Holding A Facebook Giveaway

One of the biggest issues I see with Facebook giveaways, when done by agents, is the product they are giving away. When doing a giveaway, you want to give away a product that matches the demographic and niche you want to work in. Just picking a random gift card to a chain restaurant, or giving away a random electronic, is going to attract a lot of people that aren't going to be interested in following your content. Even if you got them to like your page. They'll do what needs to be done to win the product, but then will unfollow or never engage with your content after a winner has been selected. So you want to offset this by picking a product that is going to connect the best with your audience.

Facebook came up with the silliest rule that members cannot like your page itself, as a means of entry for the contest. However, you can have them like your post in order to be a part of it. So once they like your post, you can then invite them to like your page off of the post likes. (This can be done by clicking the number of likes on your post and then clicking the invite button next to each person's name.) 

You don't want too many call to actions or you'll lose out on a lot of participants. Keep your call to action to 2 requests. In this situation, have them like your post and submit their emails. I wouldn't recommend having followers write their emails in the comments of the post, because it opens them up to being spammed. So you can create a landing page for your giveaway to collect their emails, if you can't get a landing page put together, then I would recommend having them p.m. your business page their emails to participate in the contest. Do not ask members to share your post, that is against Facebook's (new) contest guidelines. 

- WHAT TO GIVEAWAY -

The giveaway prize, I recommend the most, is a thoughtfully put together gift basket. The array of products, that are niche based, create a bigger excitement for your followers, than a random gift card. When putting together a basket, you don't have to spend a lot of money. You can create something great for around $50. Make sure your basket is niche based. As we went over in the branding modules, it's imperative to create a brand around a specific niche, for faster success. So when you get your prize together, be sure you're focusing on who your followers are, and who you want them to be.

When setting up your ad, be sure it's visually captivating, and short and to the point. You want your call to action to be specific, and the results of winning simplified. Use a high quality image of your gift basket, with a plain back drop. This can be easily done with some white posters, natural daylight, and your smartphone. Get a good angle, and snap a few shots. Use the most appealing photo for the best results. You really want the photo to portray everything the basket offers, and who it's contents are focused towards. View a sample of a basket below:

Run your ad for a week, and spend about $25-$100 (or more.) Keep in mind, the bigger the ad spend, the more engagement and page growth you'll get. In your ad settings, make sure you are targeting demographics that fit your niche market. If you do an ad that isn't focused on your local market, and matching your page's niche, you'll end up getting terrible results. Don't forget to share it on your own page, and in local groups. This will be great exposure you don't have to pay for. If you are stuck, and can't come up with a gift basket idea for your niche, be sure to ask in our member's only Facebook group for some advice, and I'll be glad to help!