of creativity and ideas. Here’s our list of three effective marketing strategies that are NOT giveaways.

Marketing strategies that are not giveaways

1. Mascot on the road

Have you heard of Scream VI’s marketing strategy? They put Ghostface, Scream’s iconic character, in various cities in America, even in remote places. This strategy enticed the market to take a picture of Ghostface and share them on the internet. Not just standing still or walking around, Ghostface even interacts with pedestrians. What’s fantastic about this strategy is that Ghostface masks can easily be purchased – meaning the audience can join in on the fun. 

If your brand has an iconic mascot, you can try this strategy. In the era where every phone has a camera, who wouldn’t take a picture of Ronald McDonald crossing the road?

2. Monetize memories

One of the biggest entertainment trends in 2023 is the classic movies reboot. We’ve seen how popular The Addams Family’s “Wednesday” was, the hype surrounding “The First Slam Dunk,” and Scooby Doo’s “Velma.”  Netflix will even soon launch the live-action version of One Piece, one of the most beloved animes globally. No, you don’t have to make a movie – the main point here is to look back in time, identify characters/moments from your target market’s childhood memories, and tap on them. If thousands of people are willing to join a fun run campaign, why not fly kites together in the park?

3. Wrong Answers Only

We’ve stated that giveaways are one of the most engaging marketing strategies – but having too much of it won’t be interesting in the long run. Giveaways hinge on the audience giving a correct answer to get a chance of receiving a prize, which means that after one person gives the right answer, everyone else will copy and paste the answers. Even worse, some people might even spam the comment section! On the surface, this gives a high number of engagements; but is it meaningful engagement?

“Wrong answers only” plays around with this idea. A brand posts a question to the audience, but they are told to answer incorrectly. This encourages people to be creative with their answers. The brand can give prizes to comments with the most engagements. By doing this, brands can minimize spam on their posts and increase real audience engagement!

New brands are constantly popping up, but their marketing activities remain the same. Brands with unique and entertaining activities are much more appreciated by the audience. Radarr’s social listening platform can capture every publicly available brand activity on the internet and provide you with ideas to be implemented in your campaigns!

About the author 

Daffi is the Associate Insights Manager at Radarr. With his background in arts and design, he provides creative yet practical recommendations for brand activities. Lately, he often finds himself amazed at what Radarr captures on its platform – fascinating campaign ideas from all over the globe!