Do you know what most successful giveaways have in common?
People know they exist.
You see, even the best giveaway fails without promotion.
It’s easy to assume that the work is done after you’ve...
Set giveaway goals.
Picked a prize.
Put together your landing and share pages.
But the truth is, it’s just the beginning. ?
If you want to know the best ways to promote a giveaway so you can drive a ton of traffic and get more leads, read this post.
Here’s How to Promote a Giveaway: 11 Tips and Tricks
Excited to get the word out about your campaign? If you are, read on.
1. Email everyone in your subscriber list.
Your email list is a good starting point.
And it doesn’t matter if you’ve only got less than a hundred subscribers.
This method works since you already have an engaged audience.
Here’s how to increase the impact of your email:
Make it sound exciting.
Start with a great subject line! It’s the first thing people see in their inbox.
Check out these email subject examples:
- Want to win [prize]? Enter our giveaway now!
- New Giveaway: Win our [prize] ?
- You’ve got [time] to win this [prize]!
Inside your email, share the details of the giveaway. Focus on how the prize can benefit your audience.
Bonus Material: Our Proven Email Automation Sequences
2. Add it to your email signature.
People tend to overlook the potential of their email signatures to meet their goals. Why not use yours to your advantage?
In your email signature, write a short description of your contest. It could be one to two sentences inviting your audience to participate.
If you have a team, ask your team members to add the same call-to-action in their email signatures.
Here’s an example of how you can do it. See the screenshot below.
(I’ve used a free email generator from mail-signatures.com, but you can definitely choose another one.)
Make sure to track the impact of this strategy. A URL shortener such as Bit.ly will help you track your link clicks.
3. Write a blog post about it.
Do you have a blog section on your website?
If so, blog about your giveaway.
In the introduction, share a story behind your giveaway. That will make it more interesting.
Next, get to the details of your giveaway.
How can people enter?
What’s the main prize? Why will your audience want it?
Speaking of the prize, make sure you include a picture of it.
Don’t forget to share the blog post with your social media followers. That way, you can maximize the reach of your post.
4. Reach out to bloggers.
Sometimes, for your message to spread like wildfire, you need others to help you.
I’m talking about bloggers in your niche. Bloggers with tons of engaged visitors each month.
(However, be careful not to reach out to your direct competitors.)
Once you identify these bloggers, email them and ask if they’d be interested in promoting your giveaway through a guest post.
Here’s an example of a guest post that includes a giveaway announcement:
As you can see, the guest post title has the words “Book Giveaway” to make it clear that readers could join a giveaway from the post.
Jeff Goins, the owner of the blog, starts by introducing his guest blogger Blaine Hogan. Then the guest post starts.
If people read up to the end of Blaine Hogan’s guest post, they will see his giveaway:
Goins mentions the mechanics of the giveaway. He also links to the giveaway prize in case people will want to pay for it instead of joining the giveaway.
Tip: When enlisting the help of another blogger, let the blogger know what’s in it for him too.
Related post: Creating an Influencer Marketing Strategy for Your Giveaway Campaign
5. Create social media posts.
Even if you don’t blog about your giveaway, write a Facebook post about it.Tweet about it.
Pin it to Pinterest.
Share it on Instagram.
Go the extra mile by creating exceptional graphics or videos that feature the prize.
Here’s an example of an Instagram post where Max Rhymes, one of our UpViral users, posted about their giveaway:
(We wrote an in-depth case study on how Max Rhymes got +7,800 leads from their giveaway. Here’s the link to it if you’re interested!)
6. Post it on contest promotion websites.
There are websites where you can submit your giveaway to for free or a minimum price. People who love entering giveaways often visit these sites.
Here are some of them:
- GiveawayFrenzy.com
- GiveawayJunkie.com
- SweetiesSweeps.com
Get the complete list: 100 websites to submit and promote Online Contests
7. Use hashtags for your social media posts.
Should you use hashtags to promote a giveaway?
Answer: Yes. Absolutely.
Hashtags increase the visibility of your social media posts. People are more likely to find your post if you include hashtags.
If you’ll be using hashtags to give your campaign a boost, here are some helpful tips:
Use relevant hashtags - Choose hashtags that are related to your campaign. Don’t add random hashtags for the sake of having them.
Use popular hashtags - Popular, non-branded hashtags can be seen by people who may not have a real interest in your business. But if you’re still new in your niche, generic but relevant hashtags will surely increase your giveaway audience.
(We took a screenshot of one of Crafts Beautiful’s giveaway. Notice their use of hashtags. They’re generic words but related to the giveaway and niche.)
Try a campaign-specific hashtag - Inject personality into your campaign by assigning a unique hashtag to it. #KnowYourLemons was one of the most popular campaigns. It raised awareness of breast cancer. #WeAccept by Airbnb was another campaign that went viral.
8. Mention it in your podcast.
If you also do podcasting, why not mention it in one of your episodes?
Talk briefly about the giveaway at the start of the episode so your listeners don’t miss it.
Give people instructions on how they can join the giveaway. You can do it using any or all of the following ways:
- Spell out the URL of your giveaway landing page.
- Tell your listeners that they can access your giveaway page from the link in the episode notes.
9. Create a Facebook ad.
Paying for a giveaway to reach more people may be the last thing on your mind. Aren’t organic Facebook posts enough?
The sad truth is, organic reach on Facebook has declined over the years.
So while posting on Facebook for free helps, you won’t always get massive results. If you’re satisfied with the results of your organic posts, stick with them.
But if you need a higher boost, a highly targeted audience, and better conversions…
Create a Facebook ad.
Below is an example of a company, The Nature Conservancy, that used a Facebook ad to get in front of a bigger contest audience.
The ad links to the landing page (on their website) where people can enter the contest:
10. Embrace offline promotional strategies.
You might be wondering if traditional marketing still matters.
The answer is yes.
Just because you’re doing it offline, doesn’t mean it cannot get you more leads who are interested in your business.
In fact, word-of-mouth marketing is so important. It’s a powerful form of endorsement.
Imagine this:
At the checkout counter, you hand over a flyer to your customers.
In that flyer is your online giveaway where they can win gift cards and discounts. All they need to do is enter their email and share the campaign with their family and friends.
Wouldn’t your flyer get people fired up? ?
You can also display attention-grabbing in-store signages.
How about having your employees wear a custom T-shirt? That’s another creative way to promote a giveaway.
11. Feature it on your website.
Does your website get constant traffic? People who land on your website won’t know about your giveaway unless you tell them.
So go ahead, identify which pages of your site get frequent visits.
Great options include your:
- Home page
- Sidebar
- Testimonials page
- Product page
- Footer section
- At the bottom of your best blog posts
Groove Watersports, an UpViral user, used this as one of their strategies to promote their giveaway.
Here’s a screenshot that shows how they did it.
They displayed their giveaway on different areas of their website. They added a simple button that said, “Join the Giveaway.”
The screenshot above only shows you their home page. But they also took advantage of their team page, website footer, and more.
Over to You
We hope that we gave you enough ideas to promote a giveaway.
The truth is, these are just a few of the many strategies you can use.
The only limit is your imagination. ?
Ready for a successful campaign? Got thoughts you’d like to share?
Leave a comment below.
