With sales moving online, e-commerce brand owners and marketers are thinking of the best strategies to attract and retain their buyers.

They prepare BFCM discounts, Christmas giveaways, and various juicy offers to outmuscle competition and get on the big stage.

Why?

According to the National Retail Federation, e-commerce stores increase sales by up to 30% during the holiday season.

In 2019, total retail sales during Q4 amounted to over $730 billion, which is 4.3% more than the previous year.

But think about this: online sales went up almost 20% between 2020-2021 due to the pandemic.

But the e-commerce is expected to slow down a bit during this year’s BFCM and Q4.

So you can use Christmas giveaways to ramp it up!

Why You Should Host a Christmas Giveaway?

The increase in customers increases the competition and the only thing better than a good deal is FREE. Christmas Giveaways allow your potential customers to get a free product (for themselves or their loved ones) and you still benefit.

But, but… How do I benefit when I give out stuff for free?

Simple! Christmas giveaway or contest can boost traffic, engagement, social following, and sales by almost 300%!

Remember, competition is normally a lot higher during this season so brands try to climb up the ladder by offering huge discounts that aren’t profitable.

You need a way to stand out without needing to go through the entire season giving out discount offers that will barely help you break even.

As you don’t want to compete on price, you want to provide value in other ways:

• Bundle deals instead of % discounts.
• Rewards in giveaway and contests (make people earn their discounts. Sell the “dream” with a big grand prize).
• Customer satisfaction (shipping, support, warranty, gift wrapping, etc).

Plus, not all retail e-commerce sales are made from the main website. Some customers buy via Email, on Facebook Stores, Instagram, and other social media channels. So collecting followers and email leads increases the number of touchpoints you have with potential customers.

When done right, holiday giveaways can promote your brand at a viral rate. And they can be an exceptional complement to paid ads and other marketing efforts.

The simple tactics below can help you connect with your existing customers and acquire new ones. You’ve got to stand out from the competition and make efforts to reach and engage with more customers to survive in Q4. 

Here are the top Christmas giveaway ideas to help you increase your e-commerce sales.

1. Host a 12-Day Christmas Giveaway

During the 12 days of Christmas, people are normally eager for adventure. You can surprise your customers with insane discounts on your products and then offer a grand prize at the end.

When done right, the 12 days of giveaways will not only boost sales in that season. Top discounts allow buyers to try out some of your premium services along with getting exciting bonuses. 

Here’s an example of a website that offers amazing giveaways during Christmas. They promote the idea of sending flowers to loved ones in order to win amazing prizes. 

The 12 days of Christmas giveaways can also help increase your website traffic, subscribers, and social media engagement.

Once people feel that they have reduced risks and liability, they tend to make purchases and try out your products. By letting people try your products in smaller quantities and for a lower cost, you are reducing their risk of making a bad purchase.

2. Buy-1-Get-1 Free Promotion

The Buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) promotion works on the basis that your customers get two items at the price of one. The promotions are similar to giving special bonus items to buyers who buy certain quantities of products.

For instance, you may decide to offer a bonus Christmas toy for orders over $100. Or select your top product and promote a buy 1 get 1 free (or for a friend).

Here’s an example of a promotion made to promote drinks in a restaurant. When promoting an offer, you need to design descriptive images that allow your audience to understand the message quickly. 

If the margins are thin, then you can also do the buy-two-get-one-free promotion, like this:

This type of promotion is resourceful in acquiring new customers, encouraging user engagement, and reviving old buyers. The concept of giving and receiving ties well with the Christmas spirit.

It’s also a sign of gratitude towards your customers for their loyalty to your e-commerce store. When this type of promotion is done right, customers will storm into your store/website to buy.

3. Host a Giveaway on Your Website

When it comes to giveaways, most companies focus their main attention on social media. However, social media posts don’t age well.

A contest or giveaway will run for a few days before it is lost in the never-ending Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram feed. Plus the organic reach on Facebook is down below 2% with Instagram and Twitter not being far behind.

It may also take several days before people find the posts on your page. As your other posts stack up, a giveaway post, tweet, or status get pushed down.

TIP – Pin important posts to the top of your page and profiles.

Hosting a giveaway using the software on your website allows you to do a lot of extra things:

• Collect more info (name, email, phone, etc)
• Provide more prize info and customize your giveaway
• Convert more traffic as you can post it on all social, your website, etc.
• Track visitors using pixels and tracking scripts
• Utilize features like bonus actions, milestone prizes etc.

4. Give a Gift Card with Purchase 

Gift cards are incredibly resourceful, especially when most of your customers are based locally. You can promise gift cards to people who complete a task, wins a contest, or buys a product or service from you in a certain period. People are motivated with gift cards that can buy desired products.

One Suprex company near Starbucks restaurant, for instance, used the opportunity to give away free Starbucks’ gift cards with any touring package. 

