Ask HN: What kind of give aways work best for pre-launch buzz?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2542273

by barryglenn • 15 years ago

15 16 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

On a launch-rock type pre-launch page what types of giveaways work best for encouraging people to share with their friends? I'm building a social site and was offering free dinner anywhere and it didn't move conversions at all.

airzuck• 15 years ago

I had the same problem with an iPad giveaway. Didn't move the needle.

thetrumanshow• 15 years ago

Trendsetter badge.

I would care more about Facebook and Twitter if all my friends could easily tell that I was there long before any of them. The point is, I think early adopters take pride in being the first one in their social group to try something new, and they might invite their friends just so everyone would know they were first.

barryglenn• 15 years ago

good thought, thanks.

abbasmehdi2• 15 years ago

what's the site? would love to see the implementation and hear about the results.:)

zck• 15 years ago

One method that seems to be gaining in popularity is to order the people you let into the site by how many people they invited signed up. So someone who shares your site with their friends gets in before someone who didn't.

Of course, this only works for a site that can let people in at a trickle.

corin_• 15 years ago

The thing with something like a free dinner is that most people's reaction is "I'm unlikely to win" (they're correct), so they're usually not that bothered.

Look for something that all users can get, such as thetrumanshow's suggestion of a "trendsetter badge", or something that a lot of people can get, such as "one out of every ten people to sign up will get a voucher to..."

gallamine• 15 years ago

Personally, I'm always hesitant to promote a product I've never used, especially if I know my promotion is helping me win something. I vote for more, smaller, promos rather than large one. Something like a free sticker that anyone can get seems more accessible.

jacobwyke• 15 years ago

I'm more likely to share if I get early access..so have a signup followed by a "Share with 5 friends to get access first".

triviatise2• 15 years ago

We gave away ipads and got about 150 people for each ipad (i.e. very expensive). One of our customers gave away ebooks and got about 200 users for each ebook, but everyone who entered got one.

Small items that are guaranteed might be a better bet. We are still testing this out. :)

bglenn093• 15 years ago

Good data, thanks. What kind of small items are you using if you don't mind me asking?

triviatise2• 15 years ago

well we dont have anything up right now, but one of our beta customers that we are working on is giving away 250 dog toothbrushes. But they sell dog products.

We are at a conference right now and instead of an ipad we are trying out 40 $10 amazon gift cards.

humj• 15 years ago

A few people here mentioned that their online giveaways didn't convert well. You may think, "who wouldn't try out my cool new app for a chance to win an ipad right?" But consider how this may read to your potential new users, "So they want me to enter my information into an unknown service, without any concrete return? and wait, is this one of those... try out any one of these services for a free ipad scams?"

remember that your potential new users have no idea who you are, and people are still generally suspicious of new things on the internet, and rightfully so.

kongqiu• 15 years ago

We're in the middle of running an iPad giveaway and it's hitting all the targets we set.

Prior to the iPad, we've tested various types of giveaways to incent various actions and found that the best responses came from either big prizes or small, guaranteed prizes. YMMV.

Ask HN: What kind of give aways work best for pre-launch buzz?

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