Hosting Giveaways On Your Blog

Recently I have been asked quite a few questions about when, why, and how to start offering Giveaways on your blog! I remember when I was just starting out and I asked the same questions. There wasn’t much out there about the topic so I just jumped in, emailed people, and learned from experience! I just want to go over some of the most common giveaway related questions that I get and share with you my answers. I do not know everything (obviously) but I love passing on what I do know! My prayer is that it will help you be a confident, engaging, and informed blogger!

WHY ARE GIVEAWAYS IMPORTANT?

I love giveaways! I love to enter them, I love to host them, and I love to win them. Everyone loves free things and it is a great way to encourage your readership to engage with you! Most of your readership will not comment on your posts but when you offer a giveaway, you are inviting your readers in! They can comment, follow you on Facebook, join your email newsletters, follow you on Instagram, share the giveaway, etc. It broadens your reach.

Also, they are wonderful ways to say thank you to your readers! I know you value the people who read your blog (no matter how large or how small that number is) and it is pretty impossible to say thank you & give gifts to each individual person. When you host a giveaway on your blog, you give your readers the opportunity to win something! It is a fun and practical way to give back!

WHAT TYPES OF GIVEAWAYS ARE OUT THERE?

Group Giveaways
Group giveaways are the giveaways that you see going on that involve a group of bloggers like this one I just did with Rivers & Roads or my monthly Crush of the Month Giveaways. These giveaways are a group of bloggers coming together to pitch in for one big prize. Some sponsorship opportunities automatically included you in a group giveaway (my Crush of the Month Giveaways) so there is no additional pitch in but everyone gets a link in the giveaway. Other group giveaways are organized by one blogger and people are invited to be part of the giveaway by pitching in a certain amount for a link and additional links (these links are things like follow on facebook, twitter, instagram, bloglovin, etc)

These types of giveaways are fun because you are able to give away a much larger prize than normal – the benefit of working together! If you are interested in hosting your first group giveaway, I encourage you to do so! You can see if you like that. I have included some google doc examples of the forms and emails that I use when asking people to join me! Please use them as a reference as you prepare your group giveaway!

Group Giveaway Email Example: HERE
Group Giveaway Form Example: HERE

Sponsored Giveaways
These are giveaways when shops reach out to you to have a giveaway on your blog. This may be because you have a giveaway option on your sponsorship page or because they found your blog and wanted to sponsor a giveaway. As your demand grows, you can start charging for that sponsored giveaway on your blog. But if you are a smaller blogger and new to giveaways, I encourage you to ask for the product that you are giving away as payment for your time.

Invitational Giveaways
An invitational giveaway is a giveaway where you reach out to a company that you love and ask them if they are willing to participate in a giveaway on your blog. As a rule of thumb, I never ask for payment if I am reaching out to ask them to be a part of a review and giveaway. I do often ask for a review so that I get the product as well and it creates an authentic place on your blog because you have personally tried the things you are giving away.

When you are emailing companies, make sure to send emails with confidence and organization. Make sure you check out my five steps to format a professional email!

Things You Giveaway
The last type of giveaway is something that you personally want to giveaway. In these giveaways you host the giveaway and also provide the product to giveaway. Maybe you have an etsy shop and want to promote it by giving away one of your items on your blog – that is a great way to do a giveaway. If you don’t have a shop but still want to do something fun, you can buy a $15 Starbucks card and your favorite mug to giveaway on your blog. These are common when you just start offering giveaways or around special events (like product launches for your etsy OR you ask your readers to answer some survey questions and giveaway a Starbucks gift card as an incentive to answer)

WHEN CAN I START OFFERING GIVEAWAYS ON MY BLOG?

The wonderful answer to this question is: AS SOON AS YOU WANT! Isn’t that exciting?! No matter what size your blog is, you can still thank you readers & grow your reach by hosting a giveaway. You may not have emails pouring in but you can do a couple things to start you on the giveaway journey!

1. Create a Sponsorship/ Advertising page for your blog. Even if you do not want to worry about side bar ads, this is the best place to put a note reaching out to bloggers & shop owners. Let them know you love doing giveaways and reviews and leave your email address for inquiries.
2. Giveaway something from your shop or something that you love. If you have never done a giveaway before this is a great first giveaway! It will encourage your readers to follow you on your social medias and grow your reach.
3. Host a group giveaway. Send an email to the blogs you read and the bloggers you interact with inviting them to be part of a giveaway with you.

HOW DO I ORGANIZE A GIVEAWAY?

Depending on the type of giveaway you are hosting the exact organization of the giveaway will vary but the important thing to remember is: Plan, Schedule, and Post.

PLAN the giveaway. Figure out the details, who is involved, and what is being given away.

SCHEDULE the giveaway. Put it on your calender and make sure everyone involved knows the date as well. Make sure you don’t have multiple giveaways over lapping because it takes away from the giveaways – they are not as special. I always host my giveaways on Friday and run them for one week so that they never overlap.

POST the giveaway.  This is the exciting part. Use pictures and share what is being given away. Get your readers excited about the opportunity. I run all my giveaways with Rafflecopter because it is a wonderful way to organize all the links and it is free!