How to Run a Social Media Giveaway

Social media giveaways create incredible results, but they must avoid costly giveaway legal issues. As the owner of a social media agency and sweepstakes law firm, I have helped many clients run wildly successful giveaways while preparing social media giveaway rules to provide legal protection. Here are my three tips on how to run a social media giveaway:

1. Three Social Media Giveaway Essentials

Every giveaway needs an attractive prize, creative promotion, and legal rules. An attractive prize can be as simple as a $50 Starbucks gift card or as complex as an all-expenses paid giveaway to the Bahamas. Once you secure the prize, you must promote your giveaway in a creative fashion. This can be as easy as a series of social media posts promoting the prize and how to win it. You can always have an incredibly creative promotion process that includes social media influencers, landing pages, and a video submission competition. The more creative the better.

2. Have Social Media Giveaway Rules

If you’re asking yourself “Are social media giveaways legal?” the answer in most cases is yes, so long as you have social media giveaway rules defined. Each U.S. state has their own giveaway laws and they all require legal rules or “terms and conditions” that comply with the law. While each state is different, the legal requirements for running giveaways are largely the same. They must include terms such as when the game begins, ends, how to enter, who is eligible, how the winner is chosen, the prize, and its value. A social media sweepstakes lawyer like The Social Media Law Firm can prepare giveaway rules that comply with every state’s laws.

3. Avoid Giveaway Legal Issues

While running social media giveaways is legal, there are several giveaway legal issues that can get you sued or in serious trouble. For example, if you run a giveaway where a winner is picked by random chance but don’t allow people to participate for free, you are running an illegal lottery. Because only states can run lotteries, there are civil and criminal penalties for doing so. That’s why it’s important to speak with a sweepstakes attorney who can help you avoid giveaway legal issues that could land you and your company in legal trouble.

Social Media Sweepstakes Lawyer

These three tips sum up how to run social media giveaway that will attract attention, get results, and keep you out of legal trouble. If you plan to run a social media giveaway and need legal rules and advice to stay out of trouble, The Social Media Law Firm can help. Contact us today for a free consultation.