How to Design Content for an Online Giveaway

Online giveaways are exciting campaigns that generate tons of engagement and followers on social networks. These giveaways also build email lists fast and can boost website traffic and sales for the duration of the giveaway.

However, designing a successful giveaway that will bring in the results you want can be challenging.

The good news for you is that this guide will teach you how to design content for an online giveaway.

There’s plenty of examples to help you learn exactly what to include in your online giveaway content. We even analyze the content according to the different platforms where you can host your giveaway.

Let’s get started!

Designing a Social Media Giveaway

Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more.
Best for: Increasing social media engagement, Boosting followers, driving traffic to your website, and building email lists.
Downside: Can potentially attract many poor leads.

Looking for a quick boost in Instagram followers? Or you just need more likes, comments, and shares on Facebook? A social media giveaway can help you achieve exceptional results in a short space of time.

The giveaway above has a simple design and objective, which is to drive Instagram users to the giveaway host’s website and retrieve email addresses. You will have to click on the link in their bio to enter. Doing so will take you to their website, where users can submit their emails to enter.

As far as design goes, it’s just a basic Instagram post that features the main prize (being used). The simple design aligns with the Toto brand.

However, if you are hosting the giveaway yourself, then you will need to be a bit more creative with your design.

Advanced Social Media Giveaway Designs

Want your giveaway post to stand out? Then perhaps you can design a post that aligns with your brand while also being flashy enough to attract users to the post.

The giveaway above features colors and styling that is closely associated with the brand that’s hosting the giveaway. The simple text at the top will immediately let people know that they can stand a chance of winning a prize.

When using another brand’s product as a giveaway prize, your post can quickly look like a post made by that brand. For this reason, it’s recommended that you stay close to your brand’s identity when designing your giveaway post.

If your social media feed is filled with elegant and minimalist posts. Then you can consider a less flashy approach that aligns with the rest of your posts. Similar to Hypebeasts sneaker giveaway above.

Designing a YouTube Giveaway

Platforms: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter.
Best for: Increasing social media engagement, boosting subscribers and social media followers.
Downside: A potential increase in subscribers that won’t watch your YouTube videos.

YouTube giveaways are exceptionally popular right now. Famous YouTubers, Influencers, and content creators regularly host YouTube giveaways to boost their subscribers.

James Charles recently held a cash giveaway on his YouTube channel. Users were required to subscribe to his channel and follow him on all his social networks. This led to a boost in subs and social media followers.

James simply announced the giveaway in one of his vlogs. He clearly explained the entry method and the closing dates for the giveaway.

If your brand has an established YouTube channel, then it’s worth hosting a giveaway in one of your videos.

You can also create a video specifically focused on your YouTube giveaway. More on that in the next section.

Essential Elements of a YouTube Giveaway Video

Just announcing a giveaway in one of your videos isn’t enough. You will have to provide your viewers with as much information as you can about your giveaway, while also keeping your video entertaining.

Zack from Jerry Rig Everything created a short video just for his YouTube Giveaway. He “creatively” displays the prizes, whilst also provide all of the relevant information in his video and in the video description.

YouTube Giveaway Design Checklist

The concept of hosting a YouTube giveaway is simple. However, there is vital information that you need to include in your giveaway video/post.

Here’s a checklist to help you keep track of everything that needs to be in your YouTube giveaway video:

Online Giveaway - Giveaway landing page

Platforms: Brand Website or Landing Page Builder.
Best for: Building email lists, increasing website traffic, and redirecting giveaway entrants to product pages.
Downside: Limited traffic and engagement when compared to social platforms.

Hosting an online giveaway on your website is an ideal method of instantly boosting website traffic. People will have to visit your website to enter the giveaway.

Now that the giveaway is being hosted on your website, you have more control over the design of the content and the page. So, it’s your time to shine!

The above is a collage of snapshots taken from four different giveaway landing pages.

