How Do I Increase Entries for My Competition?

If your competition is getting zero entries, start by working through the diagnostic checklist for a live campaign with no entries — it's almost always a technical issue or a missing promotion push. Once your campaign is running and entries are coming in, this guide is about scaling from 'some' to 'a lot.'

The three levers that move competition entries are: more traffic, better conversion of that traffic, and more entries per entrant. Operators who scale a campaign work all three at once.

Lever 1: More traffic — actively promote every day

The single biggest predictor of competition success is how much you promote it. Many operators publish their campaign, post once, and wait. That's rarely enough. Treat the campaign like a product launch: promote across every channel, multiple times, throughout the campaign's lifetime.

• Email list — Send a dedicated email at launch, then 2–3 reminders during the campaign (midpoint, 48 hours before close, final hours). Don't just mention it in your newsletter.
• Instagram — Post to the feed, Stories, and Reels. Pin the announcement to your profile. Use a link sticker in Stories.
• Facebook — Pin the post to your page. Cross-post to relevant groups where allowed. Tag your prize partners.
• TikTok — A short video showing the prize unboxing or use case performs well. Pin to profile.
• Pinterest — Pin a tall vertical image with the prize and entry deadline. Searchable longer than feed posts.
• Your website — Add a banner to your homepage during the campaign. Link from your nav bar.

For the complete post-launch promotion playbook, see How Do I Promote My Competition After it Goes Live and our in-depth contest promotion guide.

Lever 2: Better conversion — make the entry worth the click

When promotion drives a visitor to your competition page, you need them to actually enter. The two biggest factors are prize appeal and entry friction.

• Lead with the prize. Put it front and centre in the campaign description, feature image, and social posts. Show what it looks like — not just the name.
• Match the prize to your audience. A $50 voucher to a niche store can outperform a $500 cash prize for the right audience. Generic high-value prizes attract prize-hunters who don't stick around.
• Reduce mandatory actions. Each mandatory action drops a percentage of entrants. Make only one action mandatory if any — keep the rest as bonus entries.
• Use a feature image. Campaigns without imagery convert significantly worse than those with one strong visual.

Lever 3: More entries per entrant — use Gleam's multiplier actions

Once someone has entered, the goal is to get them to complete more actions and refer friends. Gleam has two specific tools built for this.

Viral Share action — Awards bonus entries when entrants share your competition and get friends to enter. This is the most powerful action for reaching new audiences you couldn't reach yourself. Set the reward at 3–5 bonus entries per referral.

Bonus action — Awards a large entry bonus to users who complete every action in your campaign. Encourages full completion rather than partial. Set the bonus at 5–10× a regular action's value.

Consider paid promotion

If you've exhausted organic channels and want to scale entries further, paid promotion can work well for the right campaigns:

• Facebook/Instagram ads — Lead with the prize image and a short hook. Target lookalike audiences of past entrants.
• Influencer partnerships — Pay or gift creators to feature your campaign. Effective when their audience matches your prize.
• Reddit and niche communities — Paid posts where permitted, but check community rules first.

Cost-per-entry for a well-targeted paid campaign is often a few cents, depending on your audience and prize.

Common mistakes that cap entry numbers

• Promoting only once. A single launch post captures a fraction of your audience. Promote throughout the campaign.
• Too many mandatory actions. More than one mandatory action significantly reduces total entrants.
• Generic prize, unclear audience fit. Cash prizes attract prize-hunters who never return; product giveaways build audiences that stick.
• No referral mechanic. Without Viral Share, you're limited to your existing reach. Add it even mid-campaign.
• Hidden entry flow. If users have to scroll past hero content to find the entry widget, many won't.

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