Hosting the Ultimate Brand Giveaway on Social: Small Investment, Big Returns

In the saturated realm of social media giveaways, with #giveaway amassing a staggering 47 million posts on Instagram, brands vie for audience engagement through short-term promotional campaigns. While the typical entry requirements involve generic actions like likes and follows, some are experimenting with more intricate demands, aiming to deepen the authenticity and intimacy of their connections with audiences. This thought-piece scrutinises the impact of complex entry barriers on user participation and emphasises the need for brands to align campaign goals with desired engagement levels. The strategic advantages of partnerships in giveaway campaigns are explored, emphasising the importance of maintaining brand consistency. The discussion extends to extreme giveaway investments, spotlighting AU Vodka's ambitious campaign, which offered a 120K Gold Lamborghini Huracán. The piece prompts reflection on the balance brands should strike between investment and return, underlining the potential for well-executed giveaways to significantly enhance follower count and brand visibility.

Giveaways and competitions are all over social with #giveaway amounting to 47,000,000 posts on Instagram. They are generally short-term promotional campaigns that involve an incentive (some sort of prize) for the public in exchange for social interaction. Brands take the opportunity to ‘give back’ to their audience, simultaneously benefiting from the surge of reach, interactions and followers that these competitions bring. 

Barriers to enter campaigns vary hugely. Along with the generic like, tag, follow requirements, we have noticed some brands asking more of their audience. Last Christmas, TUI asked hopeful entrants to write a letter to Santa on their website to propose why they should be chosen to win a holiday. This adds to the authenticity of the campaign, it becomes more intimate between the brand and the audience, and the process of selecting winners feels more authentic.

The question is, do these affect willingness to enter?

We’ve seen a drastic decline in the number of entries when requirements are complex or time consuming. When entering competitions, generally the public are happy to exchange a couple of seconds to like or comment. But longer application processes result in a much smaller pool of entrants. Before kicking off a giveaway campaign, brands should consider what they want from entrants: an authentic change to give back to their loyal audience? Possible high-quality user generated content? Or a huge surge in follower count and engagement? 

Another way to cultivate an exciting giveaway idea is to partner with another brand. Here at DN, we run a whole range of giveaway competitions and we’ve found partnering with two brands is a great way to optimise engagements by doubling up on reach. Our Breville X Marmite partnership performed particularly well last year, receiving a surge in engagements and spiking follower growth for both brands.

Image credit: Breville UK

An example we have seen and loved has been the collaboration between Krave Beauty and Zitsticka who were giving away a beauty package to entirely refresh your skincare routine. What made this so effective and beneficial for the brands was the use of an extra incentive. Five extra entries were added if hopefuls went over to TikTok and followed both accounts on there too. In this way, the Instagram reach would trickle over into TikTok and bring more traction to the additional platforms. 

Image credit: Krave Beauty

Whatever direction brands want to take their giveaways in, partnerships, and prizes should complement the brand – they shouldn’t crop up as seemingly random demands for engagement. So create a campaign that's consistent with your brand message, ethos and what you currently post on social. It will better resonate with your audience, strengthening your community and encourage new followers to stay.

But how far should you take giveaways?

While there is almost always some level of traction on posts offering any prize, some brands really invest in their prizes. In 2022, AU Vodka launched a huge campaign, giving away a 120K Gold Lamborghini Huracán. While this may seem excessive for a relatively new brand they explained their reasoning as, ‘Essentially, the potential return on Investment is so great that with every follower gained we estimate to an average return of £2. Additionally, the brand awareness the giveaway post will expose us to a fresh new audience and increase the potential for new members to join our loyal fanbase of consumers. 

They then added an additional barrier/benefit to entry – sharing the post to your Instagram story would count as an extra entry. This would have expanded the reach of the campaign hugely and contributed to the 58,000/52,000 likes/comments now on the original post.

While there is not an immediately obvious link between a Lamborghini and vodka, the company has considered its audience here. They promote a flash lifestyle full of planes, cars and grillz and collaborate with countless UK rappers like Tion Wayne and Russ – their audience would expect nothing less.

Taking AU’s mindset into account, investing a lot into giveaways and strategically aligning with partner brands has the potential to really grow your following and flood your brand with attention.

Image credit: AU Vodka