Hosting a giveaway on your blog is a fantastic way of increasing traffic and gaining new followers. If you are hosting the giveaway on behalf of a brand it is an invaluable way of increasing awareness of the brand and their product. The success of a giveaway is determined by how well it is promoted. Below I have listed several places to promote your blog giveaway. If you don’t have time to list on every site listed here then just promote your blog giveaway on the first four. I find these to be the highest referrers. However, if you want maximum exposure for your giveaway and have 30-40 minutes to spare I highly recommend listing on all the websites I have listed.
Promote your Giveaway on Competition Sites
These are websites dedicated to sharing competitions.
ThePrizeFinder is the UK’s largest free competition site with over 2000 giveaways listed. To add your competition just fill in a simple form then wait for it to be approved. This shouldn’t take long. I find ThePrizeFinder to be one of my highest referrers when running a giveaway.
Competition Database
You will need to register to post on Competition Database but it only takes a minute. Then fill in the ‘Add a Competition’ form and wait for it to be approved.
Loquax is a forum for posting competitions. You will need to register and submit an initial post to say hello. This is just to avoid spam and only takes a few minutes. You will then be free to post your giveaway.
Money Saving Expert has a section of their forum dedicated to competitions and is an excellent source of traffic. However, you cannot post your own giveaway there as they have rules against self promotion. If your giveaway is widely publicised elsewhere then it is likely that someone will post it on MSE.
Blog Link-ups
SuperLucky has two giveaway linkys live at a time. At the beginning of each month she opens a linky for blog giveaways ending the following month. Therefore, there is a list for comps ending this month and a separate list for giveaways ending next month.
Mudpie Fridays has a linky at the bottom of her Blog Giveaways page. This linky is permanently open so you only have to add your giveaway once. When the giveaway has ended your link will be removed. You can also tag Mudpie Fridays in a tweet with the hashtag and she will retweet you. Details are at the bottom of the linky.
Life in a Breakdown also has a linky on her competitions page.
Rachel Bustin and Mummy in a Tutu run the weekly #LuckyLinky. It opens each Monday and runs until Sunday.
Tots100 post a monthly competition linky.
Facebook Competition Groups
Blog Competitions & Giveaways is a Facebook group for competitions hosted on blogs and their respective social media pages. There are threads organised by end date to post your giveaway in. Be sure to read the pinned post to understand how the group works.
Woobox, Gleam and Voting Competitions This group isn’t specifically for bloggers but as it is open to Gleam and Rafflecopter competitions it is perfect for posting blog giveaways.
Competitions and Giveaways is group for sharing UK giveaways with over 8000 members.
Thriftymum Extreme Compers is another group for sharing giveaways.
This is just a small selection of the Facebook groups dedicated to competitions. If you search Facebook with the word competition or giveaway you will find many more groups to promote your blog giveaway in.
Social Media
Using your social media accounts to promote your giveaway is another excellent way of getting the word out.
As Twitter is a fast-moving platform I would recommend tweeting about your giveaway several times a day for the duration. Use hashtags like #win #giveaway #competition #compers.
Facebook is also a good place to promote your blog giveaway. However, as this is a slower moving platform it is best to avoid too much duplicate content. I usually post about the giveaway once at the beginning and then once towards the end.
Put the link to the giveaway in your Instagram bio and then post a picture of the prize stating that the link is in your bio. Again, I would do this once when the giveaway is launched and once when it is close to finishing.
Create a pinnable image for your giveaway and pin to Pinterest. Join some group boards and pin to those to reach a wider audience.
More Places to Promote Your Blog Giveaway
Blogging Facebook Groups often have a thread to post your latest giveaways to.
Local Facebook Competition Groups are a good place to promote giveaways that are local to a certain area like event tickets or restaurant meals. There is a list of groups on SuperLucky.
Let me know how you get on when you promote your blog giveaway and if you have any questions just ask!
For more advice on how to run a blog giveaway I recommend ‘Blog Giveaways: How to run successful competitions, contests and prize draws on your blog’ by Di Coke