Win a fat quarter bundle!
Enter the giveaway to get a free copy of this book!
Share this post on Facebook and tweet it for two extra chances to win a free pattern!”
I read these posts every single day. Like hawkers at a market stall, these bloggers are shouting “free” at me as I walk past, hoping I’ll stop for a minute and take a look at their wares.
Have you ever held a successful giveaway on your blog? If you have that post most likely garnered more traffic, and more comments than any other post you’ve ever written. Maybe that day you got 100 new Facebook likes, too. Pretty great, right?
A giveaway involves three parties: the company promoting the product, the blog hosting the giveaway, and the public entering the giveaway. The assumption is that giveaways will benefit all three at a very low cost. The company gets the word out about their product essentially for free. The blogger gets to build her blog readership or Facebook likes or Instagram follows for free. And the public gets a chance to win something. Hooray for everyone!
I think you know that I’m about to say boo.
I’d like to argue that giveaways actually don’t benefit any of these parties. Giveaways are an ineffective way for companies to market a product. In fact I think giveaways inhibit sales. Giveaways aren’t truly building your readership and aren’t benefiting your readers, either.
First, let’s look at giveaways as a marketing tool for a company. Craft blogs very commonly give away copies of newly released craft books so I’ll take one of those as an example.
As a craft blogger you post a review of the new title and offer a copy to give away to one lucky reader. Your regular readers and loyal customers trust you and what you recommend. They say to themselves, “Wow, that book looks beautiful! And if she likes it, and she’s a total expert, than I know it’s worth getting. I’ll enter!” They fill out the form and then they wait. While they’re waiting, they aren’t buying. Then the winner is announced and everyone moves on. They move on because of a psychological feeling that they’ve already taken action when it comes to that book. They entered the giveaway. All done! Although offering a giveaway may generate hype about a new book or product, I would argue in fact giveaways don’t promote sales at all.
Now let’s look at how giveaways effect your blog. A blog is a public journal. All bloggers check their stats and want their numbers to go up. Guess what? Doing a giveaway will make those numbers go up. I guarantee it. But the surge is not only temporary, it’s meaningless. Why? Because of sites like Giveaway Scoop and the people who use it.
Giveaway Scoop is a site that aggregates blog giveaways. Their About page describes it well:
Everyday across the web, brands sponsor thousands of new giveaways in conjunction with blogs and web sites. The problem though, is that tracking these giveaways down has been seriously time
consuming. It’s time for that to change! Giveaway Scoop is “the” place to easily discover the web’s hidden treasure chest of giveaways!… After all, the more giveaways you enter, the better your chances of winning. And free stuff is always fun!
Users scroll through thousands of giveaways, clicking and entering one and all. No need to read the text of the blog post to find out what’s required, Giveaway Scoop tells you that before you
click over.
I have nothing against Giveaway Scoop. It’s clever, really. But before you celebrate the 233 blog comments your recent giveaway generated, consider how each of those comments happened. Someone read the word “free” somewhere, clicked and filled out a form. These are the happenstance entries. You aren’t building your readership and your customer base with a giveaway. You aren’t building anything.
Finally, let’s look at how a giveaway might possibly benefit your readers. Some readers may appreciate your generosity and that truly is a small benefit of a giveaway, although I think it’s far more generous to share some of your knowledge for free than to give one person a free book. Frankly, that’s about it. I’m struggling to find a way that your readers benefit at all.
The word giveaway means “free.” Free attracts attention. On the internet, attention comes in the way of likes, follows, comments, and clicks and all of those are nice to have. To build a solid readership for your blog and a customer base for your business, though, you need to share real ideas and valuable information and present them in a way that supports great products.
True relationships aren’t built on randomly clicking for free stuff.
nicole followthewhitebunny says
I don’t really see a downside in doing giveaways for bloggers. Sure a part of the people who comment will be first-time visitors to your blog and yes it’s likely most of them will never come back but some may. If your blog is just giveaways and not much else then it would be a different matter… I also consider whether the product/book is interesting to my readers. As to the publishers or companies who sponsor the giveaways, if you get your stuff posted on the right blogs (which don’t have to be ‘big’ blogs) regularly (or in some cases very regularly, like the Aurifil quilt thread I see everywhere!) I think it can help sell a product.
melissa says
Speaking as a consumer, I’ve gone and bought products based on a giveaway multiple times. Sometimes I’ll enter the giveaway, and if I don’t win, go buy the product…sometimes I’ll skip the giveaway and go straight to putting in my order.
On the flip side, I’ve also ordered products recommended by bloggers I liked without a giveaway, because it looked like something I’d be interested in and was recommended by someone whose opinions I trust.
Now, I know the plural of anecdote is not data, just putting my experience out there. And I do agree with your overall point that blogs should be focused on generating good content, and businesses on generating good product, that people will want to keep coming back and reading/buying. I don’t think that the occasional giveaway hurts anything, though, and I’m not convinced that it inhibits sales.
Maybe the *occasional* giveaway is not what you’re writing about, though, and I’ve missed the point entirely 🙂
mjb says
One good way to deal with that I’ve seen is a coupon code that’s offered when the winner is announced (when it’s tied to a certain shop). So: you didn’t win, but here’s a coupon to help you go buy it anyway. That reminds me that I have an action left to take. Unless it’s a lengthy blog tour, in which case I’ll just wait for the next 13 stops to see if I can win later.
Betz says
A friend of mine has a very sincere, friendly knitting blog: http://susanbanderson.blogspot.com/. She has many giveaways sprinkled throughout her regular posts as a service to her readers. Her followers love her and gravitate towards anything she loves or recommends. It feels very organic and spontaneous. She often gets free copies of books and magazines from publishers so she shares the wealth. She travels a lot to teach and do book events. It just always feels like something exciting is going on over there. I never feel like it is a scheme or a ploy to get followers. I may be biased since she’s a friend of mine, but I would bet her readers feel the same way.
Jessica says
Lots of broad generalizations going on here :/ Sometimes bloggers do giveaways because they…. actually just want to give something away! I did one on my makeup blog to give away a few extra bottles of my favorite nail polish (that I had purchased, this wasn’t a sponsored giveaway), just because I loved it so much and wanted to share it with others. I’ve participated in a few that other bloggers have done for the same reasons. Easy, simple, and a little bit of fun. You’ve done a great job making it seem like everyone has some evil corporate ulterior motive behind their giveaways.
And, I know this may blow your mind, but not every blogger checks their stats obsessively… Not every blogger out there is in it to promote their business-blog, make money, and earn comments and likes! Back to that ‘sharing’ thing… Some of us just want to share our stuff with the world.
Karin Jordan says
I think there are many ways a giveaway can ‘head south’ if done improperly. However, I think they’re a great way for a new blog to gain exposure, and a nice way for an established blog to thank readers. When I see a great book review as part of a giveaway, I’ll often enter and then wind up buying the book. When you regularly offer solid content and valuable information on your site, the giveaway (in my opinion) takes on more of an ‘I like this and I’d like to share’ feel than the ‘free free free’ cheesy marketing vibe. It becomes a personal recommendation with a built-in chance to win.
Faye Nettles says
I too do not see a down side to giveaways. I have won fabrics that I loved and then ordered more from the sponsor. I have won rulers and bought other rulers from the same sponsor becasue I loved the rulers. I won Aurifil thread and guess what. That is the thread I buy the most. I tend to follow those bloggers that have the giveaways.
Abby Glassenberg says
I agree with you, Karin. I think it’s very nice to offer free books and products to readers. It’s like sharing a great book with a friend, you know? Done in the way you describe it can be a good thing.
Abby Glassenberg says
I hear you, Jessica. I think the giveaways you describe sound like nice, generous acts of appreciation for a product and for your readers. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, it build friendship and trust.
Abby Glassenberg says
I really admire Susan and her approach. I enjoyed her recent post and giveaway about shawl pins. Her writing style is so warm and inviting you can’t help but get excited about the things she recommends!
pam says
The biggest disappointment I experience when I offer a giveaway is that my blogging community does not enter. It has been suggested to me that the reason friends don’t enter is that they are trying to be nice. I am NOT trying to generate traffic with giveaways. I offer them simply to share. I generally do NOT hold giveaways sponsored by companies. I have found that in what ever way winners have found me, many have remained to become friends which has been more than gratifying. So that has been a lovely result. I wrestle constantly with the question whether or not to continue with giveaways. I have my big five year anniv. coming up soon and will hold a giveaway in conjunction with that, but every time I do hold a giveaway, I think maybe this should be the last because almost no one i know shows up. Now if my friends would just show up, I would be much happier about the whole thing! My giveaways are supposed to be for them!!! End of rant. Thank you for the opportunity!!
Abby Glassenberg says
That’s a great way to follow up with a giveaway to continue to build momentum for a product after the winner is announced. As you so rightly put it, it’s a reminder that there is further action to take! A great idea.
