7 Ideas For Running a Giveaway on Twitter / X

Learn how to make the most of your social media presence. Generate leads, boost sales, and increase your following with an awesome Twitter / X giveaway!

Header image for blog post on Twitter/X giveaway strategies and promotion tips.
Twitter / X Giveaway Tips For Engagement & Growth

• Run quick-entry giveaways like retweet-to-enter or tag-a-friend to maximise reach fast
• Use sweepstakes to drive deeper actions like email signups, referrals or UGC submissions
• Offer prizes that align with your brand and genuinely excite your audience
• Use Gleam to automate entry validation, manage fraud, and pick winners fairly
• Promote everywhere — social, email, website — and stay compliant with Twitter / X rules

Running an Twitter / X giveaway is an excellent strategy to boost your brand's visibility, increase engagement, and grow your follower base.

Giveaways not only excite your current followers but also attract new ones. They're awesome at creating a great buzz around your brand.

In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of Twitter / X giveaways, showcase some successful examples, provide advice on choosing the perfect prize, and share tips on how to promote your giveaway effectively.

Here are some of the best tried and tested giveaway ideas to help you plan a successful Twitter / X giveaway. Depending on what your goals are, you can choose whatever giveaway drives the actions you're looking for.

Whether that be to collect more user-generated content or to boost engagement, we have loads of great ideas below.

The most common type of giveaway that you'll definitely have seen on your feed is a retweet or follow to enter giveaway. It's a super quick and easy way to expand your reach.

All it requires users is that follow your account and retweet your contest tweet for a chance to win.

This strategy helps your brand quickly gain visibility as each retweet introduces your content to new audiences and is a great way to boost engagement.

It's a simple yet effective method to increase your follower count and enhance your presence on Twitter / X, and you can randomly select the winner using Gleam quick draws.

Example of a retweet to enter giveaway on X

Running an Twitter / X giveaway in the form of a sweepstakes is a really cost effective alternative to traditional advertising and offers some unique advantages.

To run a sweepstakes, you just have to customise the template we have below according to the actions you'd like to drive. Participants then complete the actions in return for a chance to win, with each action giving them more entries into the giveaway.

This is so ecfective because it not only requires users to engage by liking and following your account like in a classic social media giveaway, but it also encourages them to perform multiple impactful actions such as subscribing to your mailing list and referring friends.

Plus, Gleam can automate all of the entry verification, which simplifies campaign management and makes the process way quicker.

  learn more

A Caption This Photo contest on Twitter / X is a fun and engaging way to increase the time users spend interacting with your content.

By asking participants to come up with creative captions for a photo you post, you encourage them to spend more time thinking about your brand as they craft their responses.

You can just ask them to reply with their favourite caption and randomly select the winner using Gleam quick draws or you can go thorugh manually and pick your favourite.

This type of contest not only boosts engagement by prompting users to comment, but it also encourages sharing as participants replies will show on their friends and followers feeds- which is another organic way to increase your content's exposure.

Caption this photo giveaway example on X

Tag-a-friend giveaways are another effective way to naturally boost your reach. By encouraging people to tag their friends in the replies, you not only spread the word but also increase the visibility of your post due to more comments.

To run one, post the details of the giveaway in a Tweet, ask users to tag friends in the replies, and then use Gleam's Quick Draws to randomly choose a winner.

It's also a good idea to offer a prize to the tagged friend. This motivates even more people to participate and tag even more of their friends.

Tag a friend giveaway example on X

A Comment to Enter Twitter contest, where participants respond to a question, is a smart way to engage your audience and expand your reach.

By asking users to answer a question in the comments, you encourage thoughtful interaction that increases the visibility of your post through active engagement.

This not only helps to spread your brand's message wider as participants share their responses, but it also provides valuable insights into your audience's preferences and thoughts.

For example, you could ask what new features they want to see next or which is their favourite colourway this season.

It's a win win, you boost engagement while recieving some valuable customer opinions.

Answer a question to enter giveaway example on X

A photo contest on Twitter / X is an excellent strategy to increase your reach and collect user-generated content.

