The below checklists are going to show you how to run a giveaway and guide you to viral success.
These tactics, tips and growth hacks have been compiled from running over 148 giveaways and 2 years of viral marketing experience.
You can apply all of the suggestions or just one, either way, it will be well worth the 10min read!
Examples of Successful Giveaways
In the past, brands that used VYPER as a platform for hosting their giveaway have managed to achieve excellent results.
These brands used their giveaways as a means of growing their social media accounts, email lists, and website traffic.
The brands in question are:
- Coconut Bowls
- Topaz Labs
Coconut Bowls
Coconut Bowls is an online Shopify store. Their business is selling handcrafted bowls and kitchen accessories on their website.
Coconut Bowls hosted a successful social media giveaway that helped them generate new followers and email leads.
These new followers and email leads were crucial in Coconut Bowls content marketing strategy. Acquiring these new leads during the giveaway allowed the brand to successfully market itself for the months to come.
A huge bonus was the fact that their giveaway was also able to boost website traffic dramatically.
Seeing that Coconut Bowls is an online business, the much needed increase in web traffic helped the brand to increase sales during the giveaway.
β 4. Create clear instructions for partners
If you plan to use influencers or other people to promote your giveaway, make sure you give them dates, creative and instructions prior to the giveaway launch.
β 5. Plan Ahead
Organize PR dates and plans as early as you can. Are you going to launch your giveaway in a forum, on product hunt, via a media buy, or on someone else's website, blog, or email list?
Lock in those plans and set dates so you have deadlines to work towards. PR releases or partnerships are not required at all to run a giveaway it just helps get the word out.
Giveaway Creation - Checklist
β 1. Create clear instructions that are easy to understand
Make the prizes and how to enter super clear on the signup page.
People are easily confused and need to be able to understand that you're running a giveaway, what they can win and how to enter within 15 seconds of being on the page.
β 2. Use multiple prizes
There's nothing wrong with having just one prize in a giveaway. However, multiple prizes (as pictured above) will help to make your giveaway standout more.
For example, placements (1st, 2nd, etc), random winner draw and milestone rewards (based on the number of entries collected).
β 3. Use gifs
Gifs capture attention more than images and text.
You can also say a lot more via images, gifs, and videos than you using text.
This is extremely useful for decreasing the amount of reading people have to do which leads to as faster conversion rate.
β 4. Use video embeds
A video can get a lot of information over quickly instead of writing an essay pitch.
We highly suggest you host the video on YouTube or Vimeo then use the embed feature to keep your page load fast.
β 5. Use bonus actions
Bonus actions are the most important aspect of your giveaway. Identify 4-5 "things" you want to grow and focus on those for custom actions.
β 6. Be creative
There are so many things you can incentivize. Your giveaway will stand out if you are more creative.
Everyone has like my Facebook page or Instagram profile as a bonus action. Try something a little more valuable to your business, check out some of the ideas below.
- Like, comment, share on this Facebook post, then turn that post into an ad. (increase relevancy score)
- Thumbs up my latest YouTube video. (increase view count)
- Comment on my latest blog post and add your top takeaway. (build blog engagement and force people to read your content).
- Subscribe to my podcast. (notifies people when you have new content)
- Leave a review on my page or product (build reviews)
See these examples in action with this monthly draw giveaway.
β 7. Draw up your Ts and Cs
Make sure you have your terms and conditions sorted. Some platforms like VYPER will have a template you can use but also make sure to add any specific requirements for your industry or company.
If you're in the EU and need to be GDRP compliant make sure you have multiple checkboxes to filter out people who opt-out of marketing emails.
β 4. Run ads
Since you are offering something for free. These ads have a super high CTR and relevancy score. This makes it a great "lead bait".
Always ensure that you place pixels so you can optimize for signups and run remarketing campaigns.
Make one of your giveaway bonus entries to "like, share and comment on your Facebook post". Make this post about your giveaway. The use that post as an ad.
PRO TIP
β 5. Add the giveaway to your website
Use a hello bar, notification bubble, or popup across all pages. This is an easy place to pick up new entrants.
β 6. Post your giveaway into communities
Communities such as Reddit, Facebook Groups etc.
Make sure you provide some value first. Post, engage with group and community leading up to your giveaway and connect with the admins. Here's a more in-depth guide on how to do this.
Follow Up - Checklist
β 1. Work on your email copy
Most of the selling will be done in your email drips. Nurturing and providing value is the best way to build happy, loyal customers.
Offer multiple prizes in the follow-up. Announce the winners to the entire giveaway list and give everyone a runner-up or random winner prize.
See the example email below that we sent out as soon as the giveaway ended.
β 2. Follow up email
Let people know in the first follow up email they can expect awesome content deals and surprises from you.
β 3. The first email has the highest open rate out of any email you send
Put any important information in there.
- Partnership offers
- giveaway entrant only deals
- Ask them to reply to improve your deliverability and open rates for the future
β 4. Nurture your new leads
Now that you have a huge list of potential customers nurture them until they convert.
Add them to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn audiences so when you have promotions, new content, etc you can reach them on multiple channels, not just email.
Q&A How to Run a Viral Contest & Giveaway
You can skip the planning phase of your giveaway. However, if you wish to maximize the results of your giveaway, then planning is essential.
There are just too many variables with a giveaway and often things can go wrong. Because of this, it's wise to plan ahead and minimize the risk of things that could go wrong.
There's no need to, especially if your brand can handle everything on its own. However, it doesn't hurt to partner up with someone who can help you to achieve better results.
A complimentary brand can help you to put up a larger prize. A social media influencer can help you to market your contest effectively on social media.
Yes. The Ts and Cs and rules of your giveaway are there to maintain order in you campaign. If an issue does arise, then your Ts and Cs can help you to swiftly resolve that issue.
Ts and Cs are also meant to officially inform people on details related to the giveaway. This can be start and end dates, prize info, and the date the winner will be announced.
TL;DR
Giveaways are not only a good way to build an email list but you can incentivize pretty much any online action. This can be extremely powerful if you get creative with it.
In our over-communicated world standing out takes creativity, uniqueness, incentivization, and gamification. These are the main factors that go into creating viral campaigns.
So make your next marketing campaign count. Try something different and reward people for engaging with you instead of expecting or "hoping" for it!
Create a free account at VYPER to unlock a top converting giveaway template.