Abby Glassenberg says
I just bought two products yesterday based on a blogger’s recommendation and I can’t wait for them to arrive! There’s nothing better than a great recommendation from a blogger who is an expert in the field! And I agree that the occasional giveaway certainly doesn’t hurt anyone.
Abby Glassenberg says
I love your point that the right blogs don’t have to be the big blogs, Nicole. A recommendation from a niche blog with a deep understanding of the topic is more valuable to me than a quick review by a big, popular blog.
Abby Glassenberg says
That’s good to hear, Faye.
Abby Glassenberg says
That’s interesting, Pam. I’ve heard from a number of people that they have trouble getting people to enter their giveaways. I’m not sure if all of them have the same issue with friends not entering to be nice or not, but it does actually seem fairly common.
If you really enjoy giving great things away (and I get the feeling it does give you joy!) just keep doing it even if only a few people enter. The same joy comes to you from the act of giving, whether the pool is large or very small!
Tiffany Harvey says
Hehe, I think I’ve won two things from your giveaways in the past! Not sure if you are talking occasional giveaways or the blogs that do it all the time.
I know I had to ditch one blog because it was becoming way too commercial ~ nearly every post was either a ‘sponsored by’ or a giveaway. I can’t trust anything recommended like a blog like that, & even with great project & recipes in between, you get sick of the ads.
Allison Dey Malacaria says
I have won a couple of giveaways in the last year, but I already read those folks regularly. I agree with you that I’m not prompted to read a new blog more regularly just because i’ve entered a giveaway there. Many blogs announce a giveaway and never announce a winner and provide a place for a community ‘hurrah!’. That’s very off-putting to me.
Giveaways hosted by bloggers who consistently make, sell, teach and then offer a little thank you to create more personal connection feels chummy. Their blogs already feel inspired by relationship with their readers; they respond to their commenters, they write in a way that sounds like they’re talking to us, they seem to have this lovely way of balancing funny personal anecdotes with teaching tutorials with thought provoking questions, and when they offer a giveaway, it feels a little like Secret Santa.
My blog is fledgling and I was thinking of having a giveaway but I have so few readers and it might boost readership for a week, but then after that, what? Yesterday I decided to post a how-to craft instead and giveaway skills, creativity, and fun rather than another dust collector for the winner and an errand to the post office for me. Thanks for confirming what I was really feeling deep down about many giveaways.
Lupin says
This is such an interesting discussion! I have a lot of thoughts about this and I apologise in advance if this gets a little long 🙂
I definitely agree with you that there are real limits to the “magic” of what a giveaway can do to promote sales or to help promote your blog and that they can potentially inhibit sales if people aren’t encouraged to take any action after the giveaway (I love the idea in the comments of a coupon code post-giveaway, very smart). But I still think there’s a lot of potential value in running giveaways.
I have done giveaways of my own products on my blog in the past to celebrate milestones and anniversaries and product launches (including my readers in that celebration by offering the chance to win something fun) but these days I mostly do book giveaways – where a publisher offers a copy to my readers as part of the promo for a new book.
From my point of view even if I see unfamiliar names amongst the people leaving comments on my giveaway posts I see a lot of familiar ones too, regular readers who are happy to have a chance to win a nice book. I am not fussed about the “numbers” generated by running a giveaway, and I never ask people to tweet or post on Facebook etc. to take part – I don’t think of it as a promotional tool in that way, more as something that’s part of the relationship I have with my readers.
If I do a book giveaway or two as part of a “book week” (along with running lots of craft book reviews throughout the week) I feel like it makes the idea of the book week more of an “event” and offers a bit more than just “hello, I am reviewing a lot of books this week” (I do try to make my reviews interesting but realistically I know not everyone is going to be excited about just a week of me talking about craft books).
Similarly, if I run a giveaway for a copy of a book that I’ve just had work published in, I feel like it’s a way for people to share in the “celebration” of the book coming out – like maybe the book’s launch becomes something people are more engaged in versus something I’m maybe just bragging about?? Does that make sense? I like the idea that it offers my readers a bit extra instead of me just blah-ing on at them all the time! They might not be “gaining” very much in a tangible way, but people seem to like entering the giveaways (and the people who win are usually thrilled!) – I certainly like having that chance to win something when I see giveaways pop up on the blogs I read, although I rarely ever win anything.
From the publisher’s point of view, I do wonder if publishers ever run the numbers on whether giving away books “works” for them, or whether they do it just because it’s seen as the current standard way to promote a new craft book? Or what the promotional alternatives are for books or other craft products?
