How to Host a Successful Giveaway on Social Media
Hosting a social media giveaway can be a great way to drive awareness and generate more leads for your business.
In 2021, the number of social media users in the Cayman Islands alone was recorded as over 90% of the overall population. So it makes sense that a social media giveaway is a great opportunity to build brand awareness and build trust with your target audience… when and if it’s done correctly.
Anyone who’s ever tried to run a social media giveaway knows there are a LOT of pitfalls that are easy to get caught in. From spam followers to scam accounts, we’re here to make sure you avoid them!
In this blog post, we will walk you through everything you need to know about hosting a successful and safe giveaway on social media.
How to Host a Successful Giveaway on Social Media
Technically speaking, hosting a social media giveaway is a very simple process. However, there are a lot of finer details to pay attention to in order to make it a successful and safe campaign. So let’s start with the very first step…
Setting a Clear Objective for Your Social Media Giveaway
In order to see a high ROI from your giveaway, it’s incredibly important to set a clear objective and reason for your social media giveaway. The 3 most common objectives for social media giveaways are…
Growing your social media following
Increasing social media engagement
Gathering social proof
Growing Your Social Media Following by Hosting a Giveaway
A giveaway is a great incentive for your target audience to hit that follow button on your social page. If growing your following is your main objective, you can easily write this into the giveaway entry rules and requirements.
But before you go live with your giveaway announcement, you’ll want to…
Choose the platform and audience that you want to grow (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok etc…)
Make sure that you’ve been active on that platform prior to hosting the giveaway
Record the number of followers you currently have (before the giveaway)
Set a goal number of followers you want to reach (after the giveaway)
How to Increase Social Media Engagement by Hosting a Giveaway on Social Media
Because of the way the algorithm works across the majority of social media platforms, the more engagement a post gets, the more the post is seen by more people. Think about it this way - if you post a photo on Instagram, it is first shown to the people you interact with the most on the app. If they respond and engage with the post, Instagram then pushes it to your colder audience. And if your cold audience responds and engages with your post will then be pushed out to audiences who don’t follow you.
In order to track this during your giveaway, you’ll need to…
Choose the platform that you want to increase engagement on
Have a few months of analytics and data recorded prior to the giveaway
Set a goal for the increased percentage you’d like to achieve from the giveaway
How to Gather Social Proof from Your Social Media Giveaway
Out of the 3 objectives, gathering social proof is probably the least common. But if you want to showcase your satisfied customers, hosting a social media giveaway in the form of a contest would be a great option.
By turning your social media giveaway into a contest, you can encourage your audience to post on the social media channel of your choice about their experience with your brand in order to enter the giveaway.
All you need to do is…
Choose the platform that you want your audiences to share their experiences on
Have a clear prompt for your audience to follow (e.g. post a photo of your favorite product, share your experience at our hotel, share your favorite photo from your stay with us, etc…)
Clarify how the winner would be chosen
This is also a great method to encourage user-generated content, which is a great asset to have especially if you’re aiming to market the lifestyle of your brand.
Choosing the Right Social Media Platform
You’ll notice that choosing a platform is the very first step we’ve outlined for each giveaway type above. But we need to address this further if you want to see the most ROI from your giveaway.
While turning to the platform that you’re most comfortable with (or spend the most time on) might feel like the right thing to do, there are a number of considerations that can greatly impact the success of your giveaway.
The first and most important factor would be knowing exactly which platform your target audience is spending the most time on.
For instance, if your target audience is moms, hosting your giveaway on Pinterest might be a great idea. If your target audience happens to be Millennials or Gen Z, then Instagram and TikTok are your best bet. As for Baby Boomers, hosting your giveaway on Facebook would be the way to go.
Knowing which platforms your audience is spending the majority of their time on is the best way to attract their attention.
Finally, don’t forget to review the rules and regulations of your chosen platform when it comes to promotions and giveaways.
Pick the Right Prize
Once you’ve decided on the right objective and platform for your social media giveaway, it’s time to pick the giveaway prize. This is key to gaining massive traction and interest from your audience. Unless the prize is of great interest to your target audience, your giveaway will not produce the type of results you’re hoping for.
For instance, giving away the latest iPhone when you’re a boutique hotel will not make sense. As great as winning a free iPhone might seem it won’t translate to a meaningful connection or long term followers. Instead, giving away a night’s stay or spa experience would be a more aligned prize for your audience.
This is why it’s so important to know who your target audience is and what they find tempting and valuable when it comes to your brand and business.
You’ll want to choose a prize that’s attractive and relevant to your business. And the more valuable the prize is, the more likely your audience will participate.
Map Out Your Giveaway
You should treat your giveaway just like any marketing campaign. This means you’ll want to have…
A clear timeline of events - When will you announce your giveaway? How much time will your audience have to enter your giveaway? When will the giveaway close? When will the winner be selected and notified?
Rules of entry and general guidelines - Who can enter your giveaway? What do they have to do in order to enter? (E.g. follow, post a photo, use a specific hashtag, tag a friend, share the post, etc…)
Advertising and posting schedule - How many times will you be posting and reminding your audience about your ongoing giveaway? (We recommend getting these posts done ahead of time by creating a strategic content calendar.)
Partner With An Aligned Influencer or Brand
One of the most successful ways to host a giveaway is to partner with an aligned brand or local influencer that already connects with your target audience. Just be sure to be selective with who you partner with. Review their account and ask yourself a few questions:
Do they authentically align with your business? (Does it feel like a natural partnership)
Is their following real? (check for bot followers and consistent engagement)
Is their brand already speaking to your target audience?
By pairing up with the right account, you’ll infinitely improve the success of your giveaway thanks to the cross-promotion and wider audience pull.
Be Aware of the Risks of Hosting a Giveaway
There are many rewards to hosting a social media giveaway. However, with the rewards come a few MAJOR risks. The truth is social media giveaways can attract spammers and fake profiles. More aggressive and harmful scammers will try tactics to gain sensitive information from your audience/giveaway participants (like asking for credit card information to enter the giveaway).
While preventing these spammers and scammers entirely is never a 100% guarantee, there are some steps that you can take to protect your audience:
Avoid generic hashtags - Using huge and generic hashtags like #giveaway can potentially protect your audience from scammers who are out to gain their sensitive information (like credit card numbers). It’s advisable to use niche-specific hashtags.
Be clear with your audience about how the winner will be announced and notified - Scammers will sometimes create an account with a handle that’s very similar to your own. They’ll then slide into some of your participants’ inboxes notifying them that they’ve won the giveaway. And in order for them to claim their prize, they need to hand over their credit card information. This is why it’s so important to set the right expectations and to constantly remind your audience about how winners will be notified.
You want to be especially careful with these points. Improper handling of these situations can lose the trust of your audience. And if you’re not careful, your giveaway efforts will backfire and hurt your business instead.
The Risks and Rewards of Hosting a Giveaway
Hosting a giveaway can give your brand and business a huge boost in engagement and attention. But it definitely doesn’t come without risks. This is why it’s so important to know exactly what you’re doing at every step of the giveaway process.
This blog post will help you get started if you’re new to hosting giveaways or just feeling overwhelmed with the process. Or if you’d like to leave your social media giveaway in the hands of professionals, Lustic Media will help you plan, execute, and manage your giveaway so that you can see a high ROI while keeping your business and audience safe.