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How to Run a Giveaway on Facebook (Step-by-Step)

How to Do a Giveaway on Facebook (Step-by-Step)

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.

Want to learn how to do a giveaway on Facebook? And do you want to find a quick way to get more likes on your Facebook page and increase brand engagement?

Facebook giveaways and contests can help you reach those goals with minimal effort. Since Facebook is a great way to get people to visit your website, it makes sense to use it for your lead-generation efforts.

But it’s not easy getting your content seen in people’s feeds. So, today we’re sharing our step-by-step guide on how to do a giveaway on Facebook that’ll be sure to pop up in everyone’s news feed.

In This Guide:

Why Run a Giveaway on Facebook?

Running a giveaway on Facebook is an effective way to increase engagement and reach on the platform. Giveaways can help to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive website traffic. Additionally, they help to build community and foster loyalty among existing customers.

According to the Pew Research Center, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform among adults in the United States, with 69% of them using the network. Furthermore, statistics from Facebook show that over 200 million small businesses globally use their tools to connect with customers. 

Giveaways are a great way to increase the chances of many people seeing your page, and the more people see your page, the more likely they’ll follow you, leading to even more visibility and reach.

top social media platforms

Some popular reasons why businesses run Facebook giveaways include:

  • Get new Facebook followers
  • Increase engagement with your existing audience
  • Raise awareness of your Facebook business page
  • Promote new products or services

You can run contests on other social media sites like Instagram and Twitter, but Facebook giveaways are effective because Facebook is the most popular social media network.

If you’re trying to reach the most people, Facebook is the best platform. It doesn’t mean that giveaways on other platforms aren’t effective. Once you know the basics, you can run giveaways on other platforms simultaneously.

What Are the Facebook Giveaway Rules?

Before learning how to do a giveaway on Facebook, you need to understand the rules. Facebook has several guidelines for running a giveaway you should follow, such as:

  • You can only run Facebook contests from business accounts, not personal profiles.
  • You should show your Facebook contest has no connection to or sponsorship from Facebook.
  • Ensure the official Facebook contest rules, terms, and entry requirements are visible on your giveaway.
  • Your Facebook contest promotions and prizes should align with applicable rules and regulations.
  • You cannot allow people to share or tag your contest to enter.

For a full run-down of these rules, check out our Facebook giveaway rules guide.

How to Do a Giveaway on Facebook: 7 Easy Steps

Now that you’re familiar with the rules, let’s dive into the exciting process of running a giveaway on Facebook step-by-step.

Step 1: Set Your Facebook Giveaway Goals

Before learning how to do a giveaway on Facebook, the first thing is to decide your goals. Your goals help you define the right strategy for your giveaway and measure the results at the end.

There are many goals to choose from, so think carefully about what you want to achieve.

Some potential giveaway goals could be:

  • Highlight a brand-new product.
  • Get more subscribers to your newsletter.
  • Increase traffic to your website.
  • Learn how to run a Facebook contest to increase likes.
  • Get feedback from your customers.
  • Get more Facebook Engagement.

Once you’ve decided on your giveaway goal, the next step is to determine what prize you’ll give to your Facebook giveaway winner.

Step 2: Choose a Giveaway Prize

Selecting a prize for your giveaway is the fun part of the process, and when you run a giveaway on Facebook, your prize must align with the goal of your contest.

For example, if you’re highlighting a new product, you could give one away to your audience, as Soak & Sleep did with the example below.

Soak & Sleep facebook giveaway

Alternatively, you could offer a bundle of goodies to the lucky winner based on the time of year or your giveaway theme (more on that coming up).

You should also tailor your prize to your target audience to make your giveaway exciting. Otherwise, users won’t find it enticing enough to enter.

Here’s how to tailor a prize to really excite your target audience:

  • Understand Your Audience: Consider their demographics, interests, and the problems your prize can fulfill. A busy parent might love a housekeeping service, while a jet setter would crave a luxurious weekend getaway.
  • Make it Relevant: Offer a prize directly related to their hobbies. A photography competition could award a new camera, while a baking contest might give away a top-of-the-line stand mixer.
  • Add “Wow” Factor: Is there a limited-edition item, an experience money can’t buy, or a meet-and-greet with a celebrity? Rarity adds excitement.

For even more prize ideas, check out this article.

Step 3: Run a Giveaway on Facebook With a Theme

Choosing a theme for your contest is a wonderful way to get people invested in your contest, especially when it’s a seasonal one.

Christmas giveaways, for example, are popular because people can grab a festive prize that might be perfect for gifting to a loved one.

Paper Christmas Facebook giveaway

Paper Christmas offers a stationery bundle for the best festive line drawing entry in this Facebook giveaway example. Isn’t that creative?

Here are some other giveaway themes you can try:

  • The best Easter bonnet giveaway.
  • A sizzling summer photo contest.
  • An Autumn interior design mood board giveaway.
  • A bundle of Black Friday goodies contest.

