5 Steps To Running A YouTube Giveaway With Gleam
Learn how to use Gleam to run an awesome giveaway on YouTube.
• Choose a prize that attracts your ideal audience
• Create your giveaway with YouTube and bonus actions
• Promote it through video descriptions, socials, and embeds
• Pick winners fairly with Gleam’s random draw or manual tools
• Follow up with discounts, UGC, and future campaigns to keep fans engaged
Running a YouTube giveaway is a powerful way to boost engagement, grow your audience, and reward loyal fans.
With Gleam, you can set up and manage your giveaway effortlessly.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to running a successful YouTube giveaway using Gleam.
The steps are simple...
When you start planning your giveaway, the first thing to think about is the prize.
This matters because it decides what kind of giveaway you can run and what actions you’ll ask people to take to enter.
For example, if you have a YouTube channel where you share workout routines, you’ll want a prize that fits your content so you attract the right audience.
If you’ve got a bigger budget, you could give away something like a full home gym setup.
Since that’s a high-value prize, you can make entry a bit harder, maybe asking people to submit videos of themselves doing your workout on social media.
If your budget is smaller, you might give away exclusive content or a pair of running trainers.
In that case, the entry requirements should reflect that, like following you on social media and tagging a friend.
It’s all about getting the balance right and making sure you’re targeting the right people.
Pick the right prize, and you’ll attract high quality participants.
Want some more inspiration? We have 150+ prize ideas here.
• Go to the Prizes tab
• Enter your prize name and description
• Set the number of winners
• (Optional) Show the prize value
• Save to display it inside your campaign
After deciding on your prize, set up your giveaway.
You can run it directly on YouTube by asking people to comment under a video.
With this method, it can be tricky to make sure the winner is selected fairly and randomly.
For more control and to run a way more powerful giveaway campaign, lots of people opt for a third-party platform like Gleam.
It simplifies the process, tracks entries, and offers actions for participants like:
- Visiting your YouTube channel
- Submitting a YouTube video
- Social media actions, like following you on X
- Sharing the giveaway with friends
- Visiting your website
You can also add cross-promotional actions that would be nearly impossible to track manually if you’re getting a high number of entries.
For example, you can require people to:
- Sign up to your mailing list
- Engage with content across multiple platforms, like finding secret codes
- Submitting UGC
We handle fraud protection, winner selection, and terms and conditions for you.
Plus, we create a hosted landing page for every campaign, so you can share your giveaway easily, even without a website.
Have a play with our template below and see how easy it is to get started!
• Create a new Competition
• Add a YouTube action
• Add bonus actions like Viral Share or Website Visit
• Enable Fraud Filter to keep entries fair
• Share the hosted landing page or embed on your site
Then, of course, you need to make sure people actually know about your giveaway, how to enter, when it starts, and when it ends.
Otherwise, no one’s going to take part!
The best ways to get the word out are:
- Share your giveaway link everywhere, social media, newsletters, YouTube descriptions, wherever your audience is.
- Use relevant hashtags to boost discoverability, and if you can, team up with influencers or creators in your niche to reach even more people.
- Embed the Gleam widget on your website to make it super easy for visitors to enter without leaving your page.
The more you promote, the more entries you’ll get!
Check our our deep dive on the best ways to promote your YouTube contest.
• Copy your hosted landing page link
• Share in YouTube video descriptions and pinned comments
• Post across your socials and newsletter
• Embed the widget on your website
• Partner with creators to extend your reach
Once your giveaway ends, selecting a winner is quick and hassle-free with Gleam.
You have a couple of options when it comes to picking a winner:
- Random Selection – If your giveaway is a simple prize draw, you can use Gleam’s built-in random winner generator to pick a winner instantly. This ensures fairness and eliminates any bias.
- Manual Selection – If you want to pick your winner based on merit, you can do this by manually selecting the entry of your choice.
Gleam also makes it easy to review and verify entries before confirming a winner.
Entries will be flagged as invalid if someone has not actually completed the required actions (e.g., followed your social account then unfollowed straight away), you can review those and check them yourself too.
Learn more about how to pick winners with Gleam and announcing winners with our in depth guide.

• Go to your campaign → Winners tab
• Click Draw Winners for random selection
• Or choose manually for merit-based contests
• Verify actions to ensure entries are valid (Gleam automatically verifies entries, but there is cases where this isn't possible)
• Export or screenshot results for proof
After your giveaway ends, don’t just disappear, keep the momