How Small Businesses Can Use Giveaways to Grow Their Audience

Giveaways can be a fun way to get some extra attention for your business, but there’s a difference between getting a bunch of entries and actually growing an audience that sticks around.

Done well, a giveaway can introduce your business to new people, get your existing audience interacting with your content, and give people a reason to share your business with their friends.

And no, you don’t need a giant audience to make one worthwhile.

Start With Something People Actually Want

This sounds obvious, but your prize matters.

The best giveaway prize isn’t necessarily the most expensive thing you can offer. It’s something your ideal customer would genuinely want.

If you’re a photographer, that might be a mini session. If you sell handmade products, give away one of your most popular pieces. If you’re a service provider, you might offer a consultation or one of your smaller services.

The goal isn’t to attract everyone.

It’s to attract more of the right people.

Giving away a $500 Amazon gift card might get you a ton of entries, but most of those people probably aren’t interested in your business. A smaller, more specific prize can bring you a much better audience.

Keep the Rules Simple

Nobody wants to complete a 12-step scavenger hunt to enter a giveaway.

Follow. Enter. Maybe share with a friend.

Done.

The more complicated you make the process, the more likely someone is to decide the prize isn’t worth the effort.

And don’t forget about keeping things simple for you, too.

I recently ran a giveaway on Instagram for Smith Made Studio (our handmade side hustle), and managing the entries spreadsheet pretty much took over my life for that week.

Which brings me to something that could make that part a whole lot easier…

A Quick Side Note: I Already Love Sticker Mule

Before I tell you about their giveaway platform, I should probably mention that Sticker Mule wasn’t new to me when they reached out.

I’ve ordered stickers for Bellano Web Studio and for our side business, Smith Made Studio, and most recently we ordered custom T-shirts for our new market outfits. I’ve been genuinely thrilled with everything we’ve purchased.

The quality is SO good, but I also love how easy the whole process is. Upload your design, get a proof, approve it, and you’re done. And the shipping is surprisingly fast, which is always appreciated when you’re a small business owner who may or may not have waited a little too long to order something. 😉

We’re already thinking about more ways to use Sticker Mule as we grow Smith Made Studio, especially fun sticker designs and branded shipping and packaging materials.

So when Sticker Mule reached out and introduced me to Sticker Mule Give, I was definitely interested.

An Easier Way to Run a Giveaway

Sticker Mule Give basically takes the part of running a giveaway that sounds fun in theory but gets a little less fun once you’re knee-deep in entries, tags, shares, and spreadsheets.

You set up your giveaway, send people to your Give page to enter, and they can share it with friends to earn more entries. Then Give chooses the winner and fulfills the prize.

Ummm…where was this when I was obsessively checking Instagram comments against my spreadsheet? 😂

Seriously, though, I love the idea of being able to run a fun promotion without also signing myself up for a part-time job managing it.

And I can already see some fun possibilities for small businesses. Custom stickers, shirts, branded goodies, or something created specifically for the giveaway…you get to dream up something your people would actually be excited to win, while Give handles the not-so-fun stuff behind the scenes.

That is my kind of marketing.

Make Sharing Part of the Strategy

One of the biggest benefits of a giveaway is that your existing audience can help introduce you to new people.

That could mean encouraging people to share your giveaway, tag someone who would genuinely like your business, or use a platform that incorporates referrals into the giveaway itself.

But there’s an important distinction here:

You don’t just want more eyeballs.

You want more eyeballs belonging to people who might actually care about what you do.

That’s another reason choosing the right prize matters. Your prize does some of the audience filtering for you.

Don’t Disappear After the Giveaway

This might be the most important part.

Someone discovers your business through a giveaway.

They follow you.

And then…what?

Your giveaway should be the introduction, not the entire relationship.

Keep showing up afterward. Share your work. Show some behind-the-scenes. Answer questions. Teach something useful. Tell people what you sell and how you can help them.

Give those new people a reason to think:

“Oh, I’m glad I found this account.”

Not:

“Wait. Why am I following them again?”

Giveaways Aren’t Just for Big Brands

I think small businesses sometimes assume marketing strategies like giveaways only work once you already have thousands of followers.

I don’t buy that.

A smaller business may actually have an advantage because your audience tends to be more personal and connected to what you’re doing.

You don’t need 10,000 new followers.

You need more of your people to discover you.

A well-planned giveaway can help make that introduction, and tools like Sticker Mule Give can simplify the logistics so you can spend more time running your business.

And I’m always a fan of anything that makes marketing a little less complicated.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sticker Mule. I was already a big fan, so this one was an immediate YES. 😉 As always, my opinions are my own.