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20 Best Business Giveaway Ideas to Secure Loyal Customers

23 Best Giveaway Ideas for Businesses to Secure Loyal Customers

Written By: author image Stacey Corrin
author image Stacey Corrin
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.
     Reviewed By: John Turner
reviewer image John Turner
John Turner is the co-founder of RafflePress. He has over 20+ years of business and development experience and his plugins have been downloaded over 25 million times.

Looking for the best giveaway ideas for businesses?

If you want to transform your site visitors into loyal customers, a giveaway is one of the best ways to achieve your goal. This article will share the best small business giveaway ideas to secure customer loyalty and ultimately get more sales.

But before we share those ideas with you, it’s helpful to know why businesses do giveaways in the first place.

Why Should My Business Run a Giveaway?

Running a giveaway or contest is a great way to raise awareness about your business. And because contests are super engaging and cost very little to run, it’s an inexpensive way to reach your target audience and encourage them to interact with your brand.

With a contest or giveaway, business owners can achieve the following goals:

  • Grow your followers on social networks
  • Increase brand awareness and interest in your product
  • Grow your email list with targeted leads
  • Skyrocket traffic to your website
  • Generate more sales

Essentially, a successful giveaway is a quick way to grow your business.

Are Giveaways a Good Marketing Strategy?

While the theoretical benefits of giveaways are compelling, let’s look at some real-world examples of how giveaways have driven success for businesses:

  • Agile Marketing: They grew their email list by a staggering 52% in just two weeks with a giveaway campaign.
  • Smash Balloon: Increased their email list by over 3,584 subscribers using a giveaway.
  • OptinMonster: One giveaway brought them 3,500 new users.
  • WPForms: Grew their Facebook group membership by over 11,000 members through a well-executed giveaway.
  • SeedProd: Tripled their sales in a single month using a giveaway.

These case studies show the power of giveaways. When done right, they can significantly grow your email list, boost brand recognition, increase your social media following, and ultimately drive sales.

What are the Best Giveaway Ideas for Businesses?

The secret to running a great contest is coming up with the best giveaway ideas for your business. And we’ve got some great ideas to help you get up and running.

Since this article is pretty long, here’s a breakdown of the best contest ideas for businesses:

Ready to get started?

1. Photo Caption Contest

Photo caption giveaway ideas for businesses

A photo caption contest is a fun giveaway idea for businesses to get people engaged in your product or service. It works by posting a photo and challenging participants to write the best caption to go along with it.

The image could be your product in a funny setting or your team behind the scenes. Just be sure to keep it relevant to your audience so they’ll be interested.

You can then get people to enter by writing their captions in the comments, making it a giveaway idea ideal for posting on your blog or social networks.

2. Fill in the Blank

Another engaging giveaway idea for businesses that’s similar is asking your audience to fill in the blanks to enter the contest.

You can start by writing a simple sentence and leaving a blank space where a word should go. Entrants have to add their own words to complete the sentence.

Here’s an example:

“This product makes me ________in the shower” - Fill in the blank! What does it make you do?

This is a great way to get people thinking about your products. You could even offer a free version of the product as the prize.

3. Customize a Product Contest

Customize a product giveaway ideas for businesses

A super-effective way to promote products to your audience is to ask them to customize your product for a chance to win the contest. This is a fun way for people to show off their creativity while keeping your brand top of mind.

You could even ask participants to vote for their favorite design once you’ve created a shortlist of potential winners.

Using RafflePress, the best giveaway plugin for WordPress, makes running a voting contest easy. Choose the Polls and Surveys action to allow people to choose their favorite submission.

RafflePress polls and surveys action giveaway ideas for businesses

Then the person with the most votes wins!

The good thing about extending your giveaway is that it still generates engagement after people have submitted their entries.

If you have the budget, a great prize idea is to offer a fully customized version of the product to the winner.

4. Tell a Story Giveaway

People love the opportunity to tell a story, so why not use this as a way for people to enter your giveaway? This is a valuable way for small business owners to generate a buzz. Especially if the stories people tell are about the services you offer.

Have people enter the contest by sharing how they first heard about you. Or the story could be about how your product or service helped them improve their lives. You can then pick a winner based on the most compelling story or choose a winner at random.

5. Submit a Photo Contest

Photo contests are low-cost giveaway ideas for businesses that help you collect user-generated content and are a great way to engage your audience by getting them to participate. You can choose a theme related to your business or even have participants share a photo of themselves with your products.

RafflePress even has a Submit an Image Action to make gathering image submissions simple.

Photo contest using RafflePress's giveaway ideas for businesses

Even better, it solves 2 problems with a single solution:

  1. You won’t need to collect image entries from multiple sites and social networks. Instead, they’ll all be in one place.
  2. You can drive heaps of traffic by hosting the giveaway on your website.

