New Update: Boost Social Proof with Reviews & Automation
Introducing RafflePress's new leave-a-review giveaway actions. Boost customer engagement and build trust effortlessly by incentivizing reviews in WordPress.
New Update: Boost Social Proof with Reviews & Automation
Stacey Corrin
Stacey Corrin
John Turner
John Turner
Want to know the secret to a successful giveaway? It’s all about the prize! In this guide, I’ll share my top giveaway prize ideas that are proven to make your giveaways go viral – no matter your business or budget.
Giveaways are a fantastic way to make a splash online and grow your business. Not only will your lucky winner be thrilled, but you can also:
And as I already mentioned, the secret is offering amazing prizes your audience can’t resist.
Here’s the deal. To create a buzz, your prize needs to be two things:
Choosing the right prize takes a little planning, but don’t worry – I’ve got you covered. Read on for viral giveaway prize ideas that’ll make your next contest a massive success.
Since this is a lengthy article with tons of excellent ideas, here’s a table of contents to guide you through the top giveaway prize ideas that work:
Ready? Let’s dive in…
There are a few contest prize ideas that will always be year-round crowd-pleasers. If you’re looking for awesome prize ideas that appeal to a broad audience, see these 3 tried-and-true solutions:
Any of these are ideal for a general audience. But if you want to target a more specific audience with your prizes, keep reading.
New Year’s is the perfect time to host a giveaway. Everyone’s feeling motivated for a fresh start and ready to celebrate. The ideas we just covered are great for gaming communities like Discord or a simple social media giveaway, but there are plenty of other awesome New Year’s prizes to get people excited:
Valentine’s Day is another popular holiday for giveaways. That’s why it’s pretty easy to come up with great Valentine’s Day prizes that people will love, including:
Goodreads really nails it with their Valentine’s Day giveaway. They know their audience loves books, so offering a book-themed giveaway prize is a guaranteed win.
Plus, it’s a great reminder that Valentine’s Day giveaways don’t have to be just for couples. Giving away a prize that a winner can share with a friend is a fun twist.
Easter is all about bringing families together to eat, play, and spend time with one another. Some great Easter contest prize ideas include:
You can run a successful contest by giving away 4th of July prizes like these:
When people enter your Halloween contest, they’ll get a treat, not a trick. Here are some scary good Halloween giveaway prize ideas that everyone will love:
A bundle of scary movies is a great small prize idea to get people in the Halloween spirit. You could give away a bundle of classic horror movies as Classic Movie Hub did below, or you could create a package with kid-friendly Halloween movies so that the whole family can enjoy the prize.
Give thanks to your customers by holding a Thanksgiving contest with great prizes for them. Here are some Thanksgiving giveaway prize ideas you can use as inspiration:
This giveaway from GiftTree offers a $50 gift card to help winners prepare for Thanksgiving. Wouldn’t that be one of the best contest prizes ever?
There’s no time more popular for giveaways and contests than Christmas. With the hustle and bustle of this busy season, people will jump for joy at the chance to enter.
Here are some festive Christmas giveaway prize ideas:
Pro Tip: Christmas ornaments make great cheap giveaway ideas if you’re on a tight budget.
As the weather warms and nature comes alive, embrace the spirit of renewal with spring-themed giveaways. These giveaway prizes will resonate with people eager to refresh their homes, gardens, and wardrobes:
Aside from specific holidays, you can also hold seasonal contests. Summer is a season that almost everyone gets excited about, so help your customers and your target audience get ready for summer with these summer giveaway prize ideas:
Embrace the cozy vibes and festive spirit of fall with giveaways that celebrate the season’s warmth and charm.
Before winter, people need to prepare for the cold weather. Help them out by offering up some wonderful winter essentials like these giveaway prize ideas:
Everyone dreams of a getaway. Travel-related prizes are a surefire way to create excitement and attract a large audience to your giveaway.
Whether you’re a travel company or a brand looking to capitalize on wanderlust, these giveaway prize ideas will spark some ideas.
For ecommerce businesses, running a giveaway or contest is a great way to drive traffic to your website, raise awareness, generate more leads, and increase sales.
Let’s take a look at some ecommerce contest prize ideas that will have people rushing to your website to enter.
For instance, KnivesShipFree.com ran a successful contest with its product as the prize. This simple giveaway was able to turn thousands of window shoppers into email subscribers and generate over $10,000 in sales.