Have fun coming up with your theme. The more fun you have, the more fun your audience will have entering!

Learn how to run a Facebook photo contest here.

Step 4: Use a Facebook Giveaway Template

Our next step for learning to run a giveaway on Facebook is to decide how you’d like people to enter.

The entry method primarily depends on the goal of your contest. Let’s face it; there’s no point asking people to visit your Facebook Page if your goal is to get more newsletter subscribers.

RafflePress, the best tool for creating viral giveaways, makes choosing the method of entering simple. It has several pre-built contest templates, including a Facebook Giveaway Template, which automatically adds actions for people to take based on your overall goal.

Here’s how RafflePress compares to alternative giveaway tools:

RafflePressAlternatives
FocusWordPressBroader platforms
PriceFree & paidMostly Paid
Ease of UseBeginner-friendlyLearning curve
Facebook EntriesVisit/Watch/Like/ShareFewer options
Landing PagePaid plansRequire separate tool
WordPressDeep integrationLimited or separate plugin

Now, let’s see how it works.

First, you’ll need to grab a copy of RafflePress here. Next, install and activate the plugin, as highlighted in this guide for installing plugins in WordPress.

From the RafflePress icon, click Add New to create a new giveaway.

how to do a giveaway on facebook with RafflePress

On the next screen, you’ll be asked to choose a template. Click the Grow Your Facebook Page template to run a giveaway on Facebook.

Choose the grow your facebook page template to run a facebook contest to increase likes

The giveaway details page will appear next, showing you a preview of your contest. As you can see below, your giveaway already has several actions entrants can take, aligning perfectly with your goal.

The actions for a facebook giveaway

For the Facebook Page goal, the pre-set actions are:

  1. Visit Us On Facebook: paste your Facebook page URL for users to visit and follow your page.
  2. View Facebook Post / Video: paste a post or video URL to embed it directly inside the giveaway widget for users to view and enter without leaving your website.
Facebook post embed in rafflepress giveaway widget.

But you can easily add more actions based on your needs. As demonstrated in the above image, you could add the Refer-A-Friend action, which is a great way to go viral or get inventive by creating your own entry method.

The possibilities are endless!

Further Reading: How to Go Viral on Instagram: 12 Tips & Tricks

Step 5: Build Your Contest

Now, it’s time to put the finishing touches on your giveaway. This includes giving your giveaway a fantastic image, description, and rules.

Upload an Image

To upload an image to your RafflePress giveaway, click Insert Your Prize Image on your preview screen, as shown below.

insert your prize image in RafflePress

Then click the orange Select Image button to browse your media library or upload an image from your computer.

Select an image from your media library or computer

Add a Description

Now, with the same window open, click the description box to write an interesting description for your prize and giveaway.

Add a description for your rafflepress giveaway

Next, it’s time to give your contest some terms and conditions.

Add Your Facebook Giveaway Rules

RafflePress makes adding rules to your contest pretty easy too. To do this, go to Settings and click on Giveaway Rules.

Rafflepress giveaway rules option

This reveals a content box where you can enter the terms and rules for your giveaway. If you’re stuck on what to include, click the Rules Generator Template to open up a lightbox of questions to answer to use as a starting point.

RafflePress rules generator

When you’re happy, click Save.

It’s important to note that Facebook’s rules don’t let you require likes, sharing, tagging, etc., in exchange for giveaway entries which is why RafflePress’s Facebook Visit Page action has Likes marked as optional. Instead, you can use the Refer A Friend action to have people share your giveaway on Facebook.

With your contest built, it’s time to publish!

Step 6: Publish Your Giveaway on Facebook

Great work! You’re now at the stage where you can publish your giveaway on Facebook and share it with the world.

There are a few ways you can publish your Facebook contest, but we think the best way is to follow this process.

Publish Your Giveaway on a Landing Page

In RafflePress, you can publish your giveaway in two ways:

  1. Through a widget displayed in a blog post or page.
  2. On a dedicated website landing page.

We think when trying to conduct a giveaway on Facebook, the smart move is to publish your giveaway on a Landing Page because you can easily link to it in your initial Facebook post. Plus, it will send all that traffic to your website and your Facebook page.

Here’s how to do it.

From your RafflePress giveaway editor, click Publish. You’ll then see a new page with 3 options. Click the Giveaway Landing Page option. Then click the click here link to set up the permalink for the landing page.

Publish your rafflepress giveaway as a landing page

Now, enter your chosen URL parameters and click Save.

enter the url for your giveaway landing page

Pasting the URL you just created into your browser will show you the landing page of your giveaway. You can share this link with people so they can enter your contest.

Example of a landing page giveaway in RafflePress

Post the URL on Facebook

Now all you need to do is create an eye-catching Facebook post with the URL for your giveaway landing page.

Seedprod facebook giveaway example

Here’s a great example from SeedProd, who used the landing page option for their Black Friday contest on Facebook. You can see SeedProd’s giveaway results in this case study.

