Despite being one of the older social sharing platforms, YouTube remains very popular. If you’re new to YouTube or just looking to grow your subscriber list, hosting a giveaway is a great way to attract and engage a new audience.
What is a YouTube Giveaway?
A YouTube giveaway gives your subscribers a chance to win something for free. If you can, offer something exclusive, such as a customized piece or a chance to meet with you one-on-one in person or over a video conferencing platform. For example, Zach Hsieh of the YouTube channel ZHC is known for taking high-end devices and custom hand-painting them. He then gives these items away. His videos show his decorating process. In one of his giveaways, he customized 100 Nintendo Switch consoles and gave them to followers and subscribers. Other times, he gives them away to other influencers like Charli D’Amelio. Those who receive the giveaways will likely post about them on social media, attracting their friends and followers to Zach’s channel.
You can even use a YouTube giveaway if YouTube is just one channel of your marketing campaign and not your main product. Matt Haugen, the founder and CEO of Haugen Racing, wanted to host a giveaway when his YouTube channel reached 100,000 subscribers. He realized that his YouTube audience, most teenagers or young adults, might not follow his other social profiles or subscribe to his email list. Matt partnered with Kickofflabs to host a giveaway via YouTube that helped him nearly quadruple his mailing list. You can read more about it in our case study.
What are the Benefits of Running a Giveaway on YouTube?
If you have a large following on YouTube but a mediocre following on other platforms, a YouTube giveaway can help you grow your audiences outside of the platform. This works best if you require participants to subscribe, sign up for your newsletter, and follow you on all your other channels before they enter. Collaborating with another brand or creator can also get you in front of their audiences.
Types of YouTube Giveaways
There are a few different ways to giveaway a prize on YouTube. A sweepstakes is the easiest for your viewers to enter and for you to select a winner. The most effective way to use sweepstakes to boost engagement is to offer participants multiple entries for different actions, like signing up for your email list, referring friends to the contest, or following you on Instagram. A platform like Kickofflabs can keep track of entrants and their actions for you and select the winner at the end. The winner will be randomly selected, but the more actions users complete, the better their chances will be.
It might seem easy just to host a contest where users comment directly on your video for a chance to win. However, we would recommend against this. If your contest is successful, you could potentially receive millions of entries. If you use a comment-to-win format, you will have to review each comment to ensure there are no duplicates and that entrants have followed all the rules. This is extremely time-consuming.
You can also ask users to create videos, images, or other content to enter. Then, you can either select the winner yourself or ask other viewers to vote for their favorite. Before running any contest or giveaway on YouTube, read YouTube’s policies and guidelines and check your local giveaway laws. For example, if your contest video uses copyrighted material, it may be flagged for removal or demonetized.
How to Run a Successful YouTube Giveaway
Set a Goal for Your Giveaway Campaign
A giveaway is a marketing campaign, and just like any other marketing campaign, you will be most successful if you start out with a specific, measurable goal you want to achieve. “Increase engagement” is too general. Instead, select a metric for measuring engagement, such as email subscribers or Instagram followers. Then define how much you would like to increase engagement. You can choose a flat number (reach 20,000 subscribers) or a relative increase (double my current Instagram following).
Launch the Giveaway With KickoffLabs
What type of giveaway you are hosting will help you determine the best platform to use. If you’re looking for a reliable and user-friendly platform to host your YouTube giveaway, KickoffLabs is your ultimate solution.
You can easily create a captivating landing page using our Youtube Giveaway template that showcases your giveaway, enticing visitors to participate and subscribe to your YouTube channel. KickoffLabs offers seamless integration with YouTube, allowing you to verify entries and ensure a fair selection process.
The platform also provides advanced Youtube actions, enabling contestants to spread the word about your giveaway across social media platforms, while maximizing your channel’s visibility and engagement.
With KickoffLabs’ comprehensive analytics and tracking tools, you can monitor the success of your giveaway in real-time, gaining valuable insights to optimize your strategy. Say goodbye to the complexities of hosting a YouTube giveaway and say hello to KickoffLabs for a seamless and rewarding experience. Check out how a top KickoffLabs user, Hagen Racing, grew their channel by over 135k subscribers with KickoffLabs!
Pick a Prize That Will Excite Your Audience
The more valuable your prize is, the more motivated your audience will be to complete different actions for additional entries. It’s important to remember that value is in the eye of the beholder. Sure, a large cash prize will motivate almost anyone to enter. However, not all brands have the resources to offer this kind of prize. It could also backfire on you. People not interested in your brand might follow you for the chance to win money and then leave once the contest is over. Instead, choose a prize relevant to your audience’s interests and aligning with your brand. If you can offer something customized or exclusive, that’s even better. Whatever prize you pick, just make sure you can deliver on it before you launch your contest.
Promote Your Contest Across Your Channels
Just because you are hosting your contest via YouTube doesn’t mean you shouldn’t advertise it across your other channels. One of the biggest benefits of a giveaway contest is the potential for cross-pollination between your different advertising channels. Post about the contest on your Instagram and other social media accounts and embed the contest video on your website. Make sure you clearly state the deadline for entry and give participants an idea of when the winner will be announced. If you have to extend deadlines or delay the announcement for any reason, make sure you let your followers know.
Pick a Winner
From the beginning, set a date for the contest to close and the date you will announce the winner. If you’re using a platform like Kickofflabs, you will be able to pick a winner automatically right from the platform randomly. Once you have selected a winner, contact them via the email they provided to arrange for them to get their prize. Once you have confirmed the winner, create a social media post announcing the winner and tag them.
Follow up After the Giveaway
The prize wouldn’t be valuable if everyone who entered the contest won. That said, you still want to let everyone who entered know you appreciate their support for your brand. Since you will have collected their emails as part of their entries, you can automate an email blast thanking them for their participation. You might want to consider adding a coupon code as well. This will help foster goodwill and decrease the likelihood that they will unfollow you because they didn’t win.
Master Your Next Youtube Giveaway With KickoffLabs
Give your YouTube channel the boost it deserves with KickoffLabs and watch your subscriber count soar as you run a successful and impactful giveaway campaign. Get started launching your next Youtube campaign free at KickoffLabs Have any questions? Email our support team at support@kickofflabs.com.