How contests and giveaways can grow your social media audience

A plague on social media that you can never escape is contests and giveaways. Every time a tweet is posted announcing a giveaway, you can almost see the eye roll over the internet. But are they really all that bad?

Giveaways have been given a TERRIBLE reputation because of all the scams. Contests are started by huge celebrities and companies and are often left abandoned in the middle. This is why giveaways and contests are mostly blacklisted.  

If you are just getting started with your account and you haven’t taken advantage of giveaways, then I do feel sorry for you. You are missing out on a BUNCH of opportunities 

What exactly are you missing out on?

1. Exposure: Giveaways open your account up to so many new eyes. Yeah, some followers may have just come out of greed, but there is a way to make them stay 😉 Stay tuned to find out! 
2. Reputation: if you conduct an honest contest, you will be known as the guy who conducts awesome contests at great prices. Your name will be well known to bigger creators as well! 
3. Gains trust: If your followers actually receive their end of the deal, they will automatically gain your trust. 
4. Gains a customer list: Doing a giveaway or contest before launching something new like a newsletter will get you immediate followers. 

And you never know that a person who swept past your account could become your new customer! Giveaways might just help you attract them. 

What should you giveaway?

This is what could make or break your entire giveaway/contest. People love free things, so whatever you DO decide, you will get a lot of attention. But here are some ways to strategize

• An asset related to your niche: will help you attract more loyal and long-term followers but the number may not be too high. Great to do on a random Tuesday! 
• A money giveaway: it doesn’t have to just be a cash price, something like an iPhone or an iPad or something similar that isn’t related to your niche. You will attract hundreds of followers with this, but they may not stay long! This is the perfect giveaway or contest to do before launching something new like a newsletter.

This is a classic rule of thumb followed by a lot of huge creators.

What’s the difference between a contest and a giveaway?

While the end result for both is the same, a contest is where your followers need to put in a little effort while a giveaway is 100% without any effort. 

Both of them are done to promote your page but giveaways can be done just as a thank-you to your audience!

Both of them have a prize at the end. 

Contests go something like this:

“We are giving away *asset* to the first 5 people who subscribe to us!..”

“Post your most favorite product from us and you can get a chance to win *asset*”

Giveaways go something like this:

“We are so thankful for hitting 10k! In honor of that we are giving away *asset* To win, all you have to do is follow us!”

While both of them involve something your followers have to do, a contest just puts them against each other. 

How to run a social media giveaway or contest:

It’s pretty straightforward to run one of these, I mean it’s just: announce it, choose well, and stay true to your word. But there are a few things you can do to make your giveaways more effective. Let’s go over them one by one!

Set your goals and plan ahead for the asset

If this is your first giveaway or contest, do not fall behind on planning ahead. Give yourself at least 1 week to plan ahead. Deciding the asset, what number of engagements you want to reach, and of course what your goals would be at the end of the contest or giveaway. 

Use your goals to shape your giveaway or contest. And create a rough draft before officially launching! 

Budget and prizes

Figure out your budget and prizes beforehand. Don’t make false promises you can’t complete. It gives SUCH a bad reputation to back off your end of the deal or completely ignore the fact that you hosted a giveaway. Even if your engagement goal was not reached, you still have to hold your side of the deal. You are committing to this the second you decide on a giveaway. 

This is why you should set a reasonable budget right at the beginning. If you can’t afford to giveaway 100$, stick with 50$ or 25$ even! A coupon or an e-book, the prize could be ANYTHING. Just do NOT back out of your deal! 

However, if the circumstances DO get bad, or if there is a delay, address it as soon as possible! You don’t want to be caught up in a controversy THIS early on in your social media era. 

Project Plan

Here’s a vague project plan to follow:

• Set your rules
• Build your content, stay consistent the week prior and ENGAGE with your audience 
• Announce the giveaway or contest and alert your audience, especially your loyal followers via DM’s. 
• It may not be needed, but a social media marketing tool like Hypefury can help you track your engagement rate and help you what to tweet while you’re busy picking a winner and keeping track! 
• Best time to cross-promote and partner up with another account! 
• Sit back, and watch your success happen. 

• Keep track of your progress

When you launch your giveaway, check your growth and progress, and take notes of it. After you have sent home the prize, take note of it again! 

Tracking your progress is a great way to keep track of your growth and what suits your audience and what doesn’t.

Some generic ideas on what to give away

While giveaways completely depend on you and your budget, here are some vague ideas if you can’t think of anything else

• Brand partnership coupon/deal

If there is a brand willing to collaborate with you in a giveaway or contest (it doesn’t have to be a big brand, even small ones will do). Try a bundle deal, a coupon or a generic newsletter subscription for a month for free! 

• Mystery box worth $ in value 

These are pretty in at the moment! It doesn’t have to be a physical price when it could just be a very valuable yearly subscription or something like that. 

Teasing your prize like this will keep your followers coming back! 

• An iPhone

One of the most popular giveaway items is an iPhone. It’s a no-brainer if you can get your hands on it! You will get a ton of interaction if you do decide on an iPhone because of how practical it is! 

Finally…

If you have read this far, then maybe you are deciding on actually conducting a giveaway or have conducted a giveaway and need more advice. Just remember that:

• While giveaways do mostly have a positive effect, it isn’t necessary to do them. You shouldn’t feel pressured or forced in any way to conduct a contest or giveaway. Especially if it isn’t in your budget or time frame.
• Don’t over-stretch yourself. Giveaways are supposed to be fun and contests are supposed to be for a good laugh. If you don’t reach your goals, it doesn’t mean it was a huge fail. You just have to get up and try again.

Let us know if you conduct a giveaway or contest! Or if these tips helped tweak up your game. Another way to level up your game is with Hypefury’s awesome platform, but that’s a whole other topic!