Feeling generous but also wishing for a bigger audience? Check out how to do a giveaway on social media, and boost your engagement!

You could be a new entrepreneur or a fully-fledged business, social media will play a huge role in your marketing strategy. Instagram is an effective marketing tool, just as much as TikTok can promote a brand. With so many features now available on the platforms, like Reels and Stories, there are multiple ways to engage with audiences and expand your business.

There is loads of creative freedom to be had in how you use these platforms to your advantage. So much more than sharing a pretty image or an informative video, you can let your imagination run wild. You can introduce the people behind the brand, tease at new releases, or share positive testimonials from clients.

One highly effective way of increasing engagement and attracting new followers is hosting a giveaway or competition. These work fantastically well for businesses that sell physical products, but also work just as well for services and experiences.

If you’ve never hosted one before, and are wondering how to do a giveaway, we’ve got you!

Offer Realistic Prizes

What you are able to offer as a prize depends largely on your budget. It’s unlikely you can offer a hefty cash prize if you’re a new, one-person workforce. If you over offer on the prizes, people aren’t going to believe you and probably won’t bother getting involved.

If you’re a clothing brand, you could offer a variety of cool new accessories, or a branded item like a hoodie. These shouldn’t hurt your accounts too badly, and will also act as free promotion for you. If you’re an online service, offering a discounted subscription works nicely.

Set a Deadline

It’s important to find the sweet spot with giveaway deadlines. You need to allow people plenty of time to become aware of the content and enter, but you don’t want it to drag on too long.

A week or two is usually a good amount of time. This enables you many opportunities to create content like stories and posts hyping up the giveaway. Reminding your audience that the clock is ticking is a sure fire way to nudge people into entering as time runs out.

Make Entry Requirements Clear

You need to make entering your giveaway straightforward enough that people won’t be put off – but, don’t forget to take advantage here.

Social media is a fast-paced environment, and users don’t like being slowed down. Keeping entry requirements limited to a couple of simple actions is a wise move. Making these work for you would be asking entrants to like a post, follow the account, and tag a friend in the comments. This results in tons of easy engagement for you, and brings fresh eyes to your profile where they otherwise may not have discovered you.

Pick Winners Randomly

Choosing a winner at random takes out any difficult decision-making for you, which is a huge time saver. It also gives people the impression that they have a relatively decent chance of winning. As good a chance as anyone else, at least.

There are plenty of methods you can use to pick winners at random. Number generators are ideal, where you can assign each contestant a number and see what the computer spits out. Also, you could use any number of free online sites like Osortoo.

Be a Regular

Once you have announced your winner, you’re hopefully seeing a bunch of new followers on your profile and a spike in engagement. You don’t have to stop at just one giveaway.

Thank followers for their participation, and remind them that they will have a chance to win next time. This keeps people checking back, and maintains the interest your initial giveaway sparked.