Should the Upload Action Be Mandatory in a Giveaway?

Make the upload mandatory when the content is the reason you're running the giveaway, and leave it optional when the content's a bonus. A mandatory upload works as a gate, so almost everyone who enters sends something in. An optional one gets skipped more the longer your widget is.

Make it mandatory and you can expect most of your entrants to send something in. On Gleam giveaways, a typical 76% did, whatever the widget length. Leave it optional and it only holds up on a short widget. With two or three Actions, almost a quarter of entrants sent something in. With four or five, about 4% did. Past that, it's about 1% or less.

Source: Gleam Giveaway Benchmarks 2026, Edition 3 (v1.1), May 2020 to August 2026. 8,278 upload, media and submit-URL Actions on competitions with 100+ entrants.

A giveaway built around the upload reaches fewer people, and that's the trade you're making. On the Business Plan, a giveaway with an upload and two or three Actions reached 380 entrants at the median, against about 1,100 for a comparable giveaway without one. (They're different businesses, so read it as what each choice ended up with, not a forecast.) Only about one UGC giveaway in six makes the upload mandatory, so most organisers pick reach over content without ever deciding to.

Open the How to Enter tab of your Competition and click your File Upload Action to expand it. Under Advanced, switch on Mandatory, then check the widget preview. You'll need the Business Plan or above for File Upload.

You'll find the full comparison, by plan and widget length, in our UGC giveaway benchmarks.