18 Giveaway Ideas for Business Owners in 2024

1. Raffle

Raffles are a tried-and-true way to drive engagement and build brand awareness. It’s a giveaway that’s as old as time, and businesses still use them today to get more customers through their doors.

A raffle is a great idea for:

With an in-store raffle, customers may gain an entry each time they complete an action within a certain period of time (make a purchase, bring their own reusable bag, spend a certain amount of money, etc.).

When you allow customers to gain multiple entries, you increase the chances of them making multiple purchases and spending more money at your place of business. 

The prize can be anything you like, but it will need to be valuable enough to entice customers to take your desired action. Free products and discounts are always great options for raffle prizes.

2. Sweepstakes

A sweepstakes is a promotional drawing or “game” where the prize is given to a random participant. Usually, the prizes are big (valuable), so they tend to generate a lot of buzz. 

Hosting a sweepstakes is a great opportunity to build brand awareness and increase sales.

To enter, customers will need to take a specific action. This action can be anything you want, from making a purchase to spending a certain dollar amount or simply subscribing to your email list.

To enter, all you had to do was subscribe to their email list. You could also gain extra entries by sharing the giveaway on Facebook, following the company on social media and referring a friend.

The sweepstakes generated a ton of new email leads and followers on social media.

You may not be able to offer a new car as a prize, but if you choose a prize that your audience values, your sweepstakes will be just as successful.

3. Buy One Get One (BOGO)

BOGO giveaways are always popular with consumers. After all, who doesn’t like free stuff? With this kind of giveaway, customers purchase a product and get one for free. The free product can be the same item they purchased, or it could be another item of equal or lesser value. 

BOGO promotions can give you a quick sales boost, and they can generate a lot of buzz on social media.

Along with boosting sales and generating brand awareness, BOGO giveaways can also help you clear out inventory.

Virtually any kind of business can host a BOGO giveaway.

4. Photo Contest

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by HappyFresh Malaysia (@happyfresh_my)

Photo contests are very popular on social media and can be a great way to get people excited about your brand and products.

Ask customers to submit a photo that fits your criteria, and you select the winner, who receives a prize.

A.C. Moore hosted a similar contest. They asked customers to share a photo of a DIY or craft created with their supplies. The winner received a $100 A.C. Moore gift card. Customers had the option to submit their photo on Facebook or share it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #acmooreinspired.

Asking customers to share their photos on their social accounts with specific hashtags can help you keep track of entries. It also transforms participants into members of your marketing army. Their photos will promote your brand and help get their own followers interested in your giveaway.

5. Spin the Wheel

Spin the wheel giveaways are easy to implement on your website, and they help improve engagement. To participate, customers simply enter their email addresses to spin a virtual wheel for a chance to win a prize.

The prize can be anything you want:

Customers get a chance to win something valuable, and you get them to subscribe to your email list in return. The key here is to make sure that every participant wins something. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge discount. A simple 5-10% discount will more than suffice.

Just make sure that you can afford to offer whatever discount or promotional item you choose to offer.

6. Free Gift with Purchase

Many department and beauty stores run these kinds of giveaways. Customers make a purchase, and they get a free gift in return.

They may have to purchase a certain item or spend a certain amount on a specific type of product. The rules can be whatever you want them to be, but the free gift will need to be enticing. 

Macy’s regularly offers free gifts with purchases in their beauty department.

This kind of giveaway can be a really effective way to get customers to spend more and to build brand awareness. 

7. Product Launch Giveaway

Are you launching a new product? Now is the perfect time to host a giveaway. Your new product can be an advanced copy of the prize. The winner will be the first to get their hands on your new item, and that alone is enough to entice customers to participate.

Be sure to set clear entry rules for this type of giveaway. Social media is a great place for this kind of promotion. Participants can like, follow, share, and comment on your post to enter. You’ll gain more followers and boost engagement while building brand awareness.

8. Early Access

Giveaways for tech or gaming companies can be early access to your product or service. You can do this to build your email list or generate sales.

9. Tell a Story

Everyone has a story – most want to share it. You can hold a giveaway where the best story wins. Prompt the story to ensure everyone is on the same page. You can do something along the lines of: “The first time I tried to do ___, the following happened ____.”

Let your audience tell a story and pick a winner for the story that is the funniest, most motivational, most innovative, and so on.

10. Fill in the Blank

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Meriwool Layers- Merino Wool (@meriwoollayers)

“If I had ___, it would make me ___,” is an example of a fill-in-the-blank contest. You or your followers or employees can pick the winner. The person with the best answer can win a free product from you, money, a gift card or other items that you want to offer up.

11. Treasure Hunt

Challenge others to go on a treasure hunt to win something from your business. You can do this online or offline and provide:

Treasure hunts can include money or free gift cards, apparel or anything you like. Challenging others and using a treasure hunt to entice them will drive customers to your business.

12. Themed Giveaways

Themes are fun and can be anything you like: holidays, seasons, sports – anything. Ask your customers or followers to submit a photo of themselves dressed in the theme you choose for a chance to win a gift basket or something related to the theme.

13. Social Media Contests

Social media contests are some of the most engaging in the world. You can create a fun contest for your followers – or future followers – such as:

People want to win something for free, and you can use it to build your social media following. Users will share your contest with others and join in on it because they have nothing to lose.

14. Discount with Next Purchase

People love it when you give them things for free. If you’ve ever been to Starbucks and are part of their loyalty program, you’ve already seen this method in action. You’ll receive a free food item after spending a certain amount of money.

However, you don’t need to give anything away for free.

Instead, you can have a discount giveaway that does the same thing.

Steep discounts will attract customers to your giveaway.

15. Partner with an Influencer for Your Giveaway

Influencer marketing is huge. You’ll find that many companies will connect with influencers in their niche who will review or post about the product to their audience. The influencer can choose to give away however many products you provide to followers who like and comment on the post.

You will have to:

Leveraging the audience and engagement of an influencer can make your next event a major success.

16. Service Extras

Consumers are very cautious when trying a new service. You can sweeten the deal with this giveaway idea. The concept is simple:

A landscaping company may offer free leaf removal with every new customer’s lawn mowing in the fall. The extra is often a nice perk that will attract new customers and help boost business.

17. Event Giveaway

In-person events attract locals and non-locals alike. People often prefer to go to major events, such as:

Dunkin’ is a popular example of event giveaways. The company often offers free coffee for a year for their first 100 customers at their grand openings. And the event was recently held at one new location and generated a lot of buzz.

Newspapers picked up the event and people lined up for their chance at being one of the people who will receive free coffee for the next year.

18. Help Us Choose

“Help us choose…” anything. Some companies will generate a lot of buzz by asking the public to help them choose their next:

You can also bring fans into the mix and have them become part of the competition.

Artist Houston Mark won the competition and has been in numerous news releases and has had his art seen by the world. The logo will be added to merch and is going to be a centerpiece in Houston’s portfolio.