For my new book, I’m sharing a whole bunch of extra tutorials on my blog (designed to accompany the ones in the book)… but usually the only content publishers have to share is the content of the book itself – and I guess there’s a strict limit to the number of blogs you can get to run “here’s a free project from this new book!” posts before you run the risk of giving so much away for free that people don’t bother to buy the book at all, just to bookmark all the online freebies.
Another alternative to offering products as giveaway prizes would be paying for actual ads or sponsored posts on relevant blogs. I don’t know about you but I see a lot of “sponsored posts” about new products on blogs and very rarely read them as they just feel like glorified ads (which of course they are!) But with an occasional giveaway post, even though the text talking about the new book or fabric or sewing tool might be pretty much the same as it would be in a sponsored post it feels less like an ad and more like an exchange – I am reading about this product and being tempted to buy it, but I’m also getting the chance to win something. People might see “sponsored post” and skip past it, but they see “giveaway” and they read and click for the chance to enter.
I also think maybe bloggers who would feel uncomfortable with running sponsored posts on their blogs may well be happy with running giveaways for the same products – so offering a giveaway prize gets the product mentioned on blogs where it otherwise wouldn’t get mentioned.
Also I think having a freebie to share with your readers (as well as getting to keep the book or other item you got sent to review) is an extra item in the “what I get out of this” side of things as a blogger, versus the time/effort/calendar space you’re giving over to reviewing / blogging about a product, so even if it doesn’t actively tempt/persuade people to review something they otherwise wouldn’t bother to, it works to make the promotional transaction feel more balanced.
So bloggers are perhaps more likely to do promotional posts for publishers/companies new books/products because they (and their readers) are getting more out of it (or feel like they are at any rate) and publishers/companies get more mentions of their product and more eyeballs on the promotional post because it’s a giveaway (and because the blogger is probably tweeting about / mentioning on Facebook several times during the span of the giveaway to remind people to enter… and people they follow on Twitter & Facebook are re-tweeting and sharing with their followers, etc. which would be less likely to happen with just a review… and much less likely with a sponsored post).
Argh this has turned into the world’s longest blog comment. I am going to stop typing now!!
Rebecca says
I think the thing here is that big blogs who are out to make money host giveaways for different reasons than, lets call me, traditional bloggers. I have done giveaways of items I have purchased because it was such a great deal that I decided to buy 2 and give one away so someone else can see what it is I love about that product. I don’t check stats. I create to create. But that is the difference between “big blogs” and less man stream blogs. I am not trying to make money and they are. Do i sell things i made in an Etsy shop once in awhile? sure, as a hobby but mostly i just enjoy e process. I have also purchased products recommended by bloggers I admire based on their opinions whether they have a give away or not. If I think I will like it and they gave it a good review then it earns my interest. If they have a give away with it, does that automatically change my opinion? I bought a pair of calipers from you as soon as you listed them because I trusted your opinion o the best way to stuff softies. Should I have been turned off if you gave away a pair to draw some new people into the mix?
You call this “the real truth” but that is the real truth for you and the type of blog that you have. And I think that the audience you seek with your guidance on making money by blogging/creating would agree. But this is way too general in my opinion. I feel most of the craft blogs out there aren’t big money making blogs and just creative people talking about, sharing and yes, giving away, what they love.
Colleen says
I like to do a giveaway now and then. I dont do it to draw followers or for a sponsor, I do it because it is fun. I dont require people to follow me but I usually ask them to share a link or idea about something I am interested in. The giveaway fuels responses and I get some interesting info from it. Plus giving stuff is fun. Ive met some bloggy friends by giving stuff away or commenting to win a giveaway.
Katy says
Funnily enough, I’ve had rants about this in the past!
