![\"How](\"https:\/\/heartifb.com\/images\/How-To-Host-Giveaway.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSo, you want to host a\u00a0giveaway\u00a0on your blog, Instagram or YouTube channel? How exciting!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Giveaways are a great way to treat your readers, promote your blog and\/or social media platforms, and cement good relationships with brands. They help to build a community surrounding your blog and, if done correctly, can increase your amount of authentic followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n
We've got plenty of tips on how to run a successful giveaway here on IFB, including tips on how to do a giveaway for your YouTube channel or Instagram account.<\/p>\n
Check them out below and let us know your thoughts in the comments – and good luck with your giveaway!<\/p>\n\n
When it comes to the purpose of a giveaway, ask if yourself why<\/em> you're doing this. You need to be clear with yourself what you want to get out of it…<\/p>\n
When you know why you're doing a giveaway and what you want from it, you'll be able to decide your giveaway criteria and have a way to measure the success of your giveaway.<\/p>\n
Most blog giveaways fall into the sweepstakes category. This is important to know because the laws governing sweepstakes, contests, and lotteries are very different. And in America, giveaway entrants can't pay to enter, pay to win, or pay to receive their prize.<\/p>\n
In order to host a legally compliant giveaway in the U.S., you must prominently display the official rules of your sweepstakes.<\/p>\n
Parchment Girl has done an excellent job of outlining everything you should take into consideration from a legal standpoint, when you decide to host a giveaway.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, the more complicated it is to enter a giveaway, the fewer giveaway entries you'll get.<\/p>\n
I've seen some bloggers basically ask people to write an 5 page essay for a chance to win a $25 gift card. While it's definitely your right to do whatever you want on your blog, extreme entry criteria can result in an unusually small number of entries.<\/p>\n
Avoid making your entry system too complex (25 total possible entries – 3 entries for this, 7 entries for that, 15 entries for this other thing, etc.). When people can't figure out your system (or if your system takes too much time too read), they become a lot more likely to just move on.<\/p>\n
If you aren't being sponsored by a brand or aren't collaborating with a company to give away their free products, you'll need to purchase items for your giveaway. And that can get expensive if you aren't careful.<\/p>\n
Before you go out to purchase items for you giveaway, consider setting a budget. It can be tempting to treat your readers, followers and subscribers to a generous giveaway but it's important you don't break the bank. Especially if you aren't earning an income off your blog, YouTube channel or social media platforms.<\/p>\n
You also need to keep in mind that you will need to pay to ship the item to the winner of your giveaway. International giveaways mean paying for international shipping, so be mindful of that as well.<\/p>\n
If your giveaway gets a lot of response you might end up with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of entries.<\/p>\n
For managing it all, I highly recommend Rafflecopter or Gleam.<\/p>\n
Rafflecopter: Their free version is perfect for most giveaways, and I've found their paid plans to be well worth the money if you're looking for more robust ad entry options (such as Pinterest or newsletter sign-ups). In the past, I verified and counted giveaway entries by hand, but this is so<\/em> much easier.\u00a0Rafflecopter also has an excellent customer support and their blog is well worth reading, if you're looking for more giveaway tips and advice.<\/p>\n
Gleam: Gleam is another great platform for giveaways and contests, you can check them out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
You've done all the hard work of the previous steps, so now you need to make sure that people see it.<\/p>\n
I recommend giveaway forums like Online Sweepstakes and giveaway blogs like Blog Giveaways.<\/p>\n
Of course, your own social media channels are excellent promotional tools, and asking your friends to mention your giveaway on their own social networks works very well too. We've also listed a few tips for hosting an instagram and YouTube giveaway below.<\/p>\n
Nobody<\/em> likes a spammer. Spam drives people away from you, your brand, and your site…and that's the last thing you want when you're hosting a giveaway.<\/p>\n
Not sure what counts as spam? Here are some hints…<\/p>\n
Spamming creates ill will at best (do you really want to remembered as that fashion blogger who spams everybody?) and can get you banned from certain services at worst.<\/p>\n
Just don't do it.<\/p>\n
You never want your readers or followers to feel tricked.<\/p>\n
If the prize is only winnable by residents of a certain country, age, or dress size, say so up front in the giveaway announcement.<\/p>\n
Tell your readers when will you choose the winner, how will you choose the winner, how the winner will be notified, how their prize should be claimed, and how soon after notification they must claim their prize by.<\/p>\n
In addition, you should have a clearly stated back-up plan in place in case your first giveaway winner doesn't respond, and you need to choose another. Think through any questions someone might ask upon reading your giveaway, brainstorm any what-if situations, and then address them.<\/p>\n
There are two main types of Instagram contests, that can apply to both bloggers and influencers. We break them down below…<\/p>\n
Pick a theme for your Instagram giveaway. It could be based around an upcoming holiday, current season or popular trend. Don't discount events like the award shows, popular film premieres, fashion weeks, or even your birthday. Many people like to reward their followers once they've hit a certain amount of followers. Back-to-school giveaways are also popular (but more so on YouTube).<\/p>\n
Once you have your theme, take a creative and original picture of your giveaway prize to post on Instagram. Upload it and\u00a0post relevant contest information in the description box. Keep it\u00a0short and sweet, but clearly define all the rules so that people can enter correctly.<\/p>\n
You may also want consider creating a unique hashtag to post in the description, for your Instagram giveaway.<\/p>\n
If the rules require others to repost the picture or post their own original photo when participating in the giveaway, it will help you keep track of entries. It can also help you to increase engagement for your Instagram account and potentially attract more followers.<\/p>\n
Make sure that the hashtag you use does not direct participants to irrelevant or negative content. It should also comply with all of Instagrams Terms and Conditions, in order to prevent your account from being shadowbanned.<\/p>\n
Just like Instagram, YouTube has strict contest policies and guidelines creators must follow if they plan to do a giveaway on their channel.<\/a> Be sure to familiarize yourself with them, before running a contest.<\/p>\n
If you're running a giveaway on your YouTube channel, include a comment-rate-subscribe rule for your participants. Essentially, this means your participants need to leave a comment in the videos comments, rate the video with a like (or thumbs up), and subscribe to your channel in order for their entry to be considered valid.<\/p>\n
This ensures you're securing engagement and subscribers for your channel. Before you announce the winner, be sure to double check that he or she has followed this rule. If they haven't, pick another winner.<\/p>\n
*Editor's Note: This post was originally published on May 23, 2013 and was written by Cora Harrington. It was updated on February 13, 2024 by Laura Kell.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, you want to host a\u00a0giveaway\u00a0on your blog, Instagram or YouTube channel? How exciting! Giveaways are a great way to treat your readers, promote your blog and\/or social media platforms, and cement good relationships with brands. They help to build a community surrounding your blog and, if done correctly, can increase your amount of authentic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6535],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-traffic-seo"],"yoast_head":"\n