So if one of your main goals is to increase site traffic, running a social media photo contest is the ideal solution.

6. Share a Video Giveaway

submit a video giveaway ideas for businesses

Like photo contests, running a video contest works well to get people excited. But where video contests shine is when they’re used alongside video submission sites like YouTube.

For example, let’s say you want to get more subscribers on YouTube. A smart move for this goal would be to run a giveaway that asks people to submit a video to enter. Participants could then unlock more entries by visiting your YouTube channel and watching one of your videos.

But what would they include in their videos? Entrants could video themselves talking about your product. Or, to be even more creative, they could design an advertisement for your product. With these online giveaway ideas for businesses, the options are limitless!

Want to really get your audience involved with your business? Then why not have them make some of the decisions for you?

Picking a new logo, for example, isn’t easy. But getting your audience to help you choose will make them feel more invested and play a large part in securing their loyalty.

By posting the different logo options and polling your audience for their favorite version, you can make this happen. Then the logo with the most votes will be the winner.

As a thank you to everyone who entered with the winning choice, you could offer a gift card to spend on your site.

8. Answer Brand Trivia Giveaway

Trivia giveaway ideas for businesses

How about you pitch your customers against each other in a brand trivia giveaway? This is the perfect giveaway idea for businesses to find out who your most loyal fans are while offering a way to reward them for that loyalty.

First, put together a list of questions about your business. Then ask participants to submit their answers which you can easily do with the Answer a Question action. Then you can pick the winner from all valid answers.

Answer a question  giveaway ideas for businesses

9. Spot the Difference Giveaway

Another giveaway idea for businesses is to ask people to spot the difference between 2 almost identical images.

spot the difference giveaway ideas for businesses

This is particularly useful if your business offers graphic-heavy products or services. Design agencies, for instance, would have no trouble putting this contest together. And it provides the perfect opportunity for your team to show off their skills.

The person who spots the most differences could win a money-off coupon code or even a free design session.

10. Limited Time Giveaway Ideas for Businesses

Giveaways that run for a limited time are the perfect way to create a sense of urgency amongst your audience. For instance, a high value and desirable prize, coupled with limited time to enter the contest, makes people fear they’re going to miss out, which spurs them on to enter.

Limited time giveaway ideas for businesses

Add a countdown timer into the mix, and people will be scrambling to participate.

11. Schedule a Regular Contest

A scheduled contest can create the same kind of buzz. Instead of a one-off giveaway, you can run an online contest regularly to reward loyal customers.

An easy way to do this is to run a giveaway every month and use the Automatic Entries action in RafflePress. All people will have to do is visit your giveaway and sign up without doing anything extra.

automatic entries action you can use in rafflepress

To ensure only customers enter, you could publish the contest on a landing page and only share the URL with customers via email.

12. Name the Product Contest

These giveaway idea for businesses are perfect if you’re about to launch a new product and want to raise awareness around it. All you need to do is create a contest where people have to create a catchy product name to enter.

You could promote the giveaway by sharing the best suggestions on social media as they come in. And as for the prize, winners could receive the product in question.

13. Create a Slogan Contest

Create a slogan giveaway ideas for businesses

Need to do some market research for your local business and want to find out what people are looking for in your brand? Asking your audience to develop a slogan is a great way to get the local community involved. You could then have the community vote on their top 5 slogans and offer prizes to the winners.

14. Make a Hashtag Contest

Hashtag contests on instagram

Hashtag contests are terrific if you’re running a social media giveaway and want your business to stand out. This type of giveaway is ideal for Twitter, Instagram giveaways, and other social networks that use hashtags extensively.

But what is a hashtag contest?

A Hashtag contest is where you ask people to post on social media using a specific hashtag during a certain time frame. Then winners are drawn at random from among the verified entries.

The time limit creates a feeling of urgency, while the hashtag makes your brand much more visible on each social media network you use. Want to take your business giveaway ideas to the next level? Learn more about the best giveaway hashtags to use in this guide.

15. Take an Online Quiz

online quiz giveaway ideas for businesses

Quizzes are a fantastic way to increase conversion rates, but it’s essential to understand your audience well to make quizzes work. For instance, if your audience loves beauty and fashion, they probably won’t be interested in a quiz about football.

So analyze your audience and create a quiz they’ll genuinely love. Then on the last page of the quiz, you can add your giveaway.

The result for you is more information about your customers and the chance of winning a fantastic prize for your audience.

16. Guess the Object Game

Guess the object games are business giveaway ideas focused on boosting brand loyalty. To run one, you can post an obscured image of one of your products and ask people if they are familiar enough with your brand to guess what it is.

The winner could be the first person to guess the answer correctly, or you could draw the winner randomly from all correct answers.

You can even use this idea to run an Instagram giveaway.