A good description, an excellent image, and a link to your landing page are all you need!

Step 7: Promote Your Facebook Contest

You can’t just sit around and wait for people to enter your contest. Instead, you should start promoting your contest to help spread the word.

A good contest marketing strategy will help your giveaway to go viral so you can grow your audience and generate as many leads as possible.

There are several ways to promote your Facebook contest. One of the easiest ways is to share it on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest and ask people to tag a friend in the comments section.

You can also promote your Facebook contest by:

  • Creating an email newsletter
  • Creating a popup with OptinMonster
  • Adding a link to your website home page
  • Submitting your giveaway post to contest and sweepstakes directories
  • Reaching out to relevant bloggers to mention your giveaway

Start promoting your contest weeks before it goes live to get tons of traffic and entries on day 1.

Step 8: Announce the Winner

After all that work that went into creating, publishing, and promoting your contest, the time will eventually come to announce the winner.

RafflePress has a super-easy way to do this with the automatic random winner generator. You can learn all about drawing winners in RafflePress here. Using this option takes the pain out of selecting a winner yourself manually. Even better, there’s a link you can click to email the winner right away.

Email giveaway winner in rafflepress

After announcing your winner, make sure you follow up to keep participants engaged and nurture them into loyal customers.

For example, you can create a celebratory announcement thanking everyone for participating. Share photos or videos of the winner receiving the prize (with permission, of course!).

Here’s an example from MCTV who shared winner photos on X. We love how they included their branded hashtags to improve their reach.

Similarly, you could reward everyone who entered with a special discount code, a free trial, or early access to a new product. This incentivizes them to explore your offerings further and potentially turn them into paying customers.

Analyzing Your Giveaway Results

Running a successful Facebook giveaway is just the first step. To maximize the impact and get valuable insights for future campaigns, you’ll need to analyze your results.

Here are some powerful tools to help you dissect your giveaway’s performance:

1. Dig Deeper with Google Analytics:

If you’ve integrated your Facebook page with Google Analytics, you can delve into website traffic generated by your giveaway.

Look for metrics like:

  • Traffic Source: See how many people visited your website after clicking the giveaway link on Facebook.
  • Landing Page Performance: Analyze which giveaway landing pages or product pages visitors engaged with the most.
  • Conversions: Track how many giveaway entries translated into actual sales or email signups, depending on your goals.

To make this even easier in WordPress, you can use a Google Analytics plugin like MonsterInsights. It pulls your analytics data and displays it inside your WordPress dashboard in easy-to-understand reports.

monsterinsights overview report

2. Leverage RafflePress’s Entries Report:

RafflePress offers an Entries Report that provides insights into participant behavior. You can see which entry actions resonated most with your users so you know what to use in future giveaways.

rafflepress giveaway entries report

3. Social Media Analytics for Reach and Engagement:

Both Facebook and other social media platforms offer built-in analytics tools.

facebook analytics

Use them to track key metrics like:

  • Reach: How many people saw your giveaway post?
  • Engagement: Track the number of likes, comments, and shares your giveaway generated. This helps gauge overall interest and brand awareness.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): See how many people clicked the giveaway link compared to those who just saw the post.

How to Do a Giveaway on Facebook FAQs

Can I run a giveaway on my personal Facebook profile?

According to Facebook’s guidelines, you should only run giveaways or contests through a Facebook Page or within a group managed by your Page. Running giveaways on personal profiles is against Facebook’s terms of service.

Can I ask participants to share the giveaway on their personal profiles as a condition of entry?

According to Facebook’s guidelines, you cannot require participants to share the giveaway on their personal profiles or tag their friends as a condition of entry. However, you can encourage participants to share the giveaway or invite their friends to participate.

How can I ensure my Facebook giveaway complies with Facebook’s rules and regulations?

To ensure compliance, review Facebook’s Pages, Groups, and Events Policies, as well as the Promotion Guidelines. Be transparent with your giveaway rules, prize details, and eligibility requirements. Additionally, include a clear release of Facebook from any responsibilities related to your giveaway in your terms and conditions.

Are there any restrictions on the type of prizes I can offer in a Facebook giveaway?

Facebook has certain restrictions regarding the prizes you can offer. You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and you cannot offer certain items like alcohol, tobacco, firearms, or other items that are regulated or restricted.

How long should my Facebook giveaway last?

The duration of your giveaway depends on your goals and the type of engagement you want to generate. Typically, giveaways can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Shorter durations often create a sense of urgency, while longer durations allow for more people to enter and share the giveaway.

And there you have it!

You’ve successfully learned how to run a Facebook contest to increase likes and engagement with hardly any effort. Now, you can enjoy engaging with all the new people who are now part of your audience.

If Instagram is more your thing, this guide for running giveaways on Instagram is pretty handy too. It has some great step-by-step instructions and excellent contest examples for inspiration.

We hope you liked this article. If you did, please follow us on YouTube for some great video tutorials. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter here.

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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