If you're trying to understand a bit more about how the Printfection platform can tangibly work alongside your business, this is the article for you.
In this article we'll focus on the actual workflow options of how our system can be used to send gifts to your customers, users, and fans. We'll also talk about some of the benefits and limitations of our various campaigns. Helping you to understand the process and what you might want to consider while building your swag workflow.
Planning out your process
First, it's important to narrow down the reason your looking to use promotional products.
What is the ideal outcome you're looking to achieve?
What is the ideal workflow for your business?
Some questions to ask yourself
Here is a list of things we recommend you consider when planning your swag giveaway:
- What is the criteria the recipient must complete in order to get a gift?
There are different reasons you might want to give swag — perhaps you want to say thanks for signing up, or maybe you want to incent them to finish a process? It's good to think about: what do I want to get out of this giveaway? - What are the actions that happen to trigger this gift? I.e. How will this work?
Maybe a user has to log into the application and complete a task, maybe they have to install a piece of software, maybe they need to complete a survey, or flll out an online form. Whatever the action steps are, narrow those down and pick which step should kick off the free gift. - What's the business workflow to execute this?
Do you have a team in place to execute this giveaway manually? Do you want to start small and then expand? Are the numbers too big to do it manually and you want to automate it? Do you have software that can help with that (like Marketo or Pardot)? - What information will you need to have to give this gift?
Determine what information you want, and, what information you need in order to give your recipient a gift. For example, do you have their shirt size or do you need to collect it? Do you have their address? - How do you want to track your success?
After your gifts have been sent, how do you want to see the results? Do you just need to see a report, or do you need to get the data back into your CRM platform?
Start to finish: An example Giveaway workflow
Let's quickly review an example of how this process might work for your business. In this example we'll be using the Printfection Giveaway platform, the Printfection API, and a piece of marketing software (such as Marketo or Pardot).
In this workflow we'll be giving all customers a free gift once they hit their 1st Year Anniversary:
- Build and Style the Giveaway Campaign in Printfection
Inside Printfection you set up a new Giveaway campaign called Customer 1st Year Gifts and add a few items into the campaign that customers can redeem (for example: a beer mug and a coffee tumbler). At this time you'll also configure the look-and-feel of the gift redemption page your customer will see. - Set Up Your Campaign Criteria and Actions
Now, inside your marketing automation software set an action to fire off when the customer's account date crosses over one year. This action should place the customer account on a list called 1st Year Customer Gifts. - Hit Printfection's API to Get a Gift URL
As your customer gets added to the 1st Year Customer Gifts list you will also fire off another action that grabs a new Gift URL from the Printfection Giveaway you set up in Step 1. The Gift URL that is returned from Printfection's API will be stored in a custom field associated with the customer's account called FreeGiftLink. This field will be used later to present the customer with their free gift link. - Create a Custom Email Template
Now, you'll create an email template that your qualifying customers will receive. In this email template will be a paragraph with directions and a FreeGiftLink variable where the link will be populated. The same one we just got in Step 3. - Kick Off a New Customer Email
Now, back on your 1st Year Customer Gifts list set an action to fire off a new email (using your new template) when a customer is added. - Let the Customer Redeem Their Gift
As the email is sent to the customer the FreeGiftLink URL will be automatically added correctly into the template — presenting the customer with a one-time-use URL where they can redeem their free gift. - Track Campaign Success via Reporting
Once your customers have redeemed their free gift you can run a report on the recipients from Printfection's account section.
Other Examples of Swag Gift Campaigns
- Send out fun gifts for the holidays
- Entice new leads to become a customer
- Surprise your business partners with a box of swag
- Give your support team the ability to do a Random Act of Kindness
Logistic and distribution FAQs
Beyond the Giveaway campaign example above, Printfection has a bunch of ways to distribute your swag. Here are answers to some common questions you might have:
Do I need to have my customer's address?
No you don't. Printfection's Giveaway platform will let the customer input their own address when they redeem their gift.
As a bonus, you can export these addresses after the fact if needed.
I have the recipient's address, can I use that?
Sure thing! We just encourage you to make sure you have the right address, some customers prefer to have their swag shipped to a different address than you might have on file.
You can easily import customer information and addresses into our Collection Campaign to send gifts without requiring an address.
Do I need to have my customer's size?
When using our Giveaway campaign the customer will input their size, so you don't have to worry about it. If you are using a Collection campaign you will need their size.
A good solution if you don't want to collect sizes is to offer items that aren't sized, like: mugs, tumblers, bottle openers, hats, etc.
Can I send multiple items to customers?
You can add drop-in items to any Giveaway order. Drop-in items are usually small items (bottle opener, usb drive, sticker, etc) that can be added alongside your primary item.
If you are doing a Drop Ship or Collection order you can add as many items as you'd like, regardless of weight.
Can I run multiple Giveaways at once?
Sure thing — you can create as many campaigns inside Printfection as you want.
Your campaigns will pull from the same central stock of swag while letting you customize each of them individually.