Growing your business can be a long and tedious process sometimes. In some cases, it will take months upon months to bring a business up to speed. But does it have to take that long? Maybe not… A well executed, but simple giveaway can help you grow your business quickly and for a relatively low cost. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at how to use giveaways and contests to jump start your business growth. Don’t believe us? A quick Google search shows that there are plenty of different examples of businesses that have been able to grow their e-mail list, social media accounts, and sales with a quick giveaway.

Note: There are specific legalities surrounding giveaways and contests. It’s important to speak to a professional that can help you determine what type of rules and regulations are in place with your local and state laws.

3 Foundation Must-Haves for a Successful Giveaway

Organization is key before running your giveaway. It’s also important to set up some goals beforehand. Are you looking to win more sales? Generate excitement about a new product? Are you trying to grow you e-mail list, or your social media accounts? Maybe both? Here’s a formula to help get you started!

1. Have well defined goals
Figure out the main purpose you’re going to focus on, and do everything to achieve that goal.
For Instance, if you know you have a large and engaged Facebook fans, why not try to expand your fans to your other social media accounts? Or, why not try and use that to leverage the growth of your e-mail list?

2. Have an exciting prize
Are you giving away a cash prize? How about a new, exciting product? Maybe an entire collection? It’s important to determine exactly what the actual prize will be before you begin this promotion. Here’s a short list of great ideas if you’re stuck!
A limited edition product
An entire product collection
Product(s) from influencers in your market
Gift cards
Travel
A once in a lifetime opportunity

There are many companies that giveaway limited-time products around the same time every month! In addition, they promote the give away via social medias, and in order to win you must tag a friend!

3. Use partnerships with celebrities and influencers
Chances are in building your business, you’ve come across some influencers in your market. These influencers can be individuals, or businesses that have a large clout when it comes to traffic and engagement. Consider working with an influencer in your space to help give your giveaway some extra “oomph” when it needs it. It will take your giveaway to the next level!

Putting the Pieces Together and Launching Your Giveaway
Now that we have defined your goal, have the basic understandings of how they work, it’s time to outline your execution plan!

Use a Tool to Create the Giveaway!
There are numerous ways to go about a giveaway. You can throw together a landing page and have people share it, and pick a winner at random. But, that can be quite a bit of a headache if you have no coding experience. Which is why we suggest using a tool to create the giveaway. There are plenty available depending on the type of giveaway you’re looking to run. I’ve found the most powerful tool to be called Gleam. Here’s an example of what it looks like

Alternatively, try something like Rafflecopter or Promosimple that also have been shown to be incredibly powerful. It’s entirely up to you which you end up using!

Notify All Parties Involved
While this may seem like a no-brainer, it’s often forgotten when everything begins to come together. If your prize consists of another product from an influencer, be sure to let them know when you plan on launching the giveaway to ensure that they help promote it too.

Here’s an example of an actual email I sent reminding a partner of ours that a contest went live:

Don’t forget to actually email them, text them, tweet at them, or whatever means of communication you need to use in order to actually let them know when the giveaway is live!

Let Your Current Customers Know
If you already have a few customers, don’t forget to let them know about the giveaway and contest too! Chances are if they’ve bought from you in the past, they’ll be thrilled about getting a new product for free! I mean, who doesn’t love free? You can use your favorite email marketing tool to send an email to your existing customers to inform them about the giveaway.

Encourage Virality
While your giveaway is in full swing, be sure to update contestants through out the length of the contest and remind them to complete certain actions to earn additional entries. Depending on your giveaway, you might have multiple gifts or some products that are given away throughout the contest. So, make sure you are updating everyone on those prizes as well!

Here’s an example of Beardbrand doing that using Gleam:

Shine a Spotlight on the Winner
When everything is said and done, and your giveaway is finally over, be sure to shine a spotlight on the winner! You’ve put a lot of time and effort into this giveaway and contest, and most likely the winner also spent a lot of time promoting the give away for you. Depending on the product, you might consider sharing a photo of the winner with the prize. One company, Dream Giveaway, dedicates an entire page to show off all their past prize winners!

This can help create social proof for you business, as well as be an exciting way to get more entries into your future giveaway!

Conclusion
Now that we’ve taken a look at how to grow your business with giveaways and viral contests, what are you waiting for? Run a giveaway and launch your business growth!

Questions, comments, or ideas about giveaways, contests, or prizes? Drop a comment down below!