Everyone likes to win prizes—particularly from their favourite manufacturers. Create a social media giveaway or contest to feed this want whereas bettering your social media engagement and supercharging the thrill round your model.
Giveaways and contests increase your follower rely, convert leads, amplify model consciousness and improve loyalty.
On this article, we take you thru learn how to launch a social media giveaway or contest and share 12 concepts that can assist you to join along with your viewers and convert prospects.
What are social media giveaways and contests?
Earlier than we soar into examples, let’s overview what social media giveaways and contests are and why your model ought to create one.
What’s a social media giveaway?
Throughout social media giveaways, manufacturers, influencers and creators ask individuals to finish a activity (reminiscent of tagging their associates, following accounts and liking or sharing posts) for an opportunity to win a prize.
Giveaway winners are chosen at random, which implies it’s honest sport for all entrants. Giveaways assist you to attain a wider viewers, in order that they’re a robust platform for selling new product launches and model partnerships.
Picture Supply: TikTok
What’s a social media contest?
Throughout social media contests, persons are challenged to submit their greatest variations of an assigned activity, like their greatest photograph, caption or reply.
The winner(s) of the competition obtain a prize primarily based on their efficiency, which implies your most inventive or proficient followers have a bonus. Difficult your followers to be inventive units the scene so that you can foster relationships, construct a distinct segment neighborhood and supply user-generated content material.
Why your model ought to create a giveaway or contest
At a time when short-form video is dominating social feeds, it may be a problem to create advertising and marketing campaigns customers will truly interact with. Views are nice. However engagements are an indication you’re creating enduring buyer relationships.
That’s the place social giveaways and contests are available in. They’ve the ability to:
- Enhance your follower account: You’ll be able to ask somebody to love or observe you as a means of taking part.
- Convert leads: Request individuals join or submit their entry by finishing a type in your web site. Ask for his or her title, e-mail deal with and different related data.
- Amplify model consciousness: By partnering with totally different manufacturers or influencers, you faucet into a brand new viewers and improve your attain.
- Enhance model loyalty: In the event you supply thrilling prizes and alternatives, your followers will keep tuned for extra sooner or later—particularly if you happen to proceed to reward your superfans.
The best way to run a social media giveaway or contest
Now you understand the advantages of operating a social media giveaway or contest, so let’s undergo the steps to launch one.
1. Set your targets and resolve your giveaway or contest sort
Decide whether or not you’re making an attempt to extend social media followers, generate extra leads, retain prospects or bolster model consciousness. Use your purpose sort to form your giveaway or contest.
2. Pinpoint your price range and prizes
What’s your advertising and marketing division prepared to spend on the competition or giveaway? In the event you plan on doing these recurrently—to maintain your followers excited and engaged—make sure you embody them in your annual price range.
As soon as you understand the price range, you possibly can distribute it between advertisements and prize prices. Determine if you happen to’ll give away a product, money prize or one thing else altogether. Select a prize that’s related to your audience so that you’re attracting entrants which might be almost certainly to transform.
3. Know your viewers and select the appropriate platform
It’s essential know your viewers demographics to find out which platform(s) to host your giveaway or contest.
Be certain that to learn and observe your chosen platform’s giveaway and contest tips, so your marketing campaign is compliant.
4. Plan and run your giveaway or contest
Create a challenge plan that features the next steps::
- Chart your timeline, decide deliverables and set your guidelines.
- Construct your content material and communication calendar.
- Kick-off the giveaway or contest by alerting your viewers and asserting your prize. Use a tagging instrument like Sprout Social to trace all outgoing content material.
- Run advertisements and cross-promote (e.g., on different social platforms, in your e-mail publication and in your web site) to extend your attain.
- Watch the entries pour in.
As soon as your plan is authorized, you’re prepared to maneuver ahead and run your giveaway or contest.
5. Measure your outcomes
The competition has ended, you’ve introduced the winner and despatched off their prize. It’s time to measure its efficiency primarily based on the aims you set earlier. How properly did your social media contest or giveaway carry out? Did you obtain your purpose?
Use instruments like Sprout Social’s platform-specific studies to gather all the information it’s good to measure hashtag and key phrase use, follower rely and engagement price. This evaluation might help you enhance your future campaigns.