You could offer personalized products with the winner’s name printed or engraved on them, or let the winner choose a custom color or design. For example, this giveaway prize is a ring personalized with the winner’s fingerprint. Gift prizes like this add a personal yet unique touch.
You could also offer the following contest prize ideas:
Check out how Viking Books holds a giveaway for a new book release with this giveaway image.
The winner will love being one of the first people to get their hands on the new product, and the rest of your audience will be encouraged to purchase it. It’s also worth noting the use of a branded hashtag. This improves the social media contest’s reach and makes it easier for users to find.
A women’s fashion giveaway is a buzz-worthy idea for ecommerce and retail businesses. A grand prize of stylish new clothing will attract a large audience of people looking to spruce up their own or a loved one’s wardrobe.
Take a look at these perfect prize ideas for women’s fashion:
Popular wedding prizes include a free wedding dress, accessories such as shoes and jewelry, or dresses for the bridesmaids.
Women’s fashion prizes create a buzz, but so do men’s. Guys can get a free style update, or their loved ones can treat them to a special gift, meaning you can introduce your business to a bunch of new people.
Here are some cool giveaway prize ideas for the men’s fashion category:
For example, see this giveaway from The Groomsman Suit.
Contests held by hospitality businesses (hotels, spas, restaurants, travel, tourism, etc.) are extremely popular because the grand prize winner isn’t just winning a physical item; they’re winning an experience they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.
Here are some wonderful giveaway prize ideas for hospitality businesses that will result in super successful contests:
For instance, take a look at this fantastic 8-day Greek vacation for 2 giveaway from Kasandrinos:
A free giveaway vacation for 2 is the ultimate prize for many people. People will enter a contest like this as many times as they can to increase their chances of winning.
Plus, providing a luxury experience for the grand prize winners can get you more customers. They’ll tell all their friends and family how unique the experience was, creating viral word-of-mouth marketing for your business.
If you’re a blogger, you can hold giveaways, too.
Running a contest on your blog is an effective way to grow your email list and promote your content. But it’s essential to choose the right prize to attract your target audience.
Let’s take a look at some of the best giveaway prizes for bloggers:
See this course bundle giveaway example from Morgan Nield, which helps people create an online store on Etsy and beyond.
After offering a prize like this, enrollment in your course is bound to skyrocket.
Any parent knows that children are expensive; they need diapers, toys, food, a crib, a car seat, school supplies, and so much more. Because of these expenses, contests for kids and infants are incredibly popular with parents.
Hosting a giveaway with prizes for children is a great way to target parents to build your email list and generate more leads. See these attention-grabbing contest prize ideas for kids and infants:
Here are some more back to school giveaway ideas to check out.
The health and fitness industry is booming, and many people are interested in getting in shape and creating a healthier lifestyle.
Take a look at these irresistible fitness-related giveaway prize ideas:
You could offer one free class, three free classes, or as many as you want. To encourage more people to participate in the contest, give them the option to choose what type of class they want free passes to.
As a B2B business, you’re all about pleasing your existing clients and attracting new ones, so a prize that relates to your product or service is especially important. A B2B giveaway is also a great tool for attracting new leads, as long as you get their contact and business info when they enter.
Here are some solid B2B contest prize ideas your business can use:
If your company designs business cards and other promotional items, this is an easy prize to offer. But if you don’t design and produce marketing materials, simply partner up with the company that provides your business cards, for instance.
Remember to tweet your contest and share it on other social media channels to increase entries.
For service-based businesses, it’s all about getting more clients through your doors, and repeat business is incredibly important. Hairstylists, landscapers, mechanics, and other similar service businesses can all benefit from hosting an outstanding giveaway.
Refer to these giveaway prize ideas for service businesses that are bound to attract your new clientele:
For instance, if you have a car wash company, a year of free services might only be 12 free services, 1 car wash every month.
Running a contest is a terrific way to boost subscribers for subscription-based businesses, such as subscription boxes or software services.
Check out some of these giveaway and contest ideas that your subscription-based business can hand out:
Photo contests are a popular type of contest on social media. Many companies like Starbucks hold photo contests to promote their products and get more user-generated content. As a professional photographer, you can hold a social media photo contest to promote your business as well. What would you give away as a prize? Professional photos done by you, of course.
See these great photo prize ideas you can give away in your next contest:
As we mentioned earlier, people love their pets. If you’re in the pet industry, holding a contest for animal lovers will attract attention and generate more sales.