I don’t go looking for giveaways – I realise there are people with all the time in the world to do that, but I am not that person. It irritates me when bloggers obviously decide that they just want to make money, and then their output is a continuous stream of promotions and giveaways, that’s the point that I stop following – I blog to interact with people, not to be treated to adverts that if they were on the TV I would be fast-forwarding through! (More on them later)
Now that’s not to say I don’t ever enter giveaways, but I (probably rather cussedly) will not enter if I’m required to follow the blog/follow the sponsor on Facebook or Twitter or whatever/follow the blogger’s Facebook or Twitter or whatever/tweet about it/blog about it/or anything above and beyond leaving a comment really! I also don’t enter things I don’t want to win. Apparently that is odd. A friend who does a weekly fabric giveaway with a range of sponsors once asked me why I didn’t often enter, and when I told her it’s because it wasn’t something I wanted to win, and there was no point in potentially depriving someone else, she told me that was extremely nice of me. Well, no, it kind of makes sense really, what on earth would I do with something I didn’t want? Giveaways never entice me to buy what I didn’t win, reviews, on the other hand, will make me consider a purchase (which might explain the confirmation e-mail I got from Amazon earlier about a book I don’t even remember pre-ordering, but I think it must have been months ago…)
Twice a year Sew Mama Sew runs Giveaway Day (for a week lol) that I take part in because it’s a fun excuse to make something and give it away to my regular readers. Actually, last May I didn’t even link up, just to see what would happen numbers wise, because I don’t actually care about my stats, just about who I interact with. As it turned out, the numbers participating, while a bit smaller than the previous one, brought a number of silent followers out of the woodwork. That might be a social comment in itself – you talk crap 99% of the time, but hey, you make cute free stuff (or possibly just free stuff alone lol).
I do honestly wonder what drives some people that are constantly running giveaways though. Now the friend with the weekly giveaway I mentioned above also usually has a coupon code (those I will use, in a sort of ‘self-chosen free stuff’ kind of a way) and the participants are her sponsors who she enthusiastically gushes about even outwith those posts. On other sites I just see ‘Win this free fabric/$ spending money, here’s a bunch of crap in the shop you can buy, now jump through 50 hoops to win’. For those people I know it’s all about the numbers, but what does that allow them to do? I’m sure some of it is ‘I have 50,000 followers, send me free stuff to promote to them’ but I do wonder when the companies will wise up to the fact that about 49,900 of them aren’t actually reading the site, and that most of the hoop jumpers collect Facebook pages and Tweeters they ‘like’ in the same way small children collect stickers, after which they promptly fail to ever interact again. I’m sure the business driven will have other adverts linked up, so as people come to get free stuff, they’re hit with ads for other things, which probably earns them $, but at what point will the traffic grind to a halt because people can’t face another advert filled post substituting proper content?
As for people that run giveaways for things not at all related to their regular content – those really baffle me! I’ve been approached to promote glasses, scrapbook software, and one or two other oddities that bear no relation to the subject of my sewing blog, and I’ve turned them all down, because I kind of feel it’s beneath both me and my readers to be trying to sell them something just because they happen to be there! Some of them are extremely persistent though, so after politely saying no once, they now go directly to spam ;o)
Oops, you didn’t really ask for a rant in reply, did you?
katie says
There can be a downside. There have been several blogs that I used to read regularly that I have now unsubscribed to after they had too many giveaways and/or product reviews. I don’t mind one now and again, not at all – and I’ve entered a couple myself. I’ve also borne in mind recommendations that I have taken to the (online) store with me at later points – one thing that giveaways DO do (I do a lot of marketing strategy, though not for blogs) is reinforce the brand. The more times a consumer sees a brand (or book, whatever), the more she’ll remember it and the more trustworthy it becomes.
That said, there is an invisible line in the blogland sand somewhere, and it can be a tricky one to find. A product review (this is a little sketchier, somehow) or a giveaway here or there – okay. Once the numbers cross that line, though, you start to lose readers who have lost faith and trust.
Fiona says
I think there are many sides to this, (as illustrated by the comments so far!), but my own personal view is that I’ll often enter a giveaway for something I wouldn’t bother to pay for – but heck, it’s FREE, right? But sometimes I don’t enter at all, if it’s a big commercialised blog, because I don’t want them to have my contact details. And it very rarely makes me subscribe to a blog or read it regularly. I read blogs because I love the regular topics, the personality and style of the writer; a giveaway wouldn’t make any difference to these things.
Margk says
Interesting post and discussion. I now tend to skip past the posts that have “giveaway” in the title – I just “Mark as read”. And if I find myself skipping them too often, I unsubscribe – simple as that. I’m not sure what it is I dislike about giveaways – maybe too many say only North American addresses can enter (I’m in Australia), or maybe I’m just not competitive 😀
Claudia says
I haven’t done any giveaways on my blog for a couple of reasons. First, I aim for most of my posts to be “evergreen” — content that people will find useful months after I post it. Second, I write about (and create) upcycled pieces, in part to cut down on waste and unwanted stuff people have in their lives. Giveaways — hey, here’s more stuff for you — could be at odds with my green mission. That said, I have entered a giveaway and was happy to win the book.
Victoria says
A an avid sewing blog reader. I HATE giveaways. They sound phony and forced. The post usually sounds like an commercial rather than the blogger’s true voice. I never read a blog post hosting a giveaway and I never enter. I more giveaways, the less likely I am to return.
Kristin says
I always appreciate your thoughtful analysis of subjects like this. It is great to open up the discussion. I think it would be more accurate to say that the truth about giveaways is that sometimes they are cool and sometimes they suck. I wrote about it a couple of years ago and although some of my thoughts have changed (we never used Rafflecopter again) many still stand. I would also add that giveaways do get people to jump over from their feed reader or facebook, which is important if you are using ad revenue to support your site.
http://www.sewmamasew.com/2011/08/our-thoughts-on-running-giveaways/
Samantha says
As a fabric seller, I kind of agree. I’ve pretty much stopped doing giveaways unless it’s on Instagram with people I know and care about. I’ll never forget the lady who won Briar Rose before it was for sale, then took the time to tell me she thought the fabric sucked on my FB page. I don’t know that I’ve gotten any sales/new traffic from them, but I like to give back to my customers, so, again, I like to use Instagram or my mailing list, facebook page, etc.
However, as someone who enters, I have won one or two and have really appreciated it and followed the bloggers, appreciated them, etc. I especially love the Sew Mama Sew giveaway weeks!
Jeifner says
Then there are the legalities required by the US Government that many bloggers are either in blatant or innocent disregard of. There is a difference between a contest, sweepstakes and lottery and you need to be absolutely sure which one you are doing. Even your small giveaways must have rules posted, an agreement to rules, a set start and end time and various other requirements. Most “giveaway” scenarios are actually sweepstakes. There are so many things you need to do or not do to cover your bases. Many people use a Facebook “like” as an entry requirement which is illegal. You cannot announce a winner on Facebook. If you reference your giveaway at any other place besides the actual site you have to include the rules, requirements, restrictions, etc. another thing many people don’t do is state that the sweepstakes are only open to people over 18. Sure, right now it doesn’t seem like the FTC (Federal Trade Commision) is cracking down on the laws but do you really want to be the blogger that they catch and make an example of to the full extent of the federal government. Oh, then there are all of the laws regarding international sweepstakes. You not only have to comply with the U.S. governments international sweepstakes laws but the laws of each country where your entrants are from. Fun huh?
Jeifner says
The downside is that most bloggers are running their giveaways illegally and are probably not aware they are breaking laws. See comment below.
Jeifner says
The blogs where the giveaway is located in the U.S. often say “only the U.S.” often say only available here to comply with sweepstakes laws. The laws get increasingly complicated if you are doing an international giveaway.
Abby Glassenberg says
I have certainly done my share of giveaways over the past 8.5 years of blogging! My thoughts above are a reflection of my experience with them. I do wish there were some solid market research to turn to to get a better handle on the effectiveness of giveaways.
Abby Glassenberg says
I think giveaways can be a warm and welcoming way to share interesting things with readers, just as you say, Allison. Tutorials can have that same effect!
Abby Glassenberg says
Thanks for sharing these thoughts. To your last point, giveaways can definitely promote name recognition of a particular book. The more it gets shared, the more people see it and get familiar with it. Giveaways are an effective promotional tool in that way.
Abby Glassenberg says
And that is a very wonderful thing, Rebecca. I think you’re correct that this post is addressed to a category of bloggers who are working to turn their blog into a part of their business. Thank you for clarifying that.
Abby Glassenberg says
These are certainly all positive results of hosting a blog giveaway, Colleen. And that’s terrific!
Abby Glassenberg says
I understand why bloggers accept these sorts of promotional offers. Blogging takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, and very often a financial investment in hosting or design or photography equipment. It’s very hard to feel compensated for these outputs. Accepting free stuff can help you feel as though you are indeed getting tangible rewards for your efforts.
Abby Glassenberg says
Faith and trust are both so important, too. It’s scary to get to that point when you erode those.
Abby Glassenberg says
That’s good to know, Fiona.
Abby Glassenberg says
This was a fascinating read, Kristin. Thank you. And the post that came before it was also very interesting. For me it brings up a topic that I missed in my post which is that advertisers look at comment numbers to get a feel for engagement and at overall stats to get a feel for reach. Both of those things can be positively effected by giveaways that require a comment to participate.
Thank your for sharing this link, Kristin. I really admire what you do at Sew, Mama, Sew.