Social media giveaway concepts
Now that you’ve the instruments to launch your giveaway, it’s time to seek out the appropriate concept. Use these seven giveaways for inspiration.
1. Model partnership bundle
A tried-and-true technique to attain extra of the appropriate viewers is to staff up with manufacturers they already observe to co-host a giveaway. Mix your sources to create the final word prize bundle. Make use of a “observe to win” technique by asking entrants to observe you and every of your companions.
Picture Supply: Instagram
Word: The most effective model partnerships are between complementary manufacturers who don’t compete with one another. Analysis which merchandise your viewers makes use of outdoors of your class, and assemble a dream staff.
2. Journey to a dream vacation spot
Doesn’t everybody fantasize about an all-expenses paid trip? Your followers will flock to a journey giveaway. Tease it with pictures from the vacation spot and particulars in regards to the lodging.
Picture Supply: Fb
3. Win a thriller field
The one factor individuals love greater than free prizes? Free prizes with a component of shock. Assemble a field stuffed with thriller goodies to pique your viewers’s curiosity. To maintain the momentum going, ask the winner to movie an unboxing video after they obtain their prize.
Picture Supply: Instagram
4. Reward loyal prospects
Encourage prospects to hitch your loyalty program to allow them to get early entry to your greatest offers and new merchandise. To up the ante, give premium freebies to those who enter inside a sure timeframe.
Picture Supply: Instagram
5. Follower milestone giveaway
Thank your followers once you hit a serious milestone. Whether or not you’re celebrating 100 or 100,000 followers, present you recognize them to nurture loyal followers for the lengthy haul.
Picture Supply: TikTok
6. Let associates get in on the enjoyable
Encourage your followers to tag their associates in your feedback part or ship their buddies your giveaway particulars through direct message. Phrase of mouth suggestions from family and friends are trusted and valued, so tapping into your model evangelists will assist improve your giveaway’s consciousness.
Picture Supply: Instagram
7. Give again
In response to the 2023 Sprout Social Index™, 25% of customers assume it’s vital for manufacturers to lift consciousness and take a stand on social points. Use your giveaway as an opportunity to donate to individuals or organizations in want.
Social media contest concepts
When a social media contest is your best option on your model aims, flip to those 5 examples to encourage your profitable concept.
8. Seasonal and holiday-themed contests
Whether or not it’s constructing the very best gingerbread home, discovering essentially the most lovable Mom’s Day photograph or filming the spookiest Halloween scare, persons are desperate to get within the vacation spirit. Seasonal contests are a well timed technique to drive engagement and spotlight a services or products.
Picture Supply: Instagram
9. Award for greatest photograph, caption or video
Ask your followers to share their inventive passions along with your model—whether or not it’s a lovely photograph or a hilarious caption. Use this as a possibility to supply content material that options individuals utilizing or interacting along with your product, service or location.
10. Full a digital scavenger hunt
In right now’s hybrid world, you possibly can create a digital scavenger hunt for social media customers all around the world. To kickoff your contest, make a listing of challenges for entrants to finish. Have them submit photograph or video proof after they end every problem or discover the appropriate objects. Award individuals who submit the very best content material. Tie again the theme of your scavenger hunt to an ongoing marketing campaign or upcoming occasion.
11. Win a trivia or guessing contest
Whether or not it’s testing their data at a sport of trivia or guessing what number of objects are in a photograph, persons are eager to compete for prizes. Design a sport associated to your model or product, and you’ll hit the engagement jackpot.
12. Submit an essay, story or poem
Host a writing contest to seek out proficient writers who might help your model inform a narrative. Award the winners with prizes, plus ask them to talk at an upcoming occasion—an ideal instance of how contests can foster relationships offline, too.
Picture Supply: X (Twitter)
Flip social media giveaway and contest entrants into prospects
The true purpose of giveaways and contests isn’t social media clout. It’s constructing real relationships with individuals.
What would possibly seem to be enjoyable and video games is definitely the start of a connection that can maintain customers coming again for extra. It’s a part of the method of changing into a model your viewers loves and trusts.
Study extra about what persons are searching for after they work together with manufacturers on social by downloading the newest Sprout Social Index™.
