Free Photo Scanning Leads to Social Media Raves, Says ScanMyPhotos.com

How to give away your products and services to publicize your company and gain new customers without cheapening your brand

While everyone savors getting something for nothing and without gimmicks, ScanMyPhotos.com converts 100 photos to DVD for free as a new promotion. The 22-year-old photo scanning pioneer understands the skillful balance between cheapening its brand and smart promoting to effectively use social media to publicize its business.
 

“Do it right and the free products will translate into new, raving fans and eventually, loyal paying customers, says Mitch Goldstone, President & CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com.
 

Most businesses often shy away from not charging a fee when trying to find new ways to create social media buzz for their products and services. Goldstone said, “We all want to try out a new product with as little money out of pocket and as effortlessly as possible, without gimmicks.”
 

Smart companies must think like consumers and give away something of real value to show people how formidable and unique their business is. Make the offer easy to understand and “wow” everyone with an extraordinary experience. If handled correctly, those freebie clients will translate into paying customers and “word-of-mouth” supporters.
 

“Word-of-mouth” marketing is how consumers quickly hear about new trends. Businesses should tap into relevant websites where their customers exchange online feedback and information about their shopping experiences.
 

Where can businesses find these “word-of-mouth” channels? Regularly survey highly trafficked blogs, social networking sites and comment lists to engage people in conversation. Create Google Alerts for keywords on related subjects, while monitoring industry specific news and trends.
 

In order for a company’s product or service to be spread virally there are certain strategies that should be followed. A business should offer relevant advice, solutions, comments and offer something of value in a unique way. A viral, free promotion should also easily transfer from person to person through text and images. Timely, relevant, solution-oriented free promotions that are simple and clearly defined have better odds of spreading on the Internet.
 

One company offering free trials is ScanMyPhotos.com, an international photo scanning business headquartered in Irvine, California. Their promotion offers up to 100 free photo scans to DVD at no charge (pay $6.95 for return S/H). This encourages people to try them out and sample their fast and affordable photo digitization services. Sharing the deal on Facebook and Twitter [@ScanMyPhotos] helps the free scanning deal go viral. The ordering instructions are simple. Customers are given a choice between mailing in their photos and making a reservation for local drop off orders. This is an easily transferrable promotion so people can share Tweets and Facebook posts about their experience while including a sample of their newly digitized photo memories.
 

“Always use your top selling product and offer a free trial, which for ScanMyPhotos.com draws attention to its website for an easy way to share and digitally view analog photo snapshots in today’s all-digital world,” said company president & CEO, Mitch Goldstone.
 

Take cues from ScanMyPhotos.com to create your own unique promotion to gain publicity and new customers. People want free stuff and if their first introduction was inviting, they eagerly return as paying customers which improves sales and builds a stronger brand reputation.