How to Grow Your Business For Free Using Gleam

Starting a business can be tough, especially when you're trying to grow your business for free. Whether you're an ecommerce store, a startup with no ad budget, or a content creator building your first audience, it can be hard to get noticed without spending a fortune on advertising.

Social media is a powerful, low-cost tool, but gaining traction can be tricky.

That’s where giveaway campaigns come in. A well-run giveaway can drive massive engagement and help grow your business, all for only the cost of your prize.

With Gleam’s free plan, you can build and launch a powerful giveaway campaign that brings in email subscribers, social followers, and website traffic, without spending anything on ads or software.

Giveaways work especially well for industries like ecommerce, creators launching digital products, SaaS founders building early traction, and service businesses targeting local customers.

Whether you're trying to grow your email list, boost engagement, build a waitlist, or test product-market fit, giveaways give you fast, low-cost access to the right people.

Before anything else, you need a campaign that people actually want to enter.

In Gleam, go to the Setup tab to set the foundation for your campaign:

• Name your campaign (this appears on your hosted giveaway page)
• Choose a Start and End Date to create urgency
• Set your Timezone so daily actions and closing time are accurate
• Use Gleam’s Fraud Filter (default: High) to protect against fake entries
• (Optional on paid plans) Add your own Terms & Conditions or restrict country access

Once saved, Gleam gives you a hosted landing page URL you can share anywhere. This is where people will enter your giveaway.

One of the biggest benefits of running a giveaway is building your email list with high-intent leads.

Gleam makes it easy to collect email addresses from every entrant, even on the free plan.

In the Pre-Entry tab, you can require users to log in with email before entering.

You can also choose to show a marketing opt-in checkbox and add custom fields to learn more about your audience.

This setup is ideal for ecommerce stores, creators, SaaS startups, or service businesses looking to:

• Grow a mailing list for future launches and promos
• Qualify leads with questions or preferences
• Build a GDPR-compliant subscriber base

Now it’s time to decide what people need to do to enter your giveaway.

In the How To Enter tab, click "Add Entry Method" and choose from a list of actions that are included in Gleam’s free plan.

Some of the most effective free actions for business growth:

• Follow you on Twitter (X), YouTube or Pinterest
• Visit your website or landing page
• Subscribe to your blog via RSS
• Answer a question (great for market research or feedback)
• Share your giveaway URL with friends

To keep things fair and engaging, you can:

• Make actions mandatory (e.g. email login or following your account)
• Add daily bonus entries to keep people coming back

You don’t need to set up everything, just choose the actions that align with how you want to grow.

Your prize isn’t just bait, it’s a filter. Make it something that appeals to your ideal customer, not just anyone looking for free stuff.

Think: your product, a gift card for your store, or something niche-specific that only your audience would care about. This way, the people entering are more likely to stick around.

Inside Gleam, you’ll add your prize in the Prizes tab. Just give it a name, set how many winners you'll have, and (optionally) show the value. One great prize is enough.

People won’t enter if your giveaway looks dodgy. It doesn’t need to be flashy, just clean, clear and on-brand.

On the free plan, it’s simple but solid. And if you want more control over a feature image, colours or copy, you can always upgrade later.

This is where your growth happens.

Once your campaign’s live, Gleam gives you a hosted landing page you can share anywhere. Start by posting it where you already have reach, your socials, emails, website.

Then think a little bigger:

• Pin it to your profile
• Ask your followers to tag a friend
• Drop it in your Facebook group or Slack community
• DM a few friendly creators and ask them to reshare

More eyes = more entries. More entries = more followers, visits and subscribers.

Once it ends, it’s time to wrap up, but also keep things moving.

Gleam lets you:

• Pick winners at random with one click
• Export your winner details
• Review your campaign performance

You’ve now got a bigger audience, a bigger list, and real data on what worked.
Run it again.
Or turn that attention into your next launch.

• Offer prizes that genuinely appeal to your target audience
• Keep entry methods simple to avoid drop-off
• Make Terms & Conditions visible
• Run campaigns for 2–3 weeks for best participation
• Follow up with entrants to drive repeat engagement

Want to get started now?

Try out this template: