For many professions – especially in the world of sport, publishing, music, and wellness – personal brands have become valuable assets. That means a well-designed online presence, posting regular content, and working with your audience in mind.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how giveaways, contests, and online challenges can help to strengthen your personal brand. The basic idea is simple. The right giveaway will reward your audience, and give you valuable feedback. It’s a classic win-win situation.
u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eu003cemu003eThe right giveaway will reward your audience, and give you valuable feedback. u003c/emu003eu003c/strongu003eu003cbru003e Share on XBut that’s not all. There are heaps of different ways to run a giveaway or contest, depending on your goals. So in the three sections below, I’ve grouped giveaways and contests into three categories. Each category has detailed tips, real-life examples, and some easy ideas to get started with giveaways for personal branding.
- Giveaways on social media: activate your audience and increase your reach.
- Newsletter content: reward loyal subscribers and offer exclusive content.
- Website contests: get more email subscribers and learn about your audience.
Grow your personal brand with social media giveaways
Chances are, you’ve already seen an influencer giveaway on social media. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are all fantastic channels to run a giveaway. You can get set up within minutes, and it’s easy to pick a random winner.
u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eu003cemu003eInstagram, Facebook and Twitter are all fantastic channels to run a giveaway. You can get set up within minutes, and it’s easy to pick a winner. u003c/emu003eu003c/strongu003eu003cbru003e Share on XBut before you start, take a second to think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to wake your audience up, and get more active engagement? Do you want your name to go viral? Or are you looking for content from your followers (also known as user-generated content, or UGC), to support your own creative efforts? There are giveaways to match all of these goals.
If you want to boost engagement, a simple comment giveaway is easy and effective. Here’s a great example from a Ukrainian influencer, who focuses on beauty and family.
Because she just asked for comments and mentions, it was easy for anyone to join. And by choosing a Christmas beauty box as the prize, she appealed to her core audience and reinforced her personal brand.
You can use social media giveaways to boost your sponsorships or brand affiliations, as well as your own personal brand. Take this example from a Greek footballer. The photo he posted on social media puts both him and the clothing brand he supports, front and center.
Ready to start with your own giveaway? Read our ultimate guide to Instagram giveaways.
Of course, there’s more to social media giveaways than just Instagram. You can use Twitter and Facebook in the same way (albeit with slightly different rules).
Some people choose to strengthen their personal brand by running giveaways that combine their audience across social networks. Others choose to tailor giveaways for different social networks – for example, your Twitter followers might be interested in different prizes from your Instagram followers.
Email newsletters and giveaways for your personal brand
If you don’t have a mailing list, then it’s time to get one. Email newsletters are still the best way to talk to your brand audience. They’re a direct channel to your followers, and you don’t have to worry about social algorithms that affect your reach.
Some people are turned off by email. They think that newsletters have to be boring walls of text. However, email is actually a very flexible format: you can liven up your messages with videos, gifs, personalized content, and even competitions.
Once again, start by thinking about your goals. Do you want more clicks? More information about your subscribers? More responses?
A giveaway, contest or quiz is a great way to engage email readers. Plus, because it’s a “private” channel – everyone receives an individual message, instead of seeing a general broadcast on social media – you can make subscribers feel like they’re part of something exclusive and special.
For example, if you wanted to encourage more clicks to your website, you could offer promotional codes or email-only access to exclusive content.
Check out these three case studies from Neil Patel, with some valuable tips for personal brands and businesses. And if you’re looking for an easy way to start, check out this Survey tool with built-in rewards.
If you just wanted to say thank you to your subscribers, you could run an exclusive giveaway by running your list of subscribers through a Pick a Winner app. Or if you wanted to learn more about your readers, you could add a survey or quiz to your next mailshot.
Website contests and quizzes for building your personal brand
Finally, let’s talk about your personal website or blog. This is a key part of your personal branding; just like email, it offers a direct line of contact between you and your followers. It’s a key location for people to learn more about you, get in touch, and interact with your personal brand.
Once again, there are plenty of ways to use giveaways in your web strategy. For example…
For many people, their blog or personal site is a vital source of email subscribers. So you can boost those subscriptions by offering gated content or promotional codes when people fill out a registration form. You can maintain the registration form as a page on your website, a widget, or even a pop-up on your most visited pages.
Just like an email giveaway, you can use contests to reward loyal readers and keep them coming back. This series of giveaways to celebrate a blogger’s anniversary are a great example.
You can run surveys and quizzes, too. These can be very successful when they’re integrated with your blogposts. Personality quizzes are especially popular, as well as knowledge challenges and product recommenders.
Everyone’s personal brand is different… so everyone’s approach is different! You can now start working on yours! Create your free Easypromos account now, and in case of any doubts contact our Support Team.
