A recent question asked: “What are the best giveaways to promote a customer community? (must be under $5)”
This is a crazy question to ask.
Giveaways neither drive people to a site or keep people participating. At best, they can work as a variable reward for really great contributions, but they’re far more likely to be a silly distraction for everyone.
Think about impact here.
Is what you’re planning going to have the biggest long-term impact on the community as it can?
Is it going to affect a lot of people for a long period of time?
Instead of $5 giveaways, start building a comprehensive knowledge base and make it easier to find community answers from the website, FAQ, or help center.
Instead of $5 giveaways, schedule calls with two-dozen members who are drifting away and find out what’s happening and what you can do to bring them back.
Instead of $5 giveaways become familiar with technical SEO and make sure you’re ranking highly in search. Remove the unpopular stuff and merge discussions into definitive resources.
If a $5 giveaway reaches the top of your to-do list, you need a much, much, better list.
