How to Win a Giveaway: The Ultimate Guide

There’s nothing that sweeps you off your feet more than sweepstakes.

It’s great for organizers and participants alike. 55 million Americans enter sweepstakes or a giveaway every year. Many of them wind up signing up with a company’s services, increasing their return on investment.

But the massive number of participants means it’s hard to win a giveaway. A lot of luck is involved in winning one, yet there is some strategy involved.

You can follow some basic giveaway tips to increase your chances of winning. Here is your quick guide on how to win a giveaway.

Follow Giveaway Sites

There are dozens of giveaways that go on at any given time. Start on Facebook and find a few companies that run them. Follow their pages, and enter their giveaways and contests when they offer them.

Then go on other social media websites. If you’re not on Twitter or Instagram, create accounts for them. Follow accounts that have giveaways.

You should also follow tags. #giveaway and #contest are the two most common ones, but you may find contests for tags like #gift.

Scroll through your social media accounts every day. You never know when you will find another giveaway to enter.

Try Googling for giveaways as well. Many websites that are just starting up run them as an easy promotional tool.

You can also sign up for newsletters. Many companies that run one giveaway will run another. You can create an email exclusively for these newsletters if you follow others already.

Choose Giveaways to Enter

You don’t have to apply to every contest you see. You should be a little selective.

The bigger the participant pool, the higher the prize. But you are less likely to win. Unless the entry requirements are low, consider skipping the massive contests.

The longer the time frame for the contest, the more people will enter. Pick one that will wrap up quickly.

Consider picking one that is limited to your country. This will reduce the prize pool, especially if you live in a smaller country.

Some giveaways are limited to a certain age range or other criteria. Select those as well.

If you’re still left with a long list of contests, pick the ones that receive the least advertising. The fewer people who hear about it, the more likely you are to win.

Once you’ve narrowed things down, enter every contest that you see fit. The more you enter, the more chance you have to win.

Read the Rules

Many giveaways are straightforward. Provide your contact information or write a tweet with a hashtag and you are an entry. But other giveaways are more complicated.

Some are creative contests. Participants are asked to shoot a video, sing a song, or write a story. The person who produces the best one wins.

Follow the rules of the contest to the letter. If the rules cap how long your video can be, do not exceed the length. If they ask you to say something specific, say that thing.

Take the time you need to produce a good-quality product. But do not wait until the last minute to enter.

The organizers need time to go through the entries. They may view your work sooner if you send it in early.

A giveaway may incorporate multiple prizes. You may lose the first-place prize, but you might qualify for another. There may be separate rules for those other prizes, so make sure you check for them.

You may be able to make multiple entries. Don’t overburden yourself, but try to submit them when you can.

Apply the same level of effort to all entries you send in. The organizers may not value one entry highly if they see another one you did that was bad.

You should also get an idea of how long it takes for your prizes to get to you. It may take some time. Be patient and check your inbox regularly.

Be Aware of Scams

There are many warning signs for sweepstakes scams. The most common one is that they demand payment for you to get a prize.

They may claim that they need to pay taxes or shipping fees. In reality, sweepstakes taxes go directly to the IRS on your regular tax returns. You should not pay.

Some sweepstakes claim that they will not charge you, but they need your credit card or personal information for “verification.” This is almost always an attempt at identity fraud. Do not follow through.

You may receive an email saying you won a contest, but you didn’t apply to it. Do not open any emails that seem suspicious to you.

An easy way to prevent an attempt like this is to keep track of every contest you enter. Create a spreadsheet in which you record all of your entries. Write down legitimate email addresses you interacted with.

You may receive a very large check in the mail. You should not take that check to the bank. Sweepstakes must file affidavits before they can send out prizes that are worth more than 600 dollars.

If you feel you are being scammed, contact the authorities right away. It may not be a scam, but only a police investigation can clarify that.

How to Win a Giveaway

There is no guarantee that you will win a contest. But knowing how to win a giveaway can bolster your chances.

Follow social media accounts and companies with a pattern of organizing contests. Choose ones with low prize pools and less publicity. You’ll have a better chance of winning those.

Read the rules and follow them to the letter. But be cautious. If you notice any signs of a scam, do not participate in the event.

Playing giveaways is one fun way to earn prizes and money. Check out the rest of our site to learn more.