Jordan Lore — February 27, 2017 
Looking to gain traction on Facebook?
Want to grow your audience and generate leads?
A Facebook giveaway is the social media marketing strategy for you. All at once, a Facebook giveaway will generate immediate traffic, grow your following, and generate hundreds of leads. The right prize, fun entry rules, and the excitement of winning has the potential to give your business unparalleled growth.
In this article you’ll find 50 Facebook giveaway ideas, tips, and examples to help you run the Facebook giveaway you’ve been dying to promote.
10 of our favourite Facebook giveaways
1. Blizzard
To celebrate the new year Blizzard launched an Overwatch giveaway for their fans.
What we like about this giveaway:
- All the copy on the page involves the Overwatch theme.
- The prizes and the rules are clearly outlined on the landing page.
- Everyone wins.
2. M&M’s
M&M’s ran a vote giveaway for their fans to select their new M&M flavour.
What we like about this giveaway:
- Voting allows everyone to participate and contribute with their opinion.
- The fun and colourful graphics adds excitement to the mix. The familiar peanut M&M mascot is much more engaging for visitors.
- The lack of text and ample white space focuses a reader’s attention on the giveaway.
3. Massage Addict
To celebrate Mother’s Day Massage Addict ran a giveaway for a free massage package.
What we like about this giveaway:
- The headline image humanizes the giveaway. Images with people in them tend to create more emotion in the viewer.
- The headline is clear and benefit oriented to entice the reader.
- A countdown timer create urgency to claim the giveaway.
4. Firefighters First Credit Union
Firefighters First Credit Union ran this giveaway for a free vacation to celebrate their 80th anniversary.
What we like about this giveaway:
- The form and all of the copy are framed by a bright and colourful background image.
- The countdown clock is large and hard to miss — creating urgency.
- Well implemented contrast makes the copy, CTA, and rules hard to ignore.
5. SunScape
SunScape runs a giveaway each month to increase their lead count.
What we like about this giveaway:
- The prize (a gift card) connects is highly relevant to the business and cyclically brings more business back to SunScape.
- Contrasting sizes of the text makes the prize and headline stand out amongst the page elements.
- The bright green CTA draws the attention immediately.
6. London Drugs
London Drugs ran a Fall themed giveaway to engage their followers and collect email leads.
What we like about this giveaway:
- The colours, textures, and graphics all lend itself well to the Fall theme.
- The benefit of winning a gift card is clear.
- Big bold imagery catches the viewer’s eyes and holds attention.
7. Maine Cottage
Maine Cottage gave away a $ 1,000 gift card to their followers to boost engagement and generate leads.
What we like about this giveaway:
- Beautiful imagery gives viewers an example of what they could buy with their winnings.
- Very clear giveaway entry rules for visitors.
- Big bold headline and benefit oriented text so that it’s clear what the giveaway is offering.
8. Green Planet
Green Planet gave their audience a chance to win a $ 500 gardening package.
What we like about this giveaway:
- The prize is a package of gifts to appeal to a wider audience.
- The simple design doesn’t distract from the information and copy.
- Bright CTA and encapsulated form attracts reader attention.
9. Marks
To win a $ 400 Mark’s gift card, all visitors have to do is select the prize they’d like to have on their wishlist.
What we like about this giveaway:
- Fantastic choice of imagery that adds to the whole holiday theme.
- Easy and engaging entry method of choosing your favourite item.
- Good use of contrast that incorporates the brand’s colours.
10. SportChek
SportChek gave away a massive $ 10,000 winter themed grand prize and several other secondary prizes in their Facebook giveaway.
What we like about this giveaway:
- Huge irresistible prize.
- Engaging entry rules that requires a lot of user participation.
- Simple design that incorporates the giveaway theme well.
Why is a Facebook giveaway right for you?
11. Get more Facebook followers & fans
Grow your following with a fun and engaging Facebook giveaway. Incentivize your fans to share your giveaway with their network and reach new fans in the process.
12. Increase your brand awareness online
The combination of a giveaway and promotion will draw-in a number of people to your brand.
13. Collect emails and leads
Start collecting a long list of emails and leads with your giveaway. A strong and engaged list pays dividends down the road when you host another giveaway, run a promotion, or have a sale.
14. Collect UGC (User Generated Content)
Social media content creation can be time consuming and resource intensive. Employ the folks who love your brand the most: your fans. Collecting and using fan content like photos, reviews, or ideas is a great way to build a deeper connection with your fans.
15. Generate user feedback
A giveaway will put your product in the hands of people you’re trying to reach. Generating feedback from your target audience is the only way you can improve.
16. Engage your followers
Communication with your audience shouldn’t only be a one way street. Engage them to keep your brand alive in their lives.
17. Make sales
A business dies a slow death without sales (obviously). Put your business in the right position to make sales with a Facebook giveaway. Collect valuable leads and direct traffic to your website with a Facebook giveaway.
18. Promote a new product
Trying to build hype around your newest release? A Facebook giveaway can help. Choosing to give one away to one lucky winner will build demand.
19. Generate more traffic
A stellar prize and fun entry rules generate lots of excitement for a Facebook giveaway. Traffic and sales will ensue.
20. Learn more about your target market
If engagement with your brand was lacking a Facebook giveaway will add some life and energy. Take the opportunity to learn more about your target audience. Respond to comments, start a conversion, and send emails asking questions to learn more.
21. Use a giveaway building platform
The best way to run a Facebook giveaway is with a giveaway platform. Don’t complicate things by trying to build and code your own custom Facebook tab. A giveaway platform makes creating, designing, and publishing a Facebook giveaway a breeze.
22. Create a compelling headline
Like a beautiful storefront, your headline is what draws visitors in. A compelling headline should speak directly to the reader’s emotions. Explain the benefit to them so that it compels them to learn more about what you’re offering in your giveaway.
23. Create a unique giveaway hashtag
A unique hashtag for your contest makes searching up the entries on Facebook easy. A hashtag organized all entries under one tag. #FitChristmas2016 adds to the theme and gives everyone a chance to participate just by using it.
24. Benefit checklist
Visitors want to know what’s in it for them quickly. If nothing catches their interest they’re most likely going to split. Make the benefits easy to understand by using a checklist or bullet points. You want them to understand quickly that they’re going to get this, this, and this by entering your Facebook giveaway.
25. Employ compelling visuals
A picture says a thousands words as the old saying goes. Use visuals in place of large blocks of text to get your information understood quickly. A picture of your prize or giveaway makes the offer seem larger than life. Entry would be hard to resist.
26. Clear and concise giveaway rules
Don’t make entering your Facebook giveaway any harder than it should be. Make the rules easy to understand and see for all of your visitors. The less friction there is the more entries you’ll receive.
27. Detail how the winner will be chosen
The last thing you want is unsatisfied participants. Clearly state how the winner will be chosen and all the rules that go into the selection.
Make the choosing process simple. A social giveaway app will randomly choose and email the winner automatically to let them know.
28. Bonus entries
Experiment with bonus entries for everyone who enters. Sharing the giveaway with their network or entering once a day for example, are a couple of ways to give bonus entries for extra participation. People love bonuses that give them a leg up on the competition.
29. Create a custom cover image
Once your Facebook giveaway is up and running make sure to change your Facebook cover image so that all of your visitors know about it. Mention the prize and the rules so that people can head over to it and enter.
30. Customize your Facebook tab and landing page
To host your Facebook giveaway directly on your Facebook page you’ll need to create a customer tab and landing page. Customize the image in your brand’s look and feel.
31. Use checkboxes
Checkboxes instead of drop down menus are far more user friendly. Multiple choice tests in high school were far better than written. Why? Because they were less work. Make things easier for your visitors by using checkboxes where possible.
32. Use a countdown timer
Knowing that your Facebook giveaway has a confirmed end date creates urgency. Seeing a big red countdown clock count towards the end will urge visitors to enter now rather than later.
33. Make entry dates clear
The entry dates of the giveaway matter more than you would think. Pick the appropriate amount of time to maximize the amount of entries. Too long and the excitement can dim as time goes on. Too short and you might miss out on some entries.
34. Pre-giveaway email
Give all those who register a heads up a few days before the webinar date. Send one a week out, 3 days out, 1 day, and then the day of. An email that shows off the prize package will certainly put your Facebook giveaway on your audience’s radar.
