There’s a ton of work involved in putting together an awesome giveaway. You carefully plan your prize, how people are going to win, the elements that go into your landing page, and how you’ll promote it.
But do you ever stop to think about the giveaway winner announcement?
If you’re not so sure how to notify your contest winners, you’re not alone. This is why we wrote this post — to help you leverage the power of the right giveaway winner announcement message and the channels you should use.
Because doing so will keep your engagement up and even help you reach important goals. Like generating a sale or building anticipation for your next giveaway, for example.Excited to learn more? Read until the end of this guide to discover the best ideas (+ real-life examples from our popular case studies).
5 Ways to Do a Giveaway Winner Announcement
Keep in mind that announcing your winner needs careful planning so it will work to your advantage. Also, every participant deserves to know the results of your campaign — whether they won or lost.
1. Notify the winner by email
Notifying by email is a common yet highly effective way to congratulate a winner. This way, you can reach them directly, be able to write a personalized message, and get a direct response from them. (It’s also a private space where they can comfortably share their address to receive their prize.)
In our recent case study, Siddharth Pal who generated nearly 5,000 leads with an 80% referral rate, revealed the winner via email. He has an important reason for it: To build a positive email sender reputation.
(For those who don’t know, a good email sender reputation boosts the likelihood of your emails reaching your recipient’s inboxes instead of their spam folders.) This was a top priority for Siddharth Pal, especially that he’s leveraging email marketing in his business.
So, what must you include in your winner announcement email?
- Remind them of the giveaway they entered (for easy recall, since it’s possible that they’re also entering other giveaways).
- Ask them where they want their prize to be delivered (if you’re offering a physical prize). This could be their home or office address.
- Ask them to send a photo of themselves with the prize. You can use this as proof of your successful campaign to share on social media.
2. Create a post on social media
If you run your giveaway exclusively on social media, then it would make sense to announce your winner there as well.
You could write an engaging post revealing the winner. Then pair it with a relevant and creative image which you can easily make using Canva.
Alternatively, you could record a video of yourself to connect more personally with your social media followers.
Here’s a giveaway winner announcement sample from Groove Watersports. One of their team members posted a video of himself on Instagram while not disclosing the full names of the winners:
When creating these announcement posts, don’t hesitate to get innovative to gain more traction.
Leverage the “Stories” feature on Instagram and Facebook. Use attention-grabbing words like “GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT.” Add relevant emojis and hashtags. Add a call-to-action at the end to encourage them to leave a comment.
3. Write an article about it
Why blog about the results of your giveaway? Here are three reasons why this works so well:
- Writing a blog post serves as proof of your giveaway campaign. You can also share your lessons, insights, and future goals in that post and inspire readers!
- It creates awareness around your product or service which you give away as the prize. Additionally, it can be used as an extra opportunity to generate sales from non-winners and regular visitors by linking to your product page.
- Blog posts are easy to share. Why not encourage your winners to share your post on their timeline and enjoy the benefit of more brand awareness? This is especially helpful for reaching the connections of your winners who share the same interests.
💎UpViral Tip: Still thinking of running a giveaway? If you use UpViral, you can embed an UpViral widget on your blog page (where you announce your upcoming giveaway). Or simply provide a link to that campaign if you’re not using a widget but instead a landing page type of campaign.
4. Do a live stream
Live streaming on social media strikes a chord that encourages more reactions, comments, and shares from your participants.
Based on the stats, 232 million people in the US watched streaming videos across all devices in 2020 alone. This shows how live streaming has become a popular way of reaching and engaging people in a way that other formats can’t.
You’re likely to get amazing results by doing a giveaway winner announcement Facebook live stream. Take it from Gabe Schillinger of Legion Beats and David Fraser of Bunkie Life. Both of them were so successful at using this strategy that they garnered hundreds to thousands of reactions, comments, and shares.
Have a look at Gabe’s winner announcement live stream here:
If you want to try live streaming for your giveaway campaign, here are tips that will help you succeed:
- Announce the winner selection live streaming event ahead of time. This builds anticipation for your event and reminds your audience to mark their calendars. Send reminders via email or regular social media posts days leading up to that event.
- Do proper planning. You need to think ahead about what you want to achieve from your live event. Aside from announcing the winner, what else can you do to make that event a huge success? (In the next section “Bonus Giveaway Winner Announcement Tips”, we offer 3 cool ideas you can use for your live event.💡)
- Create a recap for those who cannot make it. People can just watch your recording again, in case they missed it, but they’re unlikely to, especially if it’s long. However, you can create a separate post highlighting the important parts of the live stream. For example, if you hosted a sale, then you can mention that in the recap post so they can still make a purchase.
5. Don’t ignore non-winners
Participants who’ve done their best to win but didn’t will feel disappointed. As the giveaway host (and a business owner), make an effort to acknowledge their participation.
Send them a THANK YOU email where you express your appreciation for helping make your giveaway a success. In fact, show that you mean it by offering a special discount on the item you gave away.
If they’re truly interested in your product, they will likely buy it. (Tip: Take note of people who convert — they’re a highly qualified audience. Be sure to nurture them post-campaign and build a relationship).
Bonus Giveaway Winner Announcement Tips
Check out these ideas to take your giveaway winner announcement to the next level:
1. Announce your next giveaway
If you’re looking to do another giveaway for an upcoming holiday or to celebrate your brand’s anniversary, let them know!
Mention it in your emails, social media posts, live stream, and blog posts. Give them a taste of what’s coming to keep them excited and hopeful (especially for non-winners).
2. Surprise everyone with a small incentive for joining
Not everyone may have won, but they don’t have to feel like losers. Make them feel victorious by giving away a consolation prize. After all, your campaign wouldn’t be possible without their effort in referring leads, right?
A great consolation prize could be anything from a discount coupon to a PDF copy of your ebook to a free consultation of your service.
Gisèle Rebel, an UpViral user, shared with us how her client (who owns a BBQ shop) gave away small prizes — a recipe magazine and discount to her shop — to everyone who participated in their giveaway.
Anything works as long as it’s relevant and highly valuable to your target audience!
3. Do a big sale
There’s a high chance of people (non-winners) buying your product anyway at the end of your giveaway — if you’re able to keep them engaged and convinced about your product.
This is why it’s so important to educate your audience throughout the giveaway. Help them appreciate the value that your product brings to their lives or the problems it can solve.
So, go ahead, announce that you’re going to do a big sale. Present it as a time-limited offer to trigger their fear of missing out (FOMO).
Final Thoughts
Your giveaway winner announcement is as important as other aspects of your campaign. It provides you the opportunity to accomplish more goals (more exposure, sales, awareness for your future campaign, and more) when done right.
Hopefully, this post gave you enough ideas to work on! Excited to launch a giveaway soon? Be sure to check out our case studies for more inspiration and when you’re ready, start a 14-day trial today.
.png)