Abby Glassenberg says
Wow, that’s quite a story, Samantha. I wonder what it is about Instagram that makes a giveaway there work better for you than one offered elsewhere.
Abby Glassenberg says
This is a huge topic, Jeifner. Thank you so much for bringing it up. Although I know there are rules regulating the different kinds of giveaways, I don’t have a good understanding of them and how they relate to what crafters present on their blogs. My ignorance makes me feel even more cautious about giveaways, though.
Nicky says
Hmmm this is an interesting topic. I think sometimes giveaways can actually benefit everyone if done right. I won a fabric giveaway on this site, but I was already a regular reader and I’m still a customer (though part of that is books). It did make me feel more “engaged”. And the fabric was great, so now I recommend that business to people and want more from them.
On another site, I’ve bought an item being given away because I doubted my chances and really wanted to try the product. But that same site does giveaways all the time now, usually requiring facebook likes and stuff. Although I still trust the blogger, I don’t want to use my facebook as someone’s billboard and really, I think it cheapens the brand quite a lot.
I guess I agree with many who commented: it seems to be a bit of a balance. But when done well, it can be a great business move.
Choly says
Wow! So funny that this should post right in the middle of one of my own giveaways for my sewing blog. I did the giveaway in the hopes of attracting people who like the kind of things I make, which is a sort of a niche group because I lean a lot towards kawaii style. The prize was a special item, handmade by me, that I thought seemed like nice thank you when I reached a milestone. I actually recently turned down a woman who offered me free candles in exchange for a review and a giveaway to promote her store. It was nice of her to offer, but those candles had nothing to do with the kind of thing I do.
This has been my third giveaway, and I’m finding that holding them attracts a lot (but not all) of the wrong people — namely people that are only interested in free stuff and not in my work. In fact, with every giveaway I’ve found that it takes me a while to find a winner who’s actually interested enough to respond with their address in a timely manner (if at all)! I wonder if any other bloggers here have had that problem. I do get a few entrants that discover my website because of my giveaway, and I get the occasional wonderful message of “Why am I just finding your website now? Your stuff is amazing! Entered!” If only all my entrants were like that, right? I think they’re the ones that deserve the prize 😉
Abby Glassenberg says
Hi Choly,
First, I just want to tell you that I’ve admired your books for years. I think I’ve spent well over three hours sitting on the floor of Barnes and Noble reading them. I love what you do.
I think you’re experience with giveaways is actually really common, although I’m not sure many people talk about it. I certainly have had trouble contacting winners over the years on the giveaways I’ve done here on my blog. I know several people in the comments above related experiences of having very few people enter a giveaway and feeling pretty down about that. It certainly isn’t a sure fire way to make your blog take off.
shawn says
I was just wondering what is illegal about it and what laws are being broken, Did I miss that post or did it get deleted??
smjohns63 at yahoo dot com
Abby Glassenberg says
Hi Shawn,
Jeifner’s comment is below, right under Samantha’s. You may need to click the “see more comments” text in order to see all of the comments on this post. I hope that helps!
Abby
Kelly Caiazzo says
I’ve never done a giveaway for my blog (a just for fun running blog… but one that I would enjoy attracting readers to).
However, as a reader, I actually kind of dislike giveaways. It makes me feel annoyed to see other people randomly getting things for free that I have to pay for. I want to be a better person than that, but that’s my gut reaction.
There’s a running headband I like that is CONSTANTLY being given away on other running blogs, and I see so many tweets about it being given away for free that I actually feel ripped off when I order one and pay for it.
It’s a little like the feeling when you buy something full priced, and then see it go on sale a week later but can’t get a price adjustment. There are some retail stores that put things on sale so frequently that I won’t buy anythi
]ng full priced, because it feels like I’m getting a bad deal. Same thing with many online photo stores… their coupons and discounts are so frequent that if you pay full price you feel like you’ve been robbed.
I love that people are interested in sharing something for free, and appreciate that they can’t always give every one of their readers something, without losing money. (I would love to buy all my readers their own headband, but that would be a lot of money for a non-profit blog!)
At the same time, I really loved what Abby said about sharing some things for free with everyone when you’re able to. A free pattern download goes a long way when it’s a gift for all rather than a select, lucky few, who may not even be loyal readers. It’s not always possible, and not always profitable, but it appeals more to my sense of fairness.
I may be in the minority, but I just don’t like raffles, giveaways or Las Vegas. Wait, Las Vegas? Really? That might be a bit overdramatic. You’re losing your credibility here. Don’t post that.