Some companies normally offer gift cards that are not valuable to their customers. You should consider your audience’s desires and their respective geographic locations to find the best gift cards for them. You can also run surveys on social media to find out which gift cards your audience would like to get for the holiday. 

You can also recommend them to send gift cards to their friends and family. Gift cards can help them save time and money instead of traveling to buy gifts for their family members who live far. 

Using gift cards with milestone rewards in giveaways and contests is a great way to motivate people. It allows them to win free products but may also increase your revenue if they use the gift card on more expensive items.

4. Host a “Bring a Friend” Holiday Event

Many retail e-commerce stores are incredibly succeeding with the “Bring a Friend” events.

For this strategy it’s usually best to have a physical store, you can organize special events where your customers can bring one friend over to try new and exciting products.

This type of Christmas giveaway promotes your buyers to share their experiences with friends and family. 

Shopping malls and large retailers tend to do this, but there is no reason you can’t make this digital! Facebook live, rewards programs and webinars can be a substitute.

Customers who bring a friend are entered into the grand prize draw. You can also offer gift cards to winners where they can buy products from your store or sample new products for free.

With such events, you’ll encourage your buyers to take action as soon as possible. You’ll start getting book-ins and visits from everyone immediately, especially those who live nearby. 

5. Collect Emails with Relevant Prizes

Some eCommerce stores make the mistake of offering irrelevant prizes that don’t increase sales in their stores.

Although big prizes can pull a big audience to your website ($1,000 Amazon Gift Card), it’s wise to give away prizes that won’t attract spam subscribers to your email.

These are people looking for freebies and not interested in your products.

You should be looking to attract your “ideal customer” by offering unique products or experiences that your customers desire. 

For example, take a look at how a gym can attract people who are looking to start working out. They might not win the giveaway, but now you have their email address to offer them discounts, signup bonus, etc, to purchase the membership.

They wouldn’t have entered if they had no interest in joining a gym.

Check out the live example HERE.

Before planning your next giveaway, ensure that the promotion serves the right purpose in your conversion goals.

For instance, if you want to increase your email subscribers, the giveaways should be hosted on your landing page. If you are looking to engage with Instagram fans, then your giveaway should prompt people to respond and engage with your Instagram posts. 

Here’s another good example of an engaging native social media giveaway.

You should also acknowledge that a good giveaway can’t speak to everyone. Rather, than being general, it should speak to your buyer persona.

You should add relevant prizes that resonate with this audience and that will prompt them to buy more products from your e-commerce retail store at some point in the future. It’s a marathon, not a sprint!

6. Run a Comment Contest

In any business, customer engagement is incredibly important. You shouldn’t settle for likes and followers only.

Original ideas, quality photos, and constant comments on your posts on Facebook will boost your sales and ranking. Using open-ended questions, it’s easy to follow up on your customers and learn more about their needs. 

A good example is asking people about their favorite Christmas moments.

Positive questions will prompt positive feedback. Find a question that’s appealing to your audience and prompt them to share their best experiences on the topic.

You can then use an app like Vyper to choose a random winner from the comments and give away free Christmas giveaways. 

Here is a screenshot from a website that sells beauty products. Instead of asking people to engage in irrelevant contests, the company focuses on beauty enthusiasts.

The company is less likely to receive spam comments on its social media pages. 

Remember to select a desirable prize that resonates with your audience. A good way to do this is by giving away samples of your products or tickets to a social event. Read more here about an e-commerce retail store that generated over 41,000 email leads from 1 contest. 

7. Set a Christmas Challenge

If you already have an active audience where you’ve been constantly offering free giveaways, then you may want to change the pace and offer something more competitive.

You can start with puzzles, riddles, and guessing games. Choose the winners among the people who comment to select the ones who guess right. 

Many businesses opt to share attractive images to showcase their prizes. However, you can also go live on a Facebook call to get more engagements and viewers. Facebook will normally notify many people when you go live, so you may get an immediate response. 

In the above contest, Giant Singapore chose a few contestants who were to buy 10 Christmas gifts for 10 people using only $200.

The winners got an opportunity to keep the prizes and walk away with amazing gifts. 

8. Christmas Giveaways for Engaging With Your Brand 

Another Christmas giveaway idea of a Christmas is encouraging people to like, comment, and follow your social media pages or content. In this case, you can offer a discount coupon or a gift card for those who like and follow your business pages and profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

By following your social media profiles, the buyers will receive constant updates on all activities on your website. 

Today, many businesses prompt their customers to rate their apps or stores. This is important for earning the trust of your future customers so building activity and engagement along with reviews are important for brands.

https://www.facebook.com/myintent/videos/991488407622046/

Just be careful with this tactic if you are natively posting about this contest type on the social platform. A huge number of people do it but the network can remove your post as you are technically not allowed to require a like to enter.

This is another reason why hosting the giveaway on your website is a better option. You can do whatever you like without showing up on the network’s radar!

9. Offer the Gift of Relaxation

The holiday season can be exhausting.

