Social media giveaways are a great way to attract followers, build your brand, connect your community, and boost your reach. With a social media giveaway, your small business can show off your products, encourage reviews, increase engagement, and build a following.
However, social media giveaways have a lot going on behind the scenes. A social media manager is often the best route for a giveaway, but if you’re looking to host one on your own, our digital marketing team can help.
We’ve pulled together the top tips for how to run a social media giveaway for small local businesses. The idea is to be clear, know your goals, and make sure you give new followers a reason to stick around.
Remember – you MUST follow a platform’s guidelines for hosting a giveaway, and when done successfully, you should have a new foundation to engage with. Let’s get started.
Running a Social Media Giveaway
1. Set Clear Goals
Your giveaway should have a purpose. Most managers say “more followers” but there’s more goals you could have.
Knowing the expectation not only helps you define and structure your giveaway to reach your goal but also helps you measure how successful the promotion was. Remember, the only way to improve business is to monitor results with real data.
- Brand Awareness
- Follower Increase
- Higher Engagement
- Promote Product or Service
- Build a Newsletter List
- Drive Sales
- Curate User-Created Content
- More Website Visitors
- Reward Customers for Loyalty
- Market Research or Company Feedback
2. Choose the Right Prize
The right prize for your giveaway should be connected to your goal. If you want to promote a new product or service, make that your giveaway! If it’s branding, make it a branded package.
The prize should be in line with your expectations and attract the audience that is most likely to help you reach your goal.
- Gift Card
- Free Product/Service
- Discount
- Experiences
- Exclusive Branded Merchandise (more popular than you might think)
3. Pick a Giveaway Format
This is where knowing the rules of your platform really matters. Each platform will have a different set of guidelines you must follow in order to protect your page and your giveaway. Going against the guidelines can risk losing your business page.
For instance, Facebook does not allow you to require people to follow your page in order to enter, while Instagram doesn’t allow tagging yourself in a photo you are not actually in. If you ask people to enter on Facebook by following you, you’ve gone against their guidelines. Details like these not only ensure that users can properly enter the giveaway, but that you don’t risk your social page.
Pick the social platform you want to focus your growth or engagement on. Research their guidelines or partner with a digital marketing company that can handle social media management to ensure compliance. Now, you’re ready to put together your giveaway format.
- Have users tag a friend in the comments with a note on why they love your brand or what they’re looking forward to most from your business this year
- Sharing your giveaway post in their Instagram stories
- Users posting photos or videos using your products with a unique giveaway hashtag
- Sign up for your newsletter on your website
4. Write Clear Giveaway Rules
In addition to your format for entry, you want to include clear giveaway rules on every post. This should include who can enter, when the entry runs until, and how a winner will be announced or notified.
Also include a disclaimer that resolves the platform (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) of any inclusion.
- Who can enter (age, location, etc.)
- How to enter (comment, tag, hashtag)
- Start date and end date
- Date of winner announcement
- How the winner will be chosen (random, best photo, etc.)
- How the winner will be notified (comment tag, story tag, direct message)
5. Promote Your Giveaway
Now that the details of your social media giveaway guidelines are complete, you can start to promote! This really matters, because if no one knows you are hosting a giveaway, you won’t reach your goals.
Be mindful, be consistent, and make each announcement interesting and unique to grab attention and disrupt the news feed.
- Share on all your social media platforms and direct users to the platform for the giveaway
- Post your giveaway in relevant local online groups
- Use relevant hashtags so new users can find you
- Ask followers to spread the word
- Send email newsletters or text announcements
- Tell customers in person
- Include an announcement in your shop or retail space
6. Engage With Participants
Posting the giveaway details is only step one – you want to stay involved with your followers and other users to keep the momentum going.
Respond to comments, like story shares, and post different content to keep your feed active. Now is the time to show the personal side of your brand and connect with customers to form that loyalty.
- Respond to comments
- React to story shares
- Confirm newsletter sign-ups with a thank you
7. Choose and Announce the Winner Fairly
Giveaways are different than contests in that there is no judging of the content. You may allow for additional entries, like tagging more than one person or posting different media, but general fairness is to use a random number generator after assigning each entry a number – generally using an Excel spreadsheet to track the data.
Announce the winner publicly to celebrate and let everyone know someone has been chosen.
- Random generator
- Announce winner publicly
- Be transparent
8. Follow Up and Stay Engaged
The giveaway is done, but your work isn’t over – part of hosting a successful social media giveaway is what you do once it is over. This is where you thank everyone for participating, celebrate the winner, and ask followers to stay tuned and follow you for more giveaways or discounts.
If you want, offer a discount code to those who entered to keep interest building. You’ve got a strong start to your branding, so keep up the good work and keep engaging. Now is when people will fall off, and you want to ensure you pull in followers who will stay.
- Send thank yous
- Ask users to follow your accounts for more giveaways
- Encourage users to sign up for text or email alerts for future discounts
- Continue posting exciting content that is relevant to the audience you attracted
Social Media Giveaway Guidelines to Get Any Small Business Started
Are you excited to begin your giveaway? Now that you have the details, you can begin!
Bimeo Digital Marketing is here to help small businesses who want to host their social media giveaway but feel overwhelmed. We can take that momentum and draw in more clients to build your customer base. You have a lot to offer and we’re here to promote it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should my business run a social media giveaway?
Social media giveaways boost brand awareness, increase engagement, grow your social media following, and attract potential customers.
What type of prize should I offer for a social media giveaway?
Choose a prize relevant to your audience, such as a gift card, free product/service, or exclusive experience.
How do I set up a social media giveaway?
Define your goals, choose a prize, write clear rules, and promote it online.
How long should my giveaway last?
Most giveaways run for 5–14 days to maximize engagement while maintaining excitement.
How do I choose a winner for my social media giveaway?
Use a random name picker for simple giveaways or a number generator.
How do I announce the winner?
Make a public post tagging the winner and message them directly to claim their prize.
Are there any legal rules to follow?
Follow platform guidelines, avoid requiring purchases for entry, and include disclaimers stating the giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook, Instagram, etc.
How can I prevent scams or fake accounts?
Warn participants about fake pages, never ask for payment details, and use your official account for all communication.
How do I keep engagement high after the giveaway?
Encourage new followers to stay engaged with exclusive offers, future contests, or behind-the-scenes content. Keep being active and giving them content they are likely to interact with.