You have full control over the design of your giveaway. However, you must include these key components in your design to increase your chances of hosting a successful giveaway:

• Brand Name
• The Offer
• Value
• The Prize
• Brand credibility
• Fast page load times

For more info on these giveaway landing page components, refer to the infographic below:

When you start including these components (listed above) into your design, your giveaway landing page will start to take shape.

A good example of a giveaway landing page with all of these components is the JRE giveaway below (A concept design and not a real giveaway).

The JRE giveaway makes excellent use of the crucial giveaway landing page components. Here’s how:

• Brand Name - Brand logo and name at the top of the page
• The Offer - Just below the brand name, but still up top and center in the area that the visitor will see first (top of the page).
• Value - JRE listeners are into fitness products. This giveaway will prove to be valuable to that target audience. The design reflects this value by staying compact, allowing users to easily notice the JRE and ONNIT branding.
• The Prize - Clearly displayed
• Brand credibility - A YouTube video that features Joe talking to Elon Musk is a massive sign of credibility and legitimacy. You can also feature names and logos of brands that have used the giveaway prize or your products.
• Fast page load times - There are only a few images in the design which are optimized to load faster. Instead of using the original large filesizes, the images were compressed so the page can load faster.

You can also experiment with adding some interactive elements to your landing page, such as pop-ups or chatbots which engage your visitors and inform them about your giveaway.

Gaming Giveaway - Fortnite

Platforms: Website
Best for: Leading a targeted audience to your website and getting people to use your product.
Downside: A highly targeted campaign will restrict your giveaway to a small audience.

It’s common for gaming brands to host giveaways. Brands can use products like computers, peripherals, consoles, and more as giveaway prizes to attract a highly targeted audience of gamers.

Seeing that the target audience is gamers, you can make things more interesting by adding an interactive element to your giveaway. For example, request that users submit a screenshot or a video of their gameplay.

An excellent example of this is in the concept Fortnite giveaway below:

For this giveaway, gamers will need to play Fortnite and record themselves winning a solo round. This way, entrants will be compelled to install and play the giveaway host’s game.

Designing a Fortnite Giveaway

Now, let’s focus on the design aspect of the Fortnite giveaway. The most recent image above is the top section of the giveaway landing page. This is considered the most crucial part of the page as it’s the first thing a person sees when the page is loaded.

The information you display here must immediately catch the attention of the reader. If not completely hook them into your giveaway.

Here are some key takeaways from this top section:

• Branding is placed at the top corner and can be clearly read.
• The header and offer are clearly visible in the top center of the page. These are the first crucial pieces of text that visitors will see. The copy is meant to get visitors excited at the prospect of this giveaway.
• A video that features the latest season of Fortnite is included. This video can serve to promote the game and its latest season, while also giving new players an intro to the game.
• The background is an Iron Man skin that is featured in the game. Choosing such a background allows you to leverage an already popular Marvel franchise for your giveaway.

So, whats missing? The giveaway prize of course!

The prize and additional info on the giveaway can be found in the section below the top section.

Having prizes like the ones listed above and an entry method that requires you to play Fortnite will indeed attract a highly targeted audience. This audience will already reside in the Fortnite eco-system as they will be playing the game to capture a screenshot for their entry.

Also, gamers who already have consoles and peripherals will always be up for a console upgrade or a new controller. So ensure that your color scheme, layout, and copy will accommodate your target audience. In this case, gamers.

TL;DR

Not all platforms are created equal, which is why it always recommended to customize your content to suit the platform. The same goes for designing giveaway content. Customize your giveaway posts so that they have maximum impact on the platform that you are hosting them on.

Apart from designing a giveaway that aligns with your brand, it’s also vital that your giveaway post includes as much relevant information as possible. Users must know exactly what to do next once they have seen your giveaway post.

Have you hosted an online giveaway before? What steps have you taken in designing that giveaway? Let us know in the comments below.