Incorporating a regular giveaway into your marketing strategy can have many advantages for both you as a blog owner and also for your readers. 

Here are five of the benefits of giveaways on a blog:

1.     Attract new readers

Giveaways will attract a lot of compers, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Not only will they share your blog giveaway on comping forums, websites and with their comping community which can attract even more people to your blog, but if they love your content then they will become a regular reader. 

If you have a niche specific blog, then pick your prize wisely to attract the right sort of comper and potential reader.  It’s a great way to get new eyes on your blog posts and is essentially a very affordable way to advertise and market your blog.

2.     Reward existing readers

It’s the perfect way to give something back to your existing readership.  By giving away great prizes on a regular basis, your loyal readers will be rewarded for supporting you. 

It’s always a great feeling when a regular and long-term reader wins a giveaway.  It will also encourage your regular readers to support you even more and it’s another reason to keep returning!

3.     Increase traffic

Running a giveaway will boost traffic to your blog, at least while the giveaway is running.  Use the opportunity to direct people to other blog posts in the content of the giveaway blog post, or even direct them to other parts of your blog as an entry option.

If you are able to attract new relevant readers then you will also be able to increase your traffic long-term if entrants bookmark or subscribe to your blog.

4.     Build social media followers

It’s a great way to increase your social media followers.  You can set entry options such as following your Twitter account or visiting your Facebook page.

You can also run giveaways on your social media accounts, but of course you’ll miss out on the blog traffic if you only do social media giveaways.  It’s still a great way to build followers though and was how I managed to get thousands of Twitter followers.

5.     Useful product information for your readers

It also provides content for your blog and perhaps even a review that will be useful to your readers.   If you are giving away a physical product then you can research and inform the reader all about the product in the blog post, or if you have the item yourself then you can review it.

If you regularly review items on your blog for brands then don’t be afraid to ask them if they’d like to provide an extra item for the giveaway which will give the brand more exposure and also get more traffic to the review blog post.

Final word

Another benefit is that aside from your time and sourcing a prize, or providing your own, it’s pretty much a free marketing tool.  I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways using their free package.  It’s a great low cost method to shout about your blog and to reward your loyal fans.