Abby Glassenberg says
You crack me up, Kelly! But I do think you make a good point about the psychology of free. Free doesn’t necessarily mean you are building your business. It “gets the word out” but not necessarily in the best way.
Tenns @ New Mama Diaries says
My only gripe with giveaways, while I rarely enter them, is when you have to follow 30 people on every single social media platform. I’m a stronger believer in only following those who I’m truly interested in. I hate the idea of empty followers and I think giveaways results in that.
Stephanie says
I used to enter giveaways (and contests and sweepstakes) as a “part-time job” – like upwards of 100 a day! So there are probably thousands of blogs I liked or tweeted and never took a second look at. But, there are quite a few that did what they were supposed to, which is expose me to a new product or a new blog. If they can prove to someone that their content or product is valuable, it’ll stick somewhere. I can think of 2 craft books I bought or was gifted recently that I solely found out about when I read a review of them! Like anything else, it can be done well and it can be done poorly.
Rohn says
As a blogger and designer I rarely see the benefits of giveaways personally. However, if I see a product I LOVE and want to share with my audience I occasionally ask a company to send me a little something and I offer it to my readers. It usually promotes the item a bit and gives my customers a little incentive to come back and read. I don’t do it regularly nor would I. I don’t want to seem like a blog that does that.
I remember a few years ago I did a blog tour and was advised NOT to giveaway a book at every stop. Because people would hit each tour stop and enter for a book. What’s the purpose? I’d lose money sending out all of these books. So I spaced it out and only gave away a few copies of 30 stops. It was highly beneficial and even saved me some money!
It actually reminds me of online designers who CONSTANTLY have a coupon/sale going on. Why buy? What sense does that make when it’s going to be 30% off next week. I’ve even went as far as raising prices and ending coupon codes. But that’s another topic unto itself.
Abby says
The way I think about it is people will often take only one action when they see something they want. Do you want that one action to be entering a game of chance to win that thing? Better to show why the thing is valuable, build desire, and then have the one action to be clicking to “buy it now” button.
Stephie says
This was a very thought provoking post Amy and timely too: I’ve just finished my first small giveaway! I agree with you on lots of points. My biggest bug bear are sponsored giveaways – it’s just advertising cooked up to look a little friendlier and, really, as you say, what’s in it for the reader? (I’m also fed up of seeing the same sponsors’ logos on just about every sewing blog there is, or random ads for anything from shoes to salad!) It often smacks very much of ‘look at me, me, me’, but on the other hand there are bloggers that genuinely want to connect with their readers and a giveaway (especially of something they’ve made or really love) is perhaps a way of saying thank you. I like to think of it as taking a bunch of flowers over to a friend on an impromptu visit – what friend doesn’t like that? But you don’t take a bunch of flowers to the same friend every time – you try and spread the love amongst them!
When I published my post announcing the winners I also shared a little of my experience of running the giveaway and how I went about it. I’ve just been back and edited it to add a link here as I think there’s some really valuable discussion – thank you! Dawn Chorus Studio | Drum roll please
Abby says
Thank you for linking to this post, Stephie. I think it’s important to really examine the value of doing a giveaway on a blog. Often bloggers will say that a giveaway is a way to give back to their readers, but really only one reader gets anything. It’s a game and if you like to set up games and have people play them, then go for it! But better to acknowledge it for what it is.
Lisa at Mabey She Made It says
I’ve found this especially true with bigger giveaways, which is sad. Commenting and sharing others’ work is probably the best way to grow, which just takes time and effort, but brings loyal readers in the end. Thanks for this great article.
Christina G. says
I’ve been entering blog giveaways for about nine years now. I’ve entered many thousands. It seems to me that most bloggers who regularly host giveaways aren’t interested in readers as much as they are interested in monetizing their blog. If you have a “real” blog–one in which making money off the blog is NOT your primary goal–then giveaways are probably not for you.
I have lots and lots of experience entering blog giveaways, so I can unequivocally state that I would have never heard of 90% of the products being hawked via the giveaways I enter. Even if I may not eventually buy the product (although I have), see the movie (although I have), or dine at the restaurant (although I have), I very frequently pass the word on when I see something I like. So I would say blog giveaways ARE effective, considering their minimal marketing budget.
In the end, there are two ways to grow your readership–organically and artificially. Anyone using a giveaway to grow their blog is growing readership artificially. If that’s what you want, give away. But if organic is your goal, stay away from giveaways since you’re only going to draw the wrong crowd.