150+ Awesome Prize Ideas For Your Next Contest

Take a look at our in-depth list of awesome prize ideas and find the perfect prize for your next contest.

Running a contest or giveaway is one of the best promotional tactics you can use to gain huge amounts of brand awareness, expose yourself to new audiences, and grow your following across a multitude of platforms. Contests are absolutely brilliant, and there may not be a better way to actively engage your audience and generate quality leads.

Running a well-executed contest is an undeniably effective strategy, but when it comes to contests the truth is that without an awesome prize you will struggle to get good results.

It doesn't matter how well you've executed every other component of the campaign, if your target market isn’t enthusiastic about winning the prize, they won’t be compelled to enter your contest.

Now you might be wondering how exactly you can pick the perfect prize for your contest or giveaway. Well, we’re here to help.

We're going to show you exactly what makes for an effective prize and give you tonne of awesome prize ideas for every occasion and every industry.

The key to running a contest which captures attention and drives action is a good prize. But what exactly makes for a good prize?

There are a few key characteristics which make up an effective prize. The more your prize embodies the following characteristics, the more success your contest is likely to have.

There are lots of different reasons you may have for running a contest or giveaway. You might be trying to reach new audiences, promote your products, grow your online following or boost brand loyalty. One thing you generally shouldn't be trying to do when you run a contest is amass entries for the sake of entries.

When you run a contest you will be able to reach huge new audiences and build brand awareness, so it's important that you're focusing on the right crowd. You want to run a contest which appeals to users who are likely to take an interest in your brand or products, not irrelevant users with no interest in you.

It's because of this that you should offer a prize which directly appeals to your target audience. By offering a prize that appeals to your target market you will put your contest in the best possible position to capture the attention of relevant, interested users and drive action from potential customers.

A great way to do this is by offering up your own product as a prize, or using one of the many other engaging ideas we offer up below.

When you run a contest or giveaway you are generally doing it for promotional purposes. You're probably looking to promote an offering, reach new users, grow your following and build a relationship with your audience.

Just like all the other components of your contest, your prize will play an instrumental role in the promotional outcomes of your contest.

Giving away your own products is a great way to use your contest to promote your offering and get people talking and thinking about your product in a desirable way.

As great as giving away your own products is for promoting and getting people thinking about your offering, there are plenty of other valuable, exciting and relevant prizes that can be perfect for building engagement, driving actions and building positive brand associations.

If you can offer a prize which shows your audience that you understand their wants and needs you will put yourself in an outstanding position to drive contest entries and kickstart a consumer relationship. This approach is often the way to go if you don't have a physical product you can offer.

You can even offer up a prize which contains your own product as well something else. This can help you offer the best of both world and maximise engagement and excitement while still keeping the focus on your own offering.

When you decide on your contest's prize you'll need to take the value of the prize into account.

Ideally, you want to offer a prize which is valuable enough to make entry worthwhile for every relevant user who comes across your contest. You just need to make sure you're keeping within your budget.

As a general rule, the more you're asking users to do, the more valuable your prize should be. If you're asking users to submit photos or videos you'll probably need to offer them a bit more incentive than if all they need to do is retweet you.

Depending on how much you want to give away it can be a good idea to give your prize away to multiple winners. The more likely people think they are to win, the more likely they are to enter. It's because of this that giving away multiple prizes can be a great way to increase participation and drive more action.

With Gleam you can easily set up and administer multiple prizes. This makes it incredibly easy to broaden your prize pool, offer up unique monthly or weekly prizes, or give away runner-up prizes.

Now that we've gone over what makes an effective prize, we're going to take you through our comprehensive list of prize ideas to help you rock your next contest.

As an e-commerce business, one of the most effective prizes you can give away is your own product.

Giving away your own product is a great way to get people talking and thinking about your offering. When you run a contest you will be able to attract a lot of attention, and by making your own offering the focal point of your campaign you can ensure that this heightened attention is translating to product awareness. This is an outstanding way to raise interest and drive sales down the line.

Plus, giving away your own product will also help you keep costs down and ensure that everyone entering your contest has a real interest in your product which will maximise the overall effectiveness of your campaign.

If you're about to release a new product or line then running a contest and giving away your new offering is a great way to build up some hype around the release and find users who want to get their hands on your new product.

This will help you launch to an excited audience who's ready to snatch up your new release as soon as it hits the market.

If you want to use your contest to build excitement for an upcoming product then it can be a good idea to give prize winners early access to your offering and give away your new product before it officially launches.

People love getting their hands on new products before anyone else, so giving them the chance to do just that is a great way to add a layer of excitement to your contest and make entry that little bit more enticing. You can ship out products before their launch:

Or you could give out game keys or other early access codes:

Offering early access products can be a particularly good approach if you're a new brand launching for the first time and you want to build hype and get people talking before you go live.

Offering your contest winners limited edition products is another effective way build excitement around your contest and increase entries.

If people can't get your prize anywhere else then entering your contest all of a sudden becomes a lot more enticing. This will help you drive more action and increase the impact of your contest.

Audio-Technica Headphone Giveaway

This type of prize works particularly well for brands with an established customer base who would be itching to get an exclusive edition product.

Similar to limited edition products, custom products can be an outstanding way to add exclusivity and value to your prize which is a great way to drive up participation.

You can offer this type of prize by allowing winner's to play a role in the final design of their prize. How you allow your winner's to customise their prize will largely come down to what product you're offering, but some general ideas are custom embroidery, colour choice, or graphic selection.

If you sell a fast-moving consumer good such as a food or cosmetics product then you should consider giving away a year's or several month's supply of your product. Not only is this an awesome prize that should encourage a tonne of entry, it's also a great way to encourage users to trial your product and potentially become long-term customers.

Offering gift vouchers or shopping sprees at your store as a prize is very similar to offering products, except it has the added appeal of letting the contest winner choose which of your products they want. This can help your contest appeal to a much broader market segment, especially if you offer a wide range of products.

Plus, by choosing a shopping spree as your prize you will automatically encourage users to check out your store in advance to see what they stand to win. This is a truly fantastic way to use your contest to boost brand awareness, promote your products and drive sales.

If you want to ramp up the value of your prize try offering a bundle of your products. Not only will this make your prize more valuable and your contest more enticing, but by offering up a diverse prize pool you will be able to appeal to a wider pool of consumers and drive participation from more users than you could by offering a single product.

Another great approach to putting together a product bundle is partnering up with other brands, but we'll talk more about this later.

The perfect prize for your contest is hugely dependent on what you do, and who your target market is. Having said that, there are several highly effective types of prizes which should work wonders for your campaign no matter what industry you operate it.

If you produce a product or provide a service then giving it away for free always makes for an outstanding contest prize. Giving away your own offering will keep the focus of your contest on your brand and ensure that everyone entering your contest has a real interest in your offering. This will help you generate valuable leads and drive actions from users who have a high potential of becoming customers.

Offering your own products as a prize will also help you build awareness and encourage users who see your contest to check out your product or service. This is a great way to find an interested audience and connect with potential customers.

Giving away a popular and valuable product can be an outstanding way to attract a lot of attention from a wide audience, bring awareness to your contest and maximise participation. The newer and more in-demand your prize is, the more entries you will be able to drive.

Here are a few ideas for popular products you can give away:

  • A new iPhone or other smartphone
  • Bluetooth speakers or headphones
  • A smart watch
  • A new laptop or tablet

When choosing a popular product to give away you will still need to make sure it appeals to your target market. This type of prize can be perfect for content creators and service providers who don't have a physical product to offer, but it can be an effective approach for just about anyone.

Another universally effective type of prize you can offer is a product bundle made up of items you know your target audience will love.

By putting together a prize bundle which is perfectly tailored to your target audience you will be able to appeal to all the right users and drive actions from your target market which will help you grow your online presence.

The high value that comes from offering an assortment of different products will also help you encourage entry from a huge user pool which will maximise the overall effectiveness of your campaign.

GHD gives away style bundle

This type of prize can work perfectly for content creators without their own product to offer, but it can also be an incredibly effective prize for brands which do have their own product. Just remember to always include your product in the bundle, and try to avoid offering any competing products.

An awesome way to boost the value of your prize and put your contest in front of a huge new targeted audience is by partnering up with other brands to run a collaborative giveaway.

Not only will partnering up allow you to offer a more valuable prize, you will also be able to tap into your partner's audience and promote your product to a host of relevant new users.

You just need to make sure that you're partnering up with brands who offer complementary products as opposed to irrelevant or competing ones. This will ensure you connect with a relevant audience without running the risk of a competitor detracting from your campaign outcomes.

When you run a partner contest the best prize you can offer is a prize pool made up of products from you and your partners.

Prize pools are a great way to encourage participation by offering a valuable prize while showcasing what you and all of your partners have to offer.

Ultralite Hiking Giveaway Prize Bundle

The amount you and your partners contribute to the prize pool is entirely flexible and will depend on how many other brands you're partnering up with and how much everyone is willing to contribute to the contest.

If you have partnered up with a brand to produce a collaborative product then running a contest and giving it away is the perfect way to draw attention to the product and use your expanded audience to build brand awareness.

This approach can be particularly effective for partnerships between brands producing a product and popular influencers lending their name and style to a special edition product.