17. Spin the Wheel Giveaway Ideas for Businesses

Spin the wheel giveaway ideas for businesses

A spin-the-wheel contest is a fantastic way to encourage optins to your email list, which is another way to nurture customer loyalty.

The way it works is participants enter their email addresses for a chance to spin the prize wheel and be in with the chance of winning them. It’s a fun way for entrants to participate, and if they win, the sense of achievement will make them feel amazing.

This guide shows you how to create a Spin to Win optin easily.

18. Run a Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are another way local businesses can get their local community involved with their brand. You can hide objects in and around your business location and have participants post pictures when they find them.

Alternatively, if your business doesn’t have a physical location, you can hide graphics around your website for people to spot and have them take screenshots as proof. Then you could offer a bundle of prizes to the top 3 winners.

19. Nominate a Winner Giveaway

Nominate a winner giveaway ideas for businesses

These creative giveaway ideas for businesses are a way for your audience to perform an act of kindness for someone else. To enter, they have to nominate someone they think deserves to win, and the winning nominee can receive a special prize related to your brand in return.

You can use the RafflePress Invent Your Own action to set this type of contest up. Just ask people to leave the name of the person they’re nomination and a brief description of why they deserve to win.

Invent your own contest entry action

Alternatively, you can ask them to comment on your blog or social media and paste the comment URL as proof.

20. Product Launch Giveaway Ideas for Businesses

One of the best ways to build a buzz around a new product is to run a promotional giveaway before the launch date. The prize can be an advance copy of the product.

Doing a contest like this can help you build a stronger relationship with your customers. After all, they’ll be in with a chance of getting their hands on something no one else has yet. Just make sure you promote the giveaway effectively. These contest promotion ideas for businesses will help with that.

21. Offer a Free Gift with Every Purchase

Encourage a wave of purchases with an irresistible offer: a free gift with every purchase. This strategy delights your customers and adds an element of surprise to their shopping experience.

Free gift with every purchase business giveaway idea

Whether it’s a complementary product or a sample of your latest offering, this gesture can boost customer satisfaction and drive immediate sales. It’s a win-win: customers feel valued, and your products get the spotlight they deserve.

22. Discount Vouchers for the Next Purchase

Keep the momentum going by offering discount vouchers for customers’ next purchases. This clever tactic thanks them for their current purchase but also gives them a reason to return.

It’s a gentle nudge towards building loyalty and ensuring that your brand stays top of mind. Tailor these discounts to match your customers’ interests, and you’ll see them coming back, voucher in hand, ready for their next delightful find.

23. Partner With Other Businesses

Expand your reach and tap into new audiences by partnering with other businesses for your giveaway. This collaborative approach introduces your products to a wider audience while offering a diverse and appealing prize package.

Giveaway with prizes from business partners

Choose partners whose products or services complement yours, ensuring the partnership feels cohesive and aligned with your brand values. This strategy broadens your exposure but also fosters community and cooperation among local businesses.

How to Run a Business Giveaway

RafflePress best WordPress giveaway plugin

You can run a business giveaway easily with RafflePress, the Best WordPress giveaway plugin. It only takes a few minutes to set up a giveaway contest, customize it with your actions that meet your marketing goals, and launch it to your audience.

Get started with RafflePress today!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a giveaway in business?
A giveaway in business is a promotional strategy where businesses offer prizes or rewards in exchange for customer engagement. This engagement could involve actions like following social media pages, signing up for an email list, sharing a post, or referring friends. Giveaways are a fantastic way to generate excitement, raise brand awareness, and attract potential customers.
What is the difference between a gift and a giveaway?
Gifts are given freely, with no strings attached. They’re often used to show thanks or celebrate something special.

Giveaways are like contests. You offer a prize, and people do something (like follow you on social media) for a chance to win. They help businesses get more attention and customers.
Why do customers like gifts from companies?
Customers appreciate gifts because they feel valued, create a sense of reciprocity, provide a delightful surprise, and can sometimes offer a feeling of exclusivity. This positive experience strengthens customer loyalty and their overall perception of your company.
Do giveaways increase followers?
Yes, giveaways can significantly increase followers. By offering a desirable prize and requiring actions like following your social media accounts or sharing your content to enter, giveaways attract new people to your profiles. The excitement of a potential win encourages them to follow, boosting your follower count and expanding your reach.

We’ve come to the end of the best giveaway ideas for businesses to secure loyal customers. Now all that’s left is for you to create an online giveaway yourself.

If you’re going to take our advice and run a photo contest, this step-by-step guide will get you started.

For even more marketing ideas for businesses, check out the following guides:

We hope you found this article helpful. And if you did, check out our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

author avatar
Stacey Corrin Writer
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.

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Comments

  1. Tha k you so much! I’m starting a new Facebook business, but am on a very tight budget, and these are wonderful ideas!

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