Mitch Aunger is the real deal when it comes to generating leads with viral marketing.
A sneak peek of his achievements:
- 257,087 leads gathered for himself over a 4-year period
- Up to 75,000 additional leads gathered for clients across different niches
- The best result he got was 52,000 leads from one single campaign
If you don’t know who Mitch is…
He’s been an UpViral user since we started. PLUS he’s always actively helping fellow UpViral users inside our Facebook group with the techniques he learned over the years.
Mitch owns the agency Giveaway Rocket where you can hire him to help you run viral campaigns. Mitch, you’re a gem. 💎 It comes as no surprise that people are eager to know how you do what you do.
That is why when Mitch reached a milestone of 257,087 leads (in his own campaigns), we thought — it’s a perfect time to reach out, pick his brain, and learn how he did it.
Whether you’re new to UpViral and lead generation or need help with improving your campaigns, this 45-minute video interview with Mitch is worth every second.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of everything we talked about in the video.
You might think that Mitch achieved hundreds of thousands of leads overnight.
But he will tell you one thing for sure: He did it over time while making some mistakes along the way and learning from them.
The effort paid off.
- Mitch was able to keep track of 43 campaigns — that’s how many he’s created only for himself.
- When it comes to working with clients, Mitch helped out with about 70 campaigns.
- He advised 20-30 clients who did the campaigns on their own.
- The least number of leads he got in a campaign was 60.
- The best result he got was 52,000 leads in a campaign.
Not One, But Many Campaigns Across Different Niches
So we asked Mitch about the niches in which he did UpViral campaigns.
Mitch shared that when he first started, he did campaigns mainly for camera gear. (He used to run a photography and video blog.) Eventually, he realized that he could also do it for different niches.
We think that Mitch’s experience running contests in different niches is a huge eye-opener, especially for those who are still wondering whether the strategy is good for growing their business leads.
(Here’s a key tip from UpViral: It’s also important that your niche is socially acceptable to talk about in public so that people will feel comfortable sharing it!)
We asked Mitch if he has a niche that he really enjoys doing contests for. He told us there is none in particular but emphasizes that the most challenging campaigns are those where his clients do not have a well-defined strategy yet.
As he puts it, “Businesses that aren’t quite focused yet and don’t know some of the basics.”
When it comes to Business-to-business (B2B) versus Business-to-consumer (B2C) models, Mitch mentioned that B2B models are the most challenging for contests.
He said that a B2B business should start promoting to people who already know, like, and trust them — rather than simply putting something out and hoping that every individual who sees their campaign spreads the word about it.
Mitch’s A-Game List for Setting Up a Campaign
Contests should not be seen as a one-off event. To make the most out of a contest, you need to think in terms of their impact on your business.
Sure, everyone has their own go-to strategy for running contests. But let us tell you what Mitch does to execute his campaigns successfully:
#1: Planning is the key.
Can you imagine launching a contest or giveaway without a clear plan? It’s like going on a trip without a map. You could end up in the wrong places.
Mitch is a big believer in having a solid plan. He encourages you to think about these things: (1) What best assets you have, and (2) Where your future direction is.
#2: Use a three-pronged approach.
Let’s be real honest:
In a contest, it’s easier to get people to sign-up for your offer, especially if these people already know, like, and trust you. The challenge is getting them to spread the word about it.
Why? Because sharing their campaign means inviting more people into it… which would increase the competition and decrease their chances of winning. (At least that’s what’s on their minds.)
To overcome this objection, Mitch uses his “three-pronged approach.”
Here’s what this approach is about: You offer 3 prizes instead of just 1 (which people running contests typically do).
- Prize 1 – Random draw. Everybody has an equal chance to win when they sign-up.
- Prize 2 – The person with the most points wins.
- Prize 3 – The person who refers their friend can win if their friend wins.
Let us explain each.
Prize 1 is what gets people to sign-up for the contest because whether they have many friends on social media or not, they know that they can still win the prize.
Prizes 2 and 3 are the ones that get the sharing going.
Because now, people with a huge social media following know that by referring others, they can gain extra points. (Prize 2)
And if they don’t, the act of simply referring someone will also increase their chances of winning. If their friend wins, they win too. (Prize 3)
We think that this is a super smart strategy because it basically takes away roadblocks that keep people from actively participating.
For those who are wondering whether we have other successful UpViral users who gave away 3 rewards, yes we do. For example:
- Rachel Ollen, in her toddler giveaway, offered 3 instant rewards to be unlocked along the way, before they could win her ultimate prize pack. She collected 4,500+ leads in two weeks. Read the full case study.
- Dave Statler did a children’s storybook giveaway for a company where he generated 7,878 total leads and achieved social media growth. Read the full case study.
While giving away 3 prizes is an amazing strategy, we also realize that some people get turned off by the idea because it could mean spending more money.
Mitch said that in most cases, people don’t need to spend a ton of money. “I know people who are bringing in high-quality leads with a $97 prize. It doesn’t have to be expensive especially on your second or third try.”
He also said that your 3 prizes do not necessarily have to be of equal value.
One of his clients, for example, gave away 6 months worth of membership of nutrition bars for the first prize. For the second and third prize, the winners got 3 months of nutrition bars. This client had generated 7,800 leads.
The Top Mistake Mitch Made When He First Got Started
Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s normal for a campaign to not work the way you expect it to work at the first try.
We asked Mitch what his top mistake was, and here’s what he told us:
Offering something that doesn’t resonate with your target audience.
Sure, giving away a generic iPad or iPhone sounds like a great idea because these items are highly popular. People already know, like, and trust these things. However, they’re not the right prizes for bringing in quality leads.
It’s important to choose a prize that attracts your ideal customers. Mitch also gave us a piece of advice that whatever you’re giving away, make sure that people understand its value. In other words, you need to educate them. Show them how the prize helps them.
Someone in the coaching niche, for example, who intends to give away their own coaching services, will have to explain how the services help people reach their goals. This is especially true since the prize isn’t a physical product. Unless you do some explaining, the value won’t be that clear.
Not-So-Secret Strategies That Lead to Successful Campaigns
There are certain techniques that will make any contest truly successful.
And while we think that these are top secrets, the truth is, they’re the result of hard work and learning over time. Mitch’s years of running viral campaigns taught him that if you do these, amazing things happen.
#1: The 3-prize strategy
“Realistically, nobody really thinks about this when putting together their first campaign… or the second and third.” According to Mitch, when he shares the 3-prize strategy, people are often taken by surprise.
#2: Planning
As Mitch had said previously, planning ahead enables you to create a strategy that will align with your goals. Planning helps you to really understand your audience, pick the right offer, and identify your best assets.
#3: Driving traffic
When it comes to driving traffic to a campaign, Mitch noticed that most people immediately think about Facebook ads. The truth is, there are many other effective ways to bring in more leads which will not cost you a lot of money.
For example, you can post your contest on top 78 contesting websites (for free or a small amount, add it to your email signature (if you have an existing email list), create various social media posts, or publish a blog post about it.
Read more: 11 Ways to Promote a Giveaway
What’s the Biggest Thing You Can Do for Your Campaign?
Mitch told us that the biggest thing you can do is to INVEST IN TIME. This may sound silly to you, but spending more time actually enables you to lay out a solid action plan.
For example, one of Mitch’s clients whom he worked with a few months ago, knew perfectly well who his customer avatar was. He was able to identify basic things such as his ideal customer’s gender, age, and interest.
“Because of that, it was really easy to build a campaign for that, ” said Mitch. He added that once you nail the various aspects of your campaign, you can invest money into it later.
An UpViral case study example:
David Fraser, owner of Bunkie Life, did a 28-day contest using UpViral which got him 34, 297 leads and $300,000 in sales. He spent very little on Facebook ads.
But because David understood his audience deeply, he knew the right words to communicate to them. “He’s learned their language. He knows what floats their boat, and he talks directly to them,” said Mitch about David’s campaign.
This is worth mentioning:
One of the things that David did was that he leveraged UpViral’s Custom Actions feature to get people to take action.
For those who don’t know what this feature does, it allows you to reward your contest participants with a certain number of points for completing an action. For example, subscribing to your YouTube channel, watching your Facebook live stream, following your Instagram page, and more.
Mitch On Split Testing
UpViral allows you to create different versions of your landing page to your visitors, and see which version works best. This is called A/B testing (or split testing).
While Mitch doesn’t do enough of split testing, he said that split testing is something that you need to understand how it works. What Mitch does is that he constantly looks at data while a campaign is running to see how it’s doing rather than wait for a campaign to end and do the checking afterward.
What’s the One Thing People Always Ask Mitch?
We were curious about what most people wanted to know about whenever they approach Mitch for help with their UpViral campaigns.
Mitch gave us a straightforward answer: “How do you make a campaign go viral?”
His response to that question? “Planning.”
You’re probably wondering if Mitch uses a checklist when putting together a giveaway campaign. Yes, he does, and this checklist includes questions about your avatar, the kind of marketing you’ve done before, the rewards you could offer, and more.
If you want to get hold of Mitch’s checklist, feel free to visit his website at giveawayRocket.
What Advice Would Mitch Give to Total Beginners?
Knowing what Mitch knows now, he offers this powerful piece of advice to those who are just getting started: Play the long game.
Mitch uses the magician analogy, explaining to us that someone doesn’t become a magician overnight. Becoming an expert at a skill takes time — something you should be willing to invest in.
He knows that a lot of people, after putting up their first campaign and not getting the results they expected, give up.
Mitch said, “Start slowly, do your first campaign. Throw it out there! Do something simple to get used to the process.” In other words, jump in, fail, and learn from it.
💎 To help you with your learning, UpViral has tons of training inside the dashboard.
What Mitch Says About UpViral
Final Thoughts
We can learn a lot from Mitch’s case study and hopefully, it inspires you to not give up with your UpViral campaigns (or lead generation) if you haven’t started with UpViral yet.
Some key takeaways from his success:
- Be in for the long haul. When you fail the first time, don’t throw in the towel. Be willing to make mistakes and learn from every campaign.
- Understand your target market. Who are most likely to buy your product or service? Creating a detailed customer avatar allows you to speak directly to your audience.
- Use the three-prize strategy. Instead of 1 prize, offer 3 prizes to motivate more people to sign-up for and share your giveaway campaign.
- Don’t limit your traffic source to Facebook ads. There are plenty of other ways to get more people into your campaign without spending a ton of money.
- Just get started. Put something out there. You’ll get nowhere unless you take action.
Mitch, again, congratulations on hitting the 257,087 leads milestone. You’re truly an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs. 💪
What about you? Want to start your own UpViral campaign? Check out UpViral today.
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