- Pick a Prize That Attracts the Right People<\/a><\/li>
- Use a Tool Like RafflePress<\/a><\/li>
- Connect Your Email Marketing Service<\/a><\/li>
- Set Up Your Giveaway Rules<\/a><\/li>
- Promote Your Giveaway Everywhere<\/a><\/li>
- Choose and Announce the Winner<\/a><\/li>
- Follow Up With Your New Subscribers<\/a>
- <\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- They\u2019re easy to track:<\/strong> You can measure your growth every step of the way.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- They\u2019re cost-effective:<\/strong> We added each new subscriber for under $1.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- They create urgency:<\/strong> A time-limited contest encourages quick action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- They expand reach:<\/strong> Viral sharing helped us get over 22,000 referrals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- They attract the right people:<\/strong> A well-chosen prize pulls in your ideal audience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What Makes a Giveaway Work for Email Growth?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Not every giveaway leads to results like this. Here\u2019s what made the difference for us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- A prize aligned with our audience<\/strong>: We chose a MacBook Air M2, ideal for our tech-savvy readers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Required newsletter signup<\/strong>: Entering meant joining our email list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Promotion across multiple channels<\/strong>: We used email, social media, and site banners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Time-sensitive urgency<\/strong>: Our giveaway lasted just 25 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
How to Run a Giveaway to Grow Your Email List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Let’s walk through the exact steps we used to set up our giveaway. You can follow these same steps to grow your own email list<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pick a Prize That Attracts the Right People<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your prize needs to attract the kind of subscribers who will be interested in your business. When we planned our giveaway, we carefully considered what would appeal to our target audience while still being valuable enough to drive signups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We chose the MacBook Air M2 because many of our readers are web professionals who use Macs for their work. The high value of the prize matched our ambitious goal of getting at least 1000 new subscribers, and it naturally appealed to our audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you need some inspiration, see my roundup of proven giveaway prize ideas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use a Tool Like RafflePress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While there are many tools you can use to run a giveaway, including social media contest apps and standalone giveaway platforms, we chose RafflePress<\/a> since our website runs on WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"RafflePress](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rafflepress-best-giveaway-plugin.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRafflePress is a WordPress giveaway plugin that makes it easy to create an online contest<\/a> on your website. You can add entry methods like joining an email newsletter, following social media accounts, or visiting web pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, it connects with popular email marketing services to automatically add new subscribers to your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To get started with RafflePress, install and activate the plugin on your WordPress site. Once activated, go to RafflePress \u00bb Add New<\/strong> in your WordPress dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"click](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/how-to-do-a-giveaway-with-rafflepress.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNext, enter a name for your giveaway. We used “Black Friday” to keep it simple and clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, choose the “Grow Your Email List” template, which comes pre-configured with the best settings for collecting email subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"email](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/email-list-giveaway-template.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter selecting your template, add your prize details and upload an attractive image. Using high-quality photos of your prize is important for making it stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Adding](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/add-giveaway-prize-details.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe made sure to include professional images of the MacBook Air M2, since people are more likely to enter when they can see exactly what they might win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Connect Your Email Marketing Service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Before launching your giveaway, you’ll need to connect it to your email marketing service. This ensures that anyone who enters your giveaway is automatically added to your email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RafflePress works with popular email marketing services<\/a> like Mailchimp, Constant Contact<\/a>, AWeber, and many others. At the time, we used Drip for our email marketing, so connecting RafflePress was straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To connect your email service, click on the “Join Newsletter” action in your giveaway template. Then select your email provider from the dropdown menu and follow the connection steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Connecting](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/connect-email-list.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEach email service has slightly different setup requirements, but RafflePress walks you through the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once connected, choose which email list you want to add subscribers to. We created a special “Black Friday” list to keep our new subscribers organized. This made it easier to track results and send targeted follow-up emails later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure to enable the “Trigger on Signup” option for the newsletter subscription. This ensures everyone who enters your giveaway automatically becomes a subscriber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set Up Your Giveaway Rules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Every successful giveaway needs clear rules to protect both you and your participants. We made sure our rules covered all the important details about how our giveaway would work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your rules should include basic information like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- When the giveaway starts and ends<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Who can enter (age limits, location restrictions)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How to enter<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How winners will be chosen<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- When and how winners will be notified<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
We set our giveaway to run for 25 days during our Black Friday campaign. This gave us enough time to promote it while maintaining a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creating our rules was easy with the built-in rules generator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Easily](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/generate-contest-rules.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe simply had to enter a few details and click \u201cGenerate\u201d for an instant set of terms and conditions that we could edit and display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Giveaway](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rafflepress-in-widget-giveaway-rules-min.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou’ll also want to check local laws about running giveaways. Different countries and states have different requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recommend consulting a legal professional to make sure your rules comply with all relevant laws. You can also see my guide on how to write giveaway rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re using a standalone giveaway landing page<\/a>, it\u2019s a great place to display your rules clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Promote Your Giveaway Everywhere<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Getting the word out about your giveaway is crucial for attracting entries. We promoted our MacBook giveaway across multiple channels to reach as many potential subscribers as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, we announced the giveaway to our existing email subscribers. Since they’re already interested in our brand, many of them shared the contest with their friends and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"SeedProd](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/announce-giveaway-email.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe also shared our giveaway on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each post included an eye-catching image of the MacBook Air and clear instructions on how to enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tweet](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/giveaway-tweet.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTo make our giveaway more visible on our website, we used OptinMonster<\/a> to create an attention-grabbing banner. This helped catch visitors’ attention and drive more entries throughout our site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Required newsletter signup<\/strong>: Entering meant joining our email list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- They\u2019re cost-effective:<\/strong> We added each new subscriber for under $1.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Why Giveaways Are Great for Growing Your Email List<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. But getting people to sign up can be tough, unless you give them a reason. That\u2019s where giveaways shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Use a Tool Like RafflePress<\/a><\/li>
![\"choose](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/needs-winners.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"pick](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/pick-multiple-winners.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"consolation](\"https:\/\/rafflepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/consolation-prize-email-to-non-winning-giveaway-contestents.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n