By asking participants to post their own photos and use a specific hashtag, every entry helps spread your brand further as it appears in more users' feeds.

This not only broadens your audience but also builds a fantastic library of authentic content that can showcase real-life interactions with your brand.

Encourage participants to share their photos on other social media platforms to maximize engagement and reach.

Photo contest example on X

You can easily set this up so that all of your entries are neatly stored in one place by using this template:

  view template

Organize a digital scavenger hunt where participants need to find clues you leave in your posts, on your website, or across all of social media channels.

Scavenger hunt giveaway example on X

They then just have to submit their answer in the Gleam submission box to be automatically verfied

This can be a fun way to keep your audience engaged over a longer period as people will spend more time scouring your tweets for the clue. The eaiest way to run this is with a template so you don't have to manually verify and keep track of all the answers.

  view template

To get people to enter your giveaway, you need to entice them with an awesome prize!

Some general rules are:

  • Choose valuable and enticing prizes that reflect your brand and appeal to your target audience.
  • Ensure the effort required matches the prize's value.
  • To increase excitement and participation, offer multiple prizes or partner up with complementary brands for a bundle prize.

Below are some specific examples of a good prize according to your industry:

If you're a tech or gaming brand- smartphones, smart home devices, headphones, or tablets are fantastic options.

If you're an animal business, give away pet food vouchers, grooming services, or pet toys.

You need to promote your giveaway to maximise how many people know about it and enter. Here are our top tips!

Create a unique and catchy hashtag for your giveaway. This makes it easy to track entries and enhances the visibility of your giveaway.

You can also have a go at using Twitter / X Ads to promote your giveaway to a targeted audience.

Promoting a giveaway using Twitter Ads

When running a giveaway on Twitter / X, it's important to adhere to the platform's rules and guidelines to ensure your contest runs smoothly and effectively. Here are some key guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Make sure people aren't creating spam accounts to enter your contest.
  • Posting duplicate, or near duplicate, updates or links is against the X Rules. So don't encourage things like people to reposting your contest tweet as many times as possible for extra entries.
  • Only use relevant hashtags

Overall, running a Twitter giveaway is a powerful strategy to boost your online presence and engage with your audience. By following these steps and incorporating creative ideas, you can create a successful giveaway that not only delights your followers but also achieves your marketing goals. Happy tweeting!

What’s The Best Time to Post On Twitter For Engagement?

Weekdays between 12–3 PM often perform best, but use your Twitter Analytics tool to test what works for your audience.

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How to Run A Retweet And Follow Giveaway On Twitter

Use Gleam to create a Twitter giveaway that requires participants to retweet and follow your account, boosting engagement and follower count.​

How to Promote An Easter Giveaway Across Multiple Channels

Use email, social media, and your website to maximize visibility for your Easter giveaway and drive participation.

How to Run A Retweet And Follow Giveaway On Twitter

Use Gleam to create a Twitter giveaway that requires participants to retweet and follow your account, boosting engagement and follower count.​

How to Host A Twitter Hashtag Contest

To host a Twitter hashtag contest, create a unique branded hashtag and ask participants to tweet with it. Use a tool like Gleam to monitor entries, verify eligibility, and pick winners fairly.

How to Run A Twitter Caption Contest

To run a caption contest, post an image and ask users to reply with creative captions. Collect entries using Gleam to manage submissions and select the most engaging or funniest caption.

How to Promote Your Twitter Giveaway Effectively

Promote your Twitter giveaway by sharing it across social platforms, emailing your audience, and adding a banner to your website. Gleam helps centralize the campaign to track entries from all sources.

How to Choose The Right Prize For Your Twitter Giveaway

Choose a prize that’s relevant to your audience and reflects your brand. Popular options include exclusive products, discount codes, or viral-friendly experiences that increase engagement.

Author
Charlotte is on the Marketing team at Gleam.

Charlotte Czarnota

Charlotte is a Content Marketer at Gleam. Share this post if you got something out of it ☺