Here are some pet care prize ideas for your next giveaway:
A house is the biggest purchase people will make in their lives, so it’s important to take care of it. Because of this, real estate and home decor giveaways are very popular.
Take a look at these sweet real estate and home decor grand prize giveaway ideas:
I particularly love this home makeover prize example from Aaron’s. The high value is super attractive, especially for users wanting to kit out their home on a budget.
Virtual events such as online conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions are the norm nowadays. Just like in-person events, giveaways are a great way to combat the isolation people may feel.
Take a look at these giveaway prize ideas that are ideal to for virtual and online events. You can even use these as contest prize ideas for work events.
To promote your event, have a look at these top WordPress event calendar plugins.
The restaurant industry is a competitive space, and giveaways are an excellent way to attract new customers, engage with existing ones, and create buzz around your brand. Here are some prize ideas for the restaurant industry:
I hope that you now have a ton of exciting contest prize ideas that will help you make your next giveaway a massive success!
But remember, you can’t just post the announcement on your website and expect people to enter.
You’ve got to promote your giveaway like crazy to ensure as many people see it and enter it as possible. See these helpful tips for promoting your contest:
For lots more ideas, see our roundup of proven contest promotion ideas.
When the entries start rolling in, you might be wondering how you randomly pick a winner.
Randomly picking a winner so that your contest is fair and everyone gets equal chances to win is important. That’s why we recommend using RafflePress. RafflePress makes it easy to organize your giveaways and automatically picks a random winner for you.
To get started, see our step-by-step guide on how to create an online contest.
To choose the right giveaway prize for your target audience, first determine their demographics, interests, and preferences. Then, select a prize that is relevant, appealing, and valuable to them. It’s also a good idea to ensure that the prize aligns with your brand or product offerings.
Yes, you can offer cash prizes for your giveaway or contest. Many people find cash prizes appealing because they offer flexibility and can be used for anything. However, it’s essential to check the legal requirements and regulations in your region before offering cash as a prize.
Unique prize ideas for a contest may include experiential prizes (e.g., a weekend getaway, spa day, or hot air balloon ride), limited-edition or personalized products, access to exclusive events, or a chance to meet a celebrity or influencer. The key is to find a prize that is both memorable and relevant to your target audience.
To determine the budget for your contest prize, consider factors such as your marketing budget, the overall value of the prize, and the potential return on investment (ROI) the contest may generate. Also, consider the cost of shipping and handling for physical prizes, as well as any taxes or fees associated with the prize.
That’s it! You’ve got everything you need to run a successful contest. Use these wonderful contest prize ideas to help your giveaway go viral and generate more traffic, leads, and sales for your business.
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What is Best Free Landpage provide that you recommend for Giveaways promotions?
Hi Ima,
RafflePress comes with a built-in giveaway landing page you can use to publish and promote your giveaway. You can learn how it works in our documentation here. Alternatively you can see examples of our giveaway landing pages in action here. If you need any more help, do feel free to reach out again!
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Is there some software included to pick the winner? Or does the business owner just pick one? Is the list of entries separate from the regular email list?
Hello,
To pick a winner, you can use our feature. See this article: https://rafflepress.com/docs/giveaway-drawing-winners/
You can randomly select a winner using our feature.
Entries and users are separated. You can export all your users and all your entries into a CSV file.
Let me know should you have any more questions.
Best Regards,
will you guys be able to integrate with klaviyo soon?
Hi Katherine, I’ve added your suggestion to our feature requests.
oh no… you don’t work with Klaviyo? That’s a deal-breaker for me I guess. We want people to enter a giveaway but signing up for our newsletter. Is there a workaround for this?
Hello,
Unfortunately, we don’t have Klaviyo integration at the moment. It has been added to our feature list to look into.
The only option for Klaviyo to work is by using our Zapier Integration. See here: https://rafflepress.com/docs/zapier/
Best Regards,
Why does this page not include information about legalese required for holding contests, giveaways, and raffles?… there’s no mention of registration or tax filing..
Hi Robert,
The legal requirements for holding raffles and contests are different for many countries. Since we’re not legal experts, we recommend checking the rules with your local authority.
Hi there! Thank you for the amazing article! It’s very useful and informative. I loved the way you have categorized the ideas according to days and date.
Thanks for the feedback, we really appreciate it!
I will love to see how this works