Another type of prize that is always engaging and suitable for just about any business or creator to give away is a memorable experience.

Giving away an experience you think your target market will love is a great way to build engagement, drive actions and develop your customer relationships. Let's take a look at some of the great experiences you can give away:

Giving away a free holiday can make for a truly fantastic prize. The more you're willing to spend on your prize, the more luxurious and long the holiday can be.

If your market is primarily in one location then it can be a good idea to offer a nearby getaway. If you're a global business you may be willing to fly your winner to their getaway from anywhere in the world. This opens the door for all kinds of exciting trips.

Sportsgirl Holiday Giveaway

When you're planning out your holiday prize you need to cater towards your target audience:

  • If you're an outdoor brand you could offer an adventure that perfectly suits the products you sell. This could be a trip focused on skiing, surfing, hiking or anything else your customers would love.
  • For high-end fashion or beauty brands you could offer trips to places like New York, Paris, Milan or London. You could even throw in some money for shopping trip.
  • Beach getaways are generally a good call for most brands, especially those who sell beauty products, swimwear and other clothing or accessories.

If there's an upcoming event which you think is relevant to your industry or appealing to your audience then you could give away some tickets as a prize for contest winners. You could offer tickets to local events, or you could offer an all-inclusive trip to the event including flights and accommodation.

Here are some ideas for events you could send winners to with your next contest:

  • Sporting events, the bigger the event or the better the seats, the more valuable the prize.
  • Music concerts or stage productions.
  • Fashion shows can make a great prize for clothing and beauty brands to offer.
  • Opening night movie tickets can be a great prize for local businesses.
  • Tickets to professional or business conferences and events can be a great prize for B2B brands.

The most important thing to consider when giving away event tickets as a prize is who the event will appeal to. You need to make sure that the event is targeted to your market so it can effectively incentivise entry from your target audience.

A free night on the night is another great prize you can offer. All you need to do is construct a perfect night out for your target audience and organise how you can make it a reality, including buying tickets, making reservations and anything else that needs taking care of.

There are lots of different ways you can approach this type of prize depending on who you're targeting. You can offer:

  • A romantic date
  • A girls night out
  • A guys night out

You can fill your night on the town with audience appropriate dinners, movies, theatre tickets and anything else you think will make for a special night out.

Fun and memorable activities make for outstanding prizes which will get people excited and drive entries. You can try offering:

  • Skydiving.
  • Hot air balloon rides.
  • Helicopter tours.
  • Scuba/snorkeling tours.

There are countless fantastic activities you can offer as a prize, for more ideas you can check out sites like Viator.

If your business is located in a particular area then you can offer up a nearby activity as a prize, but if you operate on a national or global scale this can be a bit trickier.

One option is to bundle an activity up with a holiday. Another approach is to create a list of activities in a collection of locations and allow the winner or winners of your contest to choose their prize from the list.

Meet & Greets can be great prizes for musicians and other content creators who have developed a loyal audience who would love the chance to meet them.

This type of prize can also work for brands who have formed promotional partnerships with influencers or celebrities.

Gigi x Maybelline Giveaway

If you're a successful B2B company then the chance to meet a thought-leader or the company's founder can also make for a great prize.

A great way to generate high quality user generated content is to offer professional photography equipment as the prize. This is an awesome win-win for you both as you will receive content taken by those interested in professional photography, and they win a valuable prize. You can then post this content on your website and social media channels.

For virtual events, prizes could include subscriptions to premium online services, masterclasses, or exclusive webinars. To boost engagement, consider exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content or virtual meet-and greet with a celebrity. This is an excellent way to grow your following and reach as it is all contained on social media, making it easy for everyone to take part no matter where they are.

No matter what type of business you are or what industry you operate in, contests are always a great way to drive growth. To help you get your own powerful contest underway here are some of our favourite prize ideas for your business.

If you run an e-commerce business then running a contest or giveaway is a fantastic way to raise awareness, generate leads and drive action.

Whether you're offering subscription boxes, software subscriptions or any other kind of subscription service, running contests is a powerful way to spread awareness and encourage users to check out your offering. Here some prize ideas to help you make the most of your next contest:

Giving away a few months or a years subscription to your service is a great way to put forward an attractive prize which will keep attention on your business and encourage users to check out your offerings or sign up to a free trial if you have one.

Plus, if your winners enjoy their free subscription they're highly likely to start paying to stay on board once their free subscription expires.

If you offer different subscription tiers you can offer up a bunch of free upgrades as a prize. This will allow you to run a contest which rewards your customers and promotes your higher subscription tiers.

If you don't want to run a contest which is exclusive to your customers you can still offer the same prize, and provide any winners who aren't already customers with a subscription to your most basic tier. If you decide to use this prize idea you will need to decide how long you want your upgrade to last.