In fact, reports claim over 60% of people say that the Christmas holidays stress them out more than any other time of the year.

You can take that as a hint of what would your customers prefer as a gift – anything that calms the senses!

A spa center or a massage gift card could do wonders as a giveaway prize.

You can also include a photo competition: ask your audience to upload images of their favorite stress-relieving activities and tag your brand. Just an idea!

10. Partner with another brand to offer a Christmas Giveaway

Christmas is the perfect time to gather, unite, to huddle. So why not do it to grow your leads number?

When you partner with other brands for a giveaway, you’re sending out the information that they will receive way more with just one shot.

Choose brands that connect to yours, that offer additional value to what your products already do. If you have a bikini brand, a good partnership would be with a sun tan brand for instance.

11. Christmas Gift List Giveaway

If there’s one thing people love to do when Christmas comes is piling up all their wishes for Santa. What if they could make a gift list and receive all of that for free?

Having a giveaway with a Christmas Gift List as a prize will be good for your customers (and leads) as well as for your stocked products. It’s a win-win.

Choose the items you want release from storage and list them in a giveaway. Advertise them as the perfect list to everyone you still didn’t buy gifts for, or the perfect way to treat yourself this holiday.

12. A Christmas giveaway of a year’s supply of products

Your brand will be remembered during Christmas with your Christmas Giveaway. But it doesn’t have to stop there. Make it so it will be remembered throughout the year.

When you give away a year’s supply of product, you are making a commitment with your audience, your leads and clients: being on their lives everyday.

Christmas Giveaway & Contests Tips

In general, Christmas giveaways can hugely increase your website and social traffic. You have to use the right strategy that focuses on your target customers only though.

At this time of the year (Q4), many people are looking for deals on ANY products.

So you should capture their attention with amazing prizes, deals, and rewards aligned with your target market only. These people will stick around and you won’t be attracting people that have no interest in your brand and little chance of converting later down the line.

Here are some tips to ensure maximum conversions on your Christmas giveaways. 

1. Highlight Your Holiday Products and Services

Before commencing your Christmas giveaway campaign, you should find the products that you want to sell during the holiday season.

Perhaps you’ve recently launched new products or maybe you want to sell the same merchandise with a Christmas twist. You should start by focusing on those products. 

Unique or seasonal products can do very well. If you can not edit your products you can always crease seasonal bundles or packs.

2. Target Your Customers with Personalized Gifts and Rewards

It’s also good to focus on your customers’ interests. Do not give away products that they don’t need or can’t use.

Customers want prizes that are relevant to their needs. You should, therefore, change your gifts depending on the day, season, and level of interest. To identify their main desires, set forth surveys to know what they want during the festive season. 

You can also collect this information on sign up for the giveaway, then segment it on your list.

The Best Time to Give

The main purpose of hosting contests or Christmas giveaways is to show your brand’s human/fun factor while still generating value for the brand.

It’s rare that you can find a win-win marketing scenario. Use Christmas giveaways and contests to give value, while also collecting followers, leads, and customers.

People don’t like sales professionals, they are 8-10 times more likely to take a recommendation from a friend over a brand – and that’s why you need social validation.

However, by hosting contests and giveaways, you can convey the message that your brand is full of fun, care, and generosity.  

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you announce a Christmas giveaway?

To announce a Christmas giveaway, use a combination of channels such as social media, email marketing, and your website. Try to go all out to attract as many people as possible.

Craft eye-catching graphics, write engaging posts, and use relevant hashtags to create excitement.

Clearly state the rules, entry methods, and end date, and also consider teaser posts beforehand to build anticipation.

What is the purpose of Christmas giveaways?

The primary purpose of Christmas giveaways is to boost brand visibility, engage with customers, and increase sales during the holiday season.

They also help collect customer data, grow your online presence, and create a sense of goodwill and loyalty among your audience.

The data you collect during a generious giveaway can go a long way into creating long-term, retaining customers that will boost your lifetime value.

What are good Christmas giveaways?

Good Christmas giveaways should align with your audience’s interests and provide value. Examples include:

• Product bundles or exclusive holiday items.
• Gift cards to your store or popular retailers.
• An experience, like a spa day or concert tickets.
• Discounts or BOGO offers.
• Unique, personalized gifts related to your brand.

And much more. But you can read it all in the article above.

What should you put in a Christmas giveaway post?

In a Christmas giveaway post, include:

• Clear instructions on how to enter.
• Details about the prizes and their value.
• Rules and eligibility criteria.
• The start and end date of the giveaway.
• Eye-catching visuals or graphics.
• A call to action, encouraging users to participate.
• Relevant hashtags to increase discoverability.
• A personal touch or holiday-themed message.

How long should a Christmas giveaway last?

The ideal duration for a Christmas giveaway depends on your goals and audience.

Typically, giveaways can last anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.

Longer giveaways may build more anticipation and collect more entries, but shorter ones create a sense of urgency.

Choose a duration that suits your marketing strategy and objectives.