35. Cross-promote on all channels
To maximize the exposure of your Facebook giveaway it’s important to cross-promote on your other web properties. This means posting on LinkedIn, tweeting, pinning on Pinterest etc.
36. Pin your post
Once your giveaway is published make sure to pin it to the top of your Facebook feed. A pinned post sticks to the top of the feed and accumulates more exposure from visitors. Anyone who looks down your feed will see your giveaway first.
37. Tie your prize back to your business
When choosing your prize package make sure it is tied back to your business. If your business sells appliances it’s not a good idea to give away an iPad. Tie the prize back to your business by including your product or a giftcard to spend at your store. It ensures that those who enter are at least mildly interested in what your business offers.
38. Regularly update fans on giveaway status
Don’t make your giveaway a one-and-done type operation. Keep your fans and participants updated on the status of your giveaway. This means making regular mentions of the number of entries or time left. It will encourage people to sign up or share the giveaway before it finishes.
39. Promote with Facebook ads
Facebook ads are by far one of the most effective avenues for capturing immediate traffic for your Facebook giveaway. Facebook ads target users based on interests so it’s critical to locate those who are interested in your specific niche. Those who are strapped for time or who don’t have much of a social media following can generate immediate traffic with Facebook ads.
40. Place banner on your website
Just because you giveaway is on Facebook there’s no reason to neglect your own website. A brightly coloured website banner sits right at the top of your homepage and alerts all of your visitors of your contest. Use it to direct visitors to your Facebook giveaway to enter.
41. Partner with other companies for prizes
When it comes to Facebook giveaways it can help to include additional prizes to appeal to more people. Partner with a company that is aligned with your business to offer an even larger prize. Both of your companies can promote the giveaway for twice the marketing power.
42. Choose a proper theme
A Facebook giveaway theme like a holiday or anniversary can help establish more of a purpose for your giveaway. Celebrating your business’ one year anniversary for example, acts as a more compelling reason for visitors to accept your offer. Not having an occasion or theme lowers the apparent value of the giveaway because it could be assumed that you run them all the time.
43. Have clear goals to measure success
Before building any part of your Facebook giveaway, establish the goal. Your goal will determine the measure of success for your giveaway. Leads, exposure, or follower growth are typical goals that can be measured against your cost per lead or cost per customer. Keep your goal in mind when deciding how much you’d like to spend on a prize and advertising.
44. Make your prize a package
Instead of a single massive grand prize, break it up into an entire prize package made of smaller prizes. This way your prize will have more variety and appeal to more people. A large number of items will also make your prize seem more valuable because of the variety.
45. Optimize for mobile
Half of all web traffic is now coming from mobile devices which means that your giveaways need to be mobile responsive. The best way to do this is to start with a Facebook giveaway building tool which comes with fully responsive templates. Although Facebook itself is always mobile responsive, your Facebook giveaway page may not be.
46. Optimize for speed
Aside from using a speedy Facebook giveaway building tool, there are a few ways you can optimize your giveaway page for speed.
- Use a better giveaway building tool.
- Reduce your image sizes.
- Clean up unnecessary code.
- Shorten the page.
- Upgrade your hosting.
47. A/B test your call to action
For a giveaway that is running for a longer period of time it is a good idea to run A/B tests on your call to action. By split testing your CTA you can see what language compels your visitors to convert more. Facebook giveaway platforms are able to split the traffic and send them to two different giveaway pages and see what works best.
48. Include the giveaway in your regular newsletter
Don’t forget to mention your new Facebook giveaway in your weekly/monthly newsletter for the people who don’t follow one of your social channels. If recipients are already receiving your newsletter they’re in your system but they may be able to share it within their networks as well.
49. Pre-populated Tweets
For one of your bonus entries try using a pre-populated tweet for your visitors to share. Write up some exciting copy for your visitors to share with one click. You’ll receive more attention for your Facebook giveaway and they’ll receive a bonus entry.
50. Feature the winner
When it’s all said and done feature the winner of your Facebook giveaway. It’s important to highlight the honor of winning and be sure to make them feel as special as possible. The amount of praise you’re able to give will prep and excite people anticipating your next giveaway.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this article has given you a better understanding of how to run a successful Facebook giveaway. IF you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out in the comment section below.
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