Complete Guide to running Giveaways on YouTube

Do you want to create a giveaway on YouTube and have no idea where to start? Then, it’s your lucky day! Because, in this post, we put in your hands a super-complete guide to create your online giveaways on YouTube and apply them in your marketing strategy.

YouTube is a video viewing platform known and used all over the world, with an exceptional growth year after year. Therefore, it is essential that you take advantage of the wide reach of this social network to promote your brand.

Giveaways among your subscribers or people who comment on your videos is a very effective way to grow your channel. AppSorteos brings you a tool to draw on YouTube, by choosing a winning comment from the list of comments on your video.

How to run a YouTube giveaway? Follow this step by step

Follow these steps and do your YouTube giveaways in a simple, clear and transparent way.

Step 1: Log in to AppSorteos and click on the tool to create YouTube Giveaways

Log in to your AppSorteos account and select the YouTube giveaway tool in the Applications tab.

Step 2: Paste the URL of your video in the box provided.

The URL is the video’s web address and you need to copy and paste it to start your YouTube giveaway. If you are on your computer, it is the link that appears in the address bar at the top of the window, below the tabs. On your mobile you must click on “share” and copy the link there.

Once copied, paste it in the indicated box.

Step 3: Press the START button

When you see the URL in the box, click on the START button, this will allow us to upload the video where you will do the giveaway, we can count the comments and you can check if you have uploaded the correct link.

Step 4: Click on Load Comments

If everything you have uploaded so far is correct, click on LOAD COMMENTS. If you have made a mistake in any of the above steps, click BACK.

Step 5: Apply the filters

Once all the comments are loaded, click on the SETTINGS tab if you want to apply any filters. You can choose how many winners you want, if you want to exclude duplicates or if you want to filter by a specific feature you have indicated in your giveaway.

Once you have decided which filters to apply, click CONFIRM.

Step 6: Click Start!

When you have everything ready, a button with the word START! will appear. Click on it to initiate the giveaway.

Step 7: Check your winners and alternates

After the countdown, the names of the winners and alternates, if you have determined so, will appear.

Remember that if you have set as a condition to choose the winner, that they have subscribed to your channel or have liked your video, for example, we will not be able to corroborate it from AppSorteos, so you will have to check it manually. If these conditions are not met, you can replace the winning comment and the alternates.

Step 8: Share the result of your giveaway

If you agree with the result of your giveaway, share who is the lucky person to win the prize.

Find out which are the different subscription plans we offer in our app to carry out YouTube giveaways and improve your digital marketing strategy. The free option is a great opportunity to test the tool.

How can I communicate the winners of my giveaway on Youtube?

There are different ways to announce the winners of your giveaway on social media. Here are the easiest ways to do it:

• Post the comment that we have written especially for the occasion. You can do it directly on Instagram or copy and paste it in the social network of your choice.

• Generate the certificate and share it on your networks. It can be an image with the names and photos of your winners or a video of the moment of the giveaway and the random choice of comments.

• Share the link of the certificate of validity with all the details of the giveaway.

Tips to get the most out of YouTube giveaways

Running a YouTube Giveaway with the AppSorteos tool is very easy. But to make sure it goes as planned, follow these tips that will make your giveaways and promotions a remarkable experience:

1. Announce your giveaway in advance: The more publicity you do in your networks about the promotion you are organizing, the more subscribers you will be able to get to your channel. Remember to make videos with all the information and the prizes to be drawn and publish them periodically on YouTube. Also spread the word on your other social networks with links that lead to your YouTube account. This will considerably increase the traffic to your channel.
2. Clearly define the guidelines and conditions, and the day and time the giveaway will take place: Remember that it is difficult for people to participate in something where the rules to follow are not clear. Specify the conditions to enter the giveaway, and precise the time and day it will take place. It is essential that you comply with these guidelines, so as not to generate false expectations that deteriorate your brand’s image.
3. Motivate your subscribers to interact: It is well known that the more comments or likes your YouTube video has, the more popularity you will have within the platform. Therefore, if you encourage your subscribers to comment and share your videos to have more chances to win the giveaway, you will have much more audience traffic on your channel.
4. Design your giveaway post: Keep in mind that it should be a clear and eye-catching design, in tune with your business. Don’t forget that what you are looking to highlight is your brand, so make sure it is visible.
5. Choose your prize carefully: Remember that the purpose of the giveaway is to promote your brand or an item or service you offer. For this reason, the prize must represent or be related, in some way, to your business.
6. Evaluate the situation of your brand: If you have few subscribers yet, you can choose to boost your business with other social networks or design an advertising campaign to take the first step. In this situation you may want to do the giveaway at a later stage, when you have expanded your channel a bit.
7. Consider partnering with Youtubers or other complementary brands: If you don’t have much of a presence on YouTube, you can partner with other brands related to your business and run a collaborative giveaway. You can also leverage influencer and youtuber marketing to promote your giveaway and boost your brand.

What are the best dynamics for my giveaway?

In this guide we recommend different dynamics for your giveaway:

• Comment giveaway: Here you can ask your subscribers to comment on the video in order to participate. The idea is that the publication is attractive and that you leave some hook for the end. This way you ensure that people will watch your video in its entirety.

You can do your giveaways with the comments on a video, with the comments on your shorts or with the comments on a live stream.

• Giveaway with #hashtag: You can ask your subscribers to comment with the #hashtag of your choice.
• Multi-Network Giveaway: You can jointly giveaway comments from different social networks, such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or Twitter. Encourage your YouTube subscribers to follow you on your other networks to increase your brand’s visibility.

Remember that it is better to ask your subscribers to meet 1 or 2 requirements, since if you go overboard, many people will opt not to participate in your giveaway due to the complexity of its configuration. The important thing is that it is easy to understand and participate.

What NOT to do when planning or running my giveaway on YouTube?

Contrary to all the tips we showed you previously on how to do giveaways on YouTube, in this list we present you the most common mistakes that will make your giveaway a complete disaster or worse, go unnoticed. Try to avoid them at all costs:

• You ask your subscribers to perform many actions: If to participate in your giveaway, the conditions are that they subscribe to your channel, follow you on all your social networks, comment on your videos, use a #hashtag, tag other people, etc… rest assured that many users will give up participating. Set few conditions. Keep everything simple and clear.
• You announce and enable your giveaway well in advance: Keep in mind that giveaways are dynamic and require active communication. If you make the mistake of announcing it too early, people might forget about your giveaway, losing power and purpose. Therefore, we recommend that no more than 20 days pass between the announcement and the draw. This way you can promote it, remember it and not exhaust your audience.
• Communicate your giveaway through a single channel: If you do this, you will not be taking advantage of all the engagement power of other social networks and you will lose the possibility of other people knowing your business. If you giveaway on YouTube, advertise on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Make your giveaway and your brand known!
• You don’t pay attention to all stages of the giveaway: Running this type of marketing strategy has three stages: launching and promoting the giveaway, the giveaway itself, and communicating the results. Don’t underestimate or skip any of them, and put the same effort into each of them.
• Wrong choice of prize: Remember you should give away something that is related to your business and, most importantly, something you can afford. If you can’t deliver the promised prize, it will be catastrophic for your brand image.

Finally, keep in mind that when it comes to doing giveaways for YouTube, imagination and creativity are most important.

Create giveaways the way you want and consider convenient, but always paying attention to the recommendations and trying to avoid the most frequent mistakes. In this way, together with AppSorteos, you will turn your YouTube giveaway into a positive experience for you and your followers, and this will translate into the growth of your channel, company or business.