Giving away an awesome product or bundle with relevance to your subscription service and audience is a great way to grab people attention and encourage entry.

It's important to find some exciting products which you know your target audience will like. Food subscription services can give away cooking equipment, streaming services can offer up home theatre equipment, and business software services can put together office supply bundles or giveaway something bigger like a top-of-the-line office chair or a new monitor.

If you run a subscription box service then this is a great idea for a prize. You can easily put together an all-star collection of your favourite featured products and give users a taste of what your service offers.

Running a hospitality business is highly competitive, but with the right assortment of strategies you should be able to find success. If you want to get more eyes on your business, build interest and drive the online actions which matter to you then you should try running a contest and giving away some of these prizes:

People love being treated to a free meal, stay at a nice hotel, spa treatment, or just about anything really. A free experience with your business is a highly effective and low cost prize you can regularly offer as an incentive for completing actions such as spreading the word about your establishment on social media or leaving you a glowing review.

This type of prize is extra effective as getting prize winners in and providing them with a nice, free experience is a great way to encourage them to come back for more and tell their friends.

If you want to take the previous idea to the next level then you should consider offering your contest winners a luxury experience at your establishment.

If you're running a restaurant this could be a meal at the best seats in the house with a bottle of fine wine and a private serving team. If you run a hotel you could put your guests in a high-end suite and treat them to champagne in their room, free meals, and anything else you can offer which will make their stay as special as possible.

You can even try partnering up with a nearby restaurant, hotel, or events venue to help put together the ultimate experience.

Another great prize you can offer is a bundle of products which are relevant to your business and target market. This can help you attract a relevant and sizeable audience, and drive action from them. Here are a few ideas for product bundles you can offer:

  • Restaurants can offer new cooking equipment, homemade sauces, or recipe books related to the food you serve.
  • Spas and wellness centres can offer at-home spa treatments, scented candles and anything else which can help create the ultimate at-home spa experience.

One of the biggest challenges facing everyone in the service industry is finding and connecting with new clientele. Here a few ideas for prizes you can giveaway which will help you reach new audiences and drive action:

Whatever service you may offer, giving it away for free is a great way to pique interest in your service and drive some action. Plus, offering up your service for free is a great way to introduce people your business and possibly kickstart some long-term customer relationships.

Giving away discounts is a brilliant way to encourage users to trial your service and find yourself a new pool of regular customers.

Discounts will directly feed back into your business so they often work best when you give away lot's of them and don't ask users to do too much to enter the draw to win them.

Giving away products related to your service is another excellent prize for your next giveaway.

If you offer a gardening or landscaping service you can give away some gardening supplies, or if you're a hairdresser or stylist you can give away hair care or beauty products.

Barber gives away hair products

These types of prizes aren't only a great way to engage a relevant audience, they're also perfect for highlighting the importance of your service which can help you pique interest and drum up some business.

If you operate in the B2B sector running a giveaway can help you generate leads and gain exposure amongst a relevant audience. Here are some prizes you can offer to help ensure your next contest is a success:

If you operate in B2B then it's fairly likely that you have a particular area of expertise. Free coaching or consulting sessions in this area can make for a great prize whether you usually offer them or not.

Socialbrite offers free consultation as a prize

The uniqueness of this prize is what makes it so appealing, as not just anyone can offer up your expert advice. This prize will also help solidify your brand's position as a credible authority in your field.

If your business involves memberships or subscriptions then offering up some free plans is a great way to encourage entry and build awareness of your offering.

If there's a particular service you offer such as building a website, designing graphics or anything else then offering your service for free makes for a great prize which will promote your business and help you generate a whole lot of powerful leads.

A free service from your business is a great prize

If you want to try to gain the attention of a wider audience it can be a good idea to offer a prize pack of products relevant to everyone in your target market.

Gleam gives away relevant products

This could include office supplies, tech products or anything else you think would be of interest to the your market.

Joining forces with other B2Bs to run collaborative giveaways is a brilliant way to add enourmous value to your prize and gain massive exposure from your partners' audiences.

The best prize you can offer when you run a collaborative giveaway is a bundle of products from you and all your partners. A prize pool made up of premium business tools and apps is sure to drive a lot of action.

When you run a contest to promote your blog you won't have any of your own products to give away, so you'll need to find some exciting products your readers will love. There are a few outstanding approaches you can take to doing this:

You can find a product or a bundle of products that is related to the topic of your blog and give that away. If you regularly recommend products in your blog then all-time or recent favourites make for great prizes. Here are a few ideas:

  • Fashion and beauty bloggers should try giving away gift vouchers and shopping sprees to use at their favourite stores, or collections of recomended makeup and beauty products.
  • Travel bloggers can give away helpful travel products like backpacks, suitcases, headphones, cameras and anything else you think will help your fans on their travels.
  • Food bloggers can offer up recipe books, kitchen appliances or other pieces of cooking equipment.
  • Health and Fitness blogs can give away workout guides/plans, subscriptions to a fitness service, workout gear, or at-home exercise equipment.
  • DIY blogs can try giving away tools, self-assemble furniture or some cool new items for around the house.
Bloggers can give away relevant products

Another powerful approach you can take to offering up these same types of prizes is partnering up with the brands who make the prizes you want to offer and running a collaborative giveaway.

If your blog has a sizeable following then a lot of brands will be willing to provide you with a prize for your contest in exchange for the publicity and awareness your contest will give them, as well as some actions in the campaign. For example, you could require users follow the brand you're partnering with on Instagram or Twitter in order to enter your contest.

If you're a video game streamer then running a contest can be an awesomely powerful way to find new viewers, increase your online following and grow your stream. Here some prizes you can give away to give your contest the best chance of success:

Giving away a video game you regularly stream will help you attract the attention of users who are interested in the same as you. This is perfect for finding potential new viewers who are likely to be interested in your stream.

If you want to really maximise entries then you can try giving away a hugely valuable prize like a gaming computer or a new console. This will help you drive loads of entries and put your contest (and stream) in front of a massive audience.

An inexpensive but effective prize you can offer is an Xbox, PlayStation or Steam gift card. This is a great prize for smaller channels who are just starting out and don't yet have the resources to offer bigger prizes.

Gaming accessories such as headsets, mouses, keyboards, controllers and chairs also make for good prizes. Try giving away the latest and greatest offerings to maximise interest.

If you stream a game which has it's own online currency, such as Fortnite's V-Bucks, then you can give away some of these as a prize. This is a great way to find new users who like the game you stream and have an increased likelihood of becoming fans.

You can also giveaway virtual goods such as new skins in certain games.

If you have your own merchandise or swag then it can make for a great prize for rewarding your existing fans. Adding some merchandise into the mix is also a great way to easily add some value to another prize you're offering.

If you want to give away gaming equipment or accessories such as a PC, console, headphones, or a gaming chair then it might be worth reaching out to some brands who offer products you would like to give away and trying to strike up a partnership where they provide you with a prize in exchange for actions in your contest or other promotional efforts.

You can use contests and giveaways to drive listens, follows and more across Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube and all of your social media channels. The key to driving these actions is offering up an engaging prize which will appeal to the type of users who are likely to enjoy your music. Here are a few ideas:

Giving away your own music can be a great way to engage your existing fanbase and encourage new listeners to check you out.

You can give away digital downloads, CDs, or Vinyls. Whatever you think works best for your fanbase. If you want to make your prize more valuable you can offer a collection of all your albums, or align your contest with a new release and give away a new or pre-release album.

As well your own music, giving away other relevant music is a great idea for an engaging prize.

You can put together a curated collection of some of your favourite albums which you think your target audience will enjoy and use it to drive action from both your existing fanbase and other users who like your album selection.

Just remember to include some of your own music in the collection. This will help you appeal to a relevant audience and encourage people to give you a listen.

If you have an upcoming tour or show then giving away some free tickets can be a great prize which will help you generate interest in both your music and your shows. If you really want to drive up the value of your contest you can even give away VIP or backstage passes.

If you want to offer this kind of prize you need to remember that it will limit entry to users near your show locations.

Giving away your merchandise is a quick and easy way to engage your fans and drive some quick actions. You can even sign it to give it that extra bit of value to help maximise participation.

Music equipment such as an instrument, speakers, a vinyl player or some DJ equipment are awesome prizes with a broad appeal which will allow you to connect with a huge audience and drive listens from people who may have otherwise never checked out your music.

Just try to keep things relevant to your genre and audience.

If you're a content creator on YouTube or any other platform it's important that you're constantly engaging viewers and growing your following. One outstanding way to do this is by running contests and giving away awesome prizes. Here are some ideas for fantastic prizes you can give away to drive action and growth:

One of the best prizes you can offer your fans is a product you will know they enjoy. The best products you can give away are those which are highly relevant to your content.

If you're a fashion and beauty vlogger you could give away:

  • A shopping spree at one of your favourite stores.
  • A bundle of beauty products.
  • Designer jewellery or accessories such a watch, bracelet or necklace.

If you're a travel vlogger some great prizes are:

  • Travel products like suitcases, backpacks, and luggage organisers.
  • Discounts or vouchers to be used for booking flights or accommodation.
  • Adventure gear like tents, hiking boots or hiking packs.
  • A GoPro or another type of camera.

