There are a few tried-and-true ways to reach more people online through your social media, and a giveaway is one of them. When you’ve got the right combination of good stuff, easy entry, and good timing, you can see big growth in your following in a short period of time.

But giveaways can also go the opposite way. When the prizes aren’t that enticing, it’s too hard to enter, or you’re just plain annoying about it online…people can hit that mute or worse unfollow button pretty quick. 

Here are my best tips for hosting your own giveaway on social media in a way that’s a true win-win for you and your race fans.

How to Host a Giveaway on Social Media

Hosting a giveaway on social media is pretty easy. You’ll need a few things to get started:

• A prize (or prizes)
• A way to enter
• A timeline

We’ll talk about the first two things later on, but a timeline is important when you’re hosting a giveaway on social media. A short open and closed period (no more than 5 days) is best so that people don’t lose interest when scrolling. 

You’ll need to create enough content to drive people to that “way to enter” during this timeline. Use all the tools you have—Stories, Reels, email, you name it.

Easy (But Meaningful) Entry

Most giveaways on social media use the native social media tools to gauge entry: Likes, comments, and shares. While these tools are great for growing your social media presence, as we’ve talked about here before, you don’t own your social media followers. And we’re after sponsors and dollars, not just vanity metrics. 

So instead of requiring “tag three friends” or “share to stories”, I suggest using a newsletter form for signups instead. You should have a newsletter or some kind of marketing email list that you use to regularly engage with your fans and sponsors. Focusing a giveaway on growing your email list cuts out the middle step of first growing your social media fan base and then getting them onto your email list later.

For reach purposes, though, including extra entries or the like for shares or tags is a great idea. Just make sure you tell them exactly which post they are supposed to be engaging with.

Promote Your Sponsors at the Same Time

Swag packs make great giveaway gifts! Bundle up some of your favorite sponsored products that you use regularly to give away for free. Sort by theme (ex/ cleaning supplies), one specific sponsor’s products, or something else like apparel. This way, you are literally putting their products in the hands of your fans, plus your sponsors get extra exposure online (and you get extra exposure if they share about your giveaway on their pages). You don’t need to invest your money into any other kind of gift; your sponsored products are, hopefully, exactly what your followers and ideal fans love, anyway. So bundle them up and give them away!

Using social media to grow your racing sponsorships is totally possible (without losing your mind or spending all your time on your phone rather than on the track). 

My exclusive group coaching program called Fueled and Funded opens this Fall and you definitely want to be on the waitlist to save on early bird tickets. You’re a racer who wants to get paid; I’m the racer who’s done it and is now sharing my process with you.

Get on the waitlist for Fueled and Funded—doors open soon!