People like free stuff. Who knew?
The really nice thing about running a giveaway as an artist is that you already have a particularly interesting thing to offer. Plus, it’s easy as long as you make the buy-in simple. Whether that’s asking fans to like a post, tag a couple friends or re-share something, giveaways can help boost your following, improve engagement, put more eyes on your Society6 shop or collect email addresses.
Whether you’re just getting your social ball rolling or amplifying an already healthy following, let’s go through a few things to think about before running a giveaway. We’ll cover four popular types of giveaways and how to conclude the giveaway without leaving your fans feeling bummed or dejected. While this may seem like a lot, it’s actually pretty easy!
If you’d like to give away a Society6 product, all you have to do is run your giveaway as normal and order on behalf of your customer!
SETTING UP YOUR GIVEAWAY
Here are a few things to consider before actually running your giveaway:
Choose what you’re going to give away. There’s a good chance there’s overlap with what you like and what your fans like, but remember that this is for them. You want them to participate on the merits of something they’re really excited to get from an artist they respect.
Say why you’re giving something away. Even if someone (or a brand) gives you something to give away, use it as an opportunity to make it yours. It humanizes the experience. It takes the edge off the transactional nature of “I give something to you if you give something to me.” Are you running a giveaway because it’s the holidays and you’re in a giving mood? Do you want people to check out your newly posted work in your Society6 shop? Are you hitting 10k followers? 100k? Whatever the reason is, let fans know your motivation behind running a giveaway.
Pick a date you’re going to announce a winner. This isn’t just picking a winner, but announcing. Read more on this below.
Change your Instagram bio link to your Society6 shop. Even if you do this for a limited time, the idea here is to make clicking through to your shop super easy. So, even for those who don’t win, improving engagement on your social platform is to help bring more eyes to your shoppable artwork.
Tag @society6 in the photo and use hashtag #society6giveaway so we can follow along. This one’s a little selfish, but we get so excited to see the giveaways you are running and would love to feature your artwork giveaways in a future blog post just like this one.
FOUR GIVEAWAY IDEAS
Whether you’re giving away $10 to your Society6 shop or a piece of artwork you’ll purchase for a winner, it’s important to make it very clear what is considered an “entry.” Social giveaways tend to be pretty loose, but you still want it to be obvious how someone can be considered to win. Clear language also helps maximize your giveaway’s reach.
1. Follow & tag a friend
This is probably one of the easiest giveaways you can run and it’s exactly what it sounds like. In order to win, someone has to follow you and tag a friend. You can spice it up a bit by giving away something to the tagger and the friends who got tagged! That’ll get friends tagging friends who would really appreciate your work.
Rules:
- Follow @MyHandle
- Tag two friends
Example caption:
GIVEAWAY ALERT! As many of you know, I’m a LOT obsessed with my morning routine. So obviously, I have to give away three of my most popular coffee mugs! If that sounds like your cup of tea, (1) follow me and (2) tag two friends. I’ll be announcing winners on DATE!
2. Comment with your favorite design or product
This one is great for putting eyes on your Society6 shop. Especially if you’re running a giveaway during the holidays or any popular season, this puts you top of mind. Make sure to update your Society6 shop preferences to show customers something related to your giveaway.
Rules:
- Follow me @MyHandle
- Click on my shop link in bio
- Comment in this post with the title of your favorite art print from my shop!
3. Re-share a post in Instagram stories
This one is geared towards those with a larger following since it’s only good for 24 hours (because your Instagram stories will go away). Check your insights before doing this one. You”ll want to post about this when your fans are most active. Also make sure you give yourself a little time before the stories disappear!
Rules:
- Share your favorite artwork from my feed to your Instagram stories
- Tag me in your post or story so I see it! *also great for engagement
- Follow me @MyHandle
4. Ask for an email address via link in bio
If you’re interested in building an email list, this contest will yield longer term benefits because a single email address is worth much more than a single Instagram follower. You’ll also incentivize participation by announcing your winner via email. Once your winner responds, you can follow up by posting on social media!
“Email marketing is ingrained in the consumer mindset as an acceptable way to hear about and interact with businesses, especially in the form of promotions and transactions. And, as businesses become more sophisticated in understanding their subscriber’s interests, they can personalize that experience to create more value for their customers.” -Franz Bautista, Director of Retention Marketing, Society6
Rules:
- Winner will be announced via email
- Follow me @MyHandle
- Sign up to win via link in bio *links to an email collection form
@marcallanteart
ANNOUNCING YOUR WINNERS
This matters most to everyone who didn’t win.
Confirm your Society6 link is in your bio. You’re about to get eyes on your feed from people who really wanted to win YOUR work. Make it easy for them to find it!
Thank everyone who participated. This is important. It takes the edge off for those who didn’t win.
Remind everyone who didn’t win where they can still get your stuff. You’ve put the time into creating your work, don’t forget to remind your fans they can purchase it. Artists have to eat too, right?
Announce winner via post and/or story. You’ll definitely want to announce via stories, but you can also create a new static post celebrating the winner.
Ask the winner to direct message the winner. This is how the winner “claims” their prize. When they reach out, you can request shipping info or send them all the necessary info.
If you’re giving away a promo code, provide them the actual code and a little instruction on using it. Also, make sure they know when the code expires.
Update your original post. Create an update with the winner’s name as well so people don’t get confused and try to continue to enter.
Ask your winner to share a pic with their winning item. UGC (or user generated content) is something every artist can benefit from. To see your work out in the wild is a very exciting thing and great for self-promotion. Don’t forget to kindly ask for them to post with your new gear!
That’s a wrap! If you’re giving anything away from Society6, don’t forget to tag us or use hashtag #society6giveaway so we can follow along!! We love seeing that stuff out in the wild and would love to update this post with some additional examples!
Cover image: Sparklers by Frederik Zang of FFz3 Photography
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