There are a tonne of awesome products you can give away. You just need to figure out what your audience will love.

Partnering up with a relevant brand to run a contest is an awesome tactic for YouTubers and other content creators to take advantage of. You try reaching out to brands who make products your audience will love and offer to promote their product in your video in exchange for them providing you with a product to give away.

If you have had success partnering up with brands in the past then you can try to rekindle those partnerships, or you can seek out entirely new brands and products to team up with.

If you've started producing any form of your own merchandise the giving away some of that can make for a great prize. Giving away your own merchandise probably won't attract too many new viewers, but it is an outstanding way to engage your existing audience and encourage them to complete valuable actions.

Signing your merchandise can be an easy and effective way to add some value to your contest and boost excitement.

Aligning your contest with a special event, holiday, or time of the year is an awesome way to capture people's attention, build excitement and add an extra layer of engagement to your campaign.

If there's a particular holiday or season which holds significance for your brand or audience then it can be the perfect opportunity to run a contest which draws attention to your brand in a busy season and helps drive sales and other powerful actions. Even if a holiday doesn't perfectly align with your brand they can still provide you with an engaging backdrop for your contest or giveaway.

Let's take a look at some of our favourite times of the year to run seasonal giveaways and go through some fantastic prizes you can offer up.

Summer is a great time to run a contest. People are generally in good moods and will love the opportunity to win a prize. Brands who sell clothes, beauty products, outdoor gear and anything else that perfectly matches summer should always try to take advantage of the season to run a giveaway, but summer giveaways remain a highly effective tactic for any brand.

Here are some great prizes you can give away with a summer contest:

Giving people the chance to win their own summer holiday can make for an amazing summer giveaway. Beach getaways are a great prize that is bound to attract a whole lot of entries.

Sportscraft Summer Giveaway

If you're in e-commerce then you can follow Sportscraft's lead and bundle in your own products with your vacation prize.

This type of prize can be particularly powerful for hotels or brands who provide summer activities such as water-sports and amusement parks as they can easily bundle their own offering in with the prize.

Summer is a great time for families to get out and do things together, so offering up some family fun with your prize is a sure-fire way to drive participation. You can try offering:

  • Trips to a zoo, aquarium, museum, water park, or amusement park.
  • Tickets to a show.
  • Day trips to beaches including water activities like surfing, snorkelling, jet boat rides or parasailing.
  • All inclusive days out which include activities, meals, and maybe even a goodies bag.
Taronga Zoo Giveaway

If you offer any of these family activities yourself then this is probably the best type of prize you can offer, but it's an outstanding prize for anyone looking to run a summer giveaway.

If you sell summer goods then giving away a product or a bundle of products is the perfect prize. You can even partner up with other brands to put together an appealing summer bundle. Here are some ideas for summer supplies you can give away:

  • Summer clothing.
  • Picnic supplies.
  • Summer beauty products.
  • BBQ supplies.
  • Outdoor furniture
  • Camping and fishing gear.
  • Bats, balls and other sports equipment.
  • Beach balls and inflatable floats.
  • Inflatable pools, volleyball nets, soccer goals and other backyard play equipment.

Even if you don't have any of your own products to giveaway a summer bundle still makes for a fun and engaging giveaway prize.

Winter is cold and drab for a lot of people, and an engaging contest can be a great way to lift their spirits and drive engagement. Here are some prizes which can help make your winter contest a hit:

Help people stay warm and comfortable in the thick of winter with a thoughtful care package which will help you really connect with your audience. You can offer up things like:

  • Comfortable sweaters and jumpers.
  • Blankets.
  • Thermos flasks and bottles.
  • Tea and coffee sets.
  • Candles.
  • Chocolates.
  • Subscriptions to Netflix or other streaming services.
  • Books

The flipside of a winter care package is a prize which encourages people to get out and embrace the cold! This can be an effective approach for outdoors brands and anyone who is targeting an adventurous market. You could give away:

  • Winter jackets, gloves, beanies and more
  • Ski or snow gear ranging from ski jackets and pants to skis, snowboards and toboggans.
  • Camping gear such as tents, camping chairs, sleeping bags and more.

This is type of prize is particularly effective if you are able to offer up your own products.

A high-value prize you can offer is a winter getaway. You can put together a highly appealing vacation package and offer entrants a range of enviable winter vacations including:

  • Ski and snow trips.
  • Relaxing retreats to a spa.
  • Action packed city vacations.
  • Escape the cold with a beach getaway.

The type of holiday you offer depends on who your target audience is, and what best aligns with your brand and products.

The back-to-school period is a great time for brands selling clothes, school supplies or anything targeting families to run a contest. Here are some of the prizes you can give away:

Schools supplies such as books, binders, backpacks, stationary and clothing all make for great prizes which you can use to form an awesome prize bundle which can be made even better by the inclusion of your own products.

Instead of giving away specific products you can offer up a shopping spree which contest winners can use to take care of all their back-to-school needs. You could offer up vouchers to your own store or other store who sell great school supplies.

Back-to-School Giveaway

Christmas may well be the single best holiday to base a contest or giveaway around. Everyone's in a festive mood and looking to get presents for themselves and others. This is the perfect opportunity to use a contest to promote your products, attract attention, drive action and reward your audience. Here are some prizes you can offer to make the most of your festive giveaway:

Everyone has lots of shopping to do around the Christmas period, so giving people a free shopping spree is a hugely helpful prize which will get people very excited about your campaign.

You can offer vouchers to use at your own (and other stores), or you can simply give away some cash with the caveat that it should go towards Christmas shopping.

If you operate in retail then you should be sure to offer vouchers to be redeemed at your own store. This will encourage everyone who enters the contest to check out your products which will help build interest and drive sales.

Another festive prize you can offer are Christmas decorations and supplies. You can try assembling an awesome Christmas bundle which includes things like:

  • A Christmas tree.
  • Tinsel, snow globes, Christmas lights, tree ornaments and other decorations.
  • Ginger bread, candy canes and other Christmas treats.
  • A Christmas cookbook and cooking supplies.
  • Wrapping paper and ribbons.
  • Christmas Crackers and other family games.

People love getting Christmas presents and your contest provides you with an outstanding opportunity to drive action and connect with your audience by giving away presents to some lucky winners.

Giving away your own products is a highly effective way to use your contest to promote your brand and offerings, but even just giving away another prize you know your audience will love is great for running an engaging giveaway. Here are a few ideas for Christmas presents you can give away:

  • Home appliances and accessories such as blenders, sandwich makers, kitchen utensils and coffee machines.
  • Laptops, tablets, TVs, smart watches and other cool gadgets.
  • Jewelry, watches, perfume, cologne and other luxury items.
  • Any other products which you know your audience will appreciate.

If your target market is largely comprised of people with families then it can be a good idea to give away some special presents that they will be able to give to their kids. This could be things like:

  • Video games and consoles.
  • Sports equipment and toys.
  • A new bike

A nice touch to add to any present you give away as a prize is wrapping it with festive wrapping paper and ribbons.

Easter is another fun holiday you can use as the backdrop for a contest or giveaway. You can easily use easter as an engaging reason to give away your own products, or if you want to stick to an easter theme you could try giving away:

Easter is all about chocolate and giving some away is an terrific way to attract attention and encourage entry. You can even bundle in your own products with some chocolate to give yourself a promotional boost.

Chocolate can also be bundled with other great prizes like stuffed toy bunnies, baking supplies or other yummy treats.

The easter long weekend is a great chance for a lot of people to take a mini-vacation. You can match a weekend holiday to your target audience and offer it up as a prize. This might be a romantic getaway, friends trip or family retreat.

If your target audiences includes mothers then running a Mother's Day giveaway can be a great way to connect with your audience and offer up a special treat. Here are some ideas for prizes you can give away next Mother's Day:

Experiences always make for great prizes so why not try rewarding a lucky winner with a special day out. You can offer:

  • A spa treatment.
  • Tickets to a show.
  • A night out with friends including dinner, drinks, and maybe a show.

Another type of experience you can offer as a Mother's Prize is a shopping spree. You can give your winners vouchers or cash to go on a luxury shopping spree. This is particularly effective if you can include vouchers to your own store which will promote your products and encourage sales.

Win a Back-to-School Shopping Spree

You can use your contest to reward winners with a lovely Mother's Day present. One especially good idea is giving away gift hampers including flowers, chocolates, candles, and beauty products including scented soaps and moisturizer.

If you offer a product that would make a good Mother's Day gift then it's definitely worth including in your prize.

Father's Day is an occasion which can be perfect for running a contest around if fathers make up a portion of your target market. You could run a contest and give away:

It may be a cliché at this point but tools and gadget do make for great Father's Day presents, which means they make great Father's Day prizes. Here are a few ideas for you to consider:

  • A new tool box (complete with tools).
  • Smart watches, tablets, smart TVs and other cool gadgets.
  • Lawnmowers and other gardening supplies.

If you have any of your own products which make a good Father's Day present then you should offer up that as a prize. It doesn't have to be a tool or gadget either, there are plenty of other great Father's Day prizes like:

  • Ties.
  • Watches.
  • Camping and fishing gear.
  • Shaving gear.

A fun day out can also make for a highly engaging Father's Day prize. You can offer:

  • Boating and fishing trips.
  • Tickets to sporting events.
  • Adrenaline activities such as skydiving or driving a supercar.
Dad's Awesome Adventure Giveaway

Valentine's Day is another outstanding opportunity for running promotional giveaways. If you sell products related to Valentine's Day then it's the perfect opportunity to give away and promote your own offering, but even if you don't you can still use the holiday to generate a lot of value by giving away one these prizes:

A romantic weekend away is a lovely prize for couples celebrating Valentine's Day. You can whisk a couple away for a lovely weekend away somewhere romantic. You can put them up in a resort, secluded cabin or big city hotel and treat them to a romantic dinner.

A similar prize you can offer is a simple romantic evening out. You can give away a voucher for a romantic dinner and some movie tickets, or a voucher for any other romantic activity such as ice skating, a dancing class or tickets to a show.

A bundle of romantic products makes for a great Valentine's Day prize, especially if you offer a product that can be included in the bundle. Products which fit perfectly in a Valentine's Day prize bundle include:

  • Flowers.
  • Chocolates.
  • A bottle of wine.
  • Scented candles.
  • Bath bombs.

This type of prize will be highly effective at driving entries and drawing attention to your product which can help grow your audience and drive sales.

This idea is similar to a romance bundle except it focuses on a more valuable present. It's an added bonus if you can give away your own product as a prize. Some suitable presents you can offer are:

  • Jewelry.
  • Lingerie.
  • Beauty products.
  • Slippers and a dressing gown for cosy nights in.
  • Photo frames or albums.

You can even include these presents in a Valentine's Day bundle if you want to add even more value to your prize.

Another highly engaging type of contest you can run to stand out from the crowd and attract attention is one which acts as a counterpoint to the traditional Valentine's Day fare and reaches out to those who don't plan on celebrating the holiday.

A great prize for this type of contest is an awesome friends day or night out for guys, gals, or both. You can include activities such as:

  • Dinner and drinks.
  • Movie or show tickets.
  • Shopping sprees.
  • Spa treatments.
  • Paintballing.

If your products don't fit in as a typical Valentine's Day present or prize then it can be a good idea to go in the complete opposite direction and run an "Anti-Valentine's Day" contest which appeals to an audience who doesn't plan on celebrating the holiday.

This is a great opportunity to give away some awesome prizes which entrants could enjoy by themselves or with friends. If you have a product which fits the theme then it's a good idea to give that away as a prize.

Here are a few prize ideas you can consider:

  • Video games or consoles. A Nintendo with some games is a great prize for a nostalgia filled catch up with friends.
  • Board games. Perfect for hosting a get together.
  • Cocktail mixers for a fun night in.
  • Products to help around home like kitchen or cleaning appliances.
  • Cool gadgets like bluetooth speakers.
  • Beauty products and relaxing bath accessories.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping days of the year. Everyone is searching for the best products and deals, and running a contest or giveaway in the lead up to these events can be the perfect way to show off your offerings.

Giving away valuable vouchers to use at your store is a great prize which you can use to promote your products, special deals and discounts in the lead up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Giving away a bundle of your own products can help take the pressure off those hectic sales days for your winners and attract a whole lot of entrants while promoting your offering in the process.

You can use these giveaways to promote your product and drive sales once Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive.

A great way to add some extra value to this type of campaign is by partnering up with relevant brands and hosting a collaborative giveaway which will offer a hugely valuable prize and allow you to reach brand new audiences.

A brilliant way to inject an extra layer of engagement to your contest or giveaway is rewarding all of its participants with some sort of runner-up or consolation prize. This can help you maximise entry and engagement, while also setting you up to drive further action in the aftermath of your campaign.

Offering everyone who enters your contest a discount code to use at your store is a fantastic way to make your contest more appealing and drive more entry actions.

Plus, by giving out discount codes to everyone who enters your campaign you will be able to drive sales once your contest has concluded.

Another way you can make your contest more enticing to enter is by giving a bunch of smaller runner-up prizes in addition to your grand prize. By increasing the odds of winning something, you will be able to encourage more users to enter.

This approach can be particularly advantageous if you're giving away your own products, as you will be able to get more people to experience your product which can lead to repeat purchases and positive word of mouth.

Now that we've given you a huge selection of prize ideas that you can use for any occasion you should be feeling ready to go out at run your own powerful contest or giveaway.

If you want some ideas for powerful types giveaways you can run which will maximise engagement and drive powerful actions then you should check out our helpful guide. 👇

  Get 40+ Powerful Giveaway Ideas
Author

Ahron Burstin

Ahron is a Growth Marketer at Gleam. Shoot him a Tweet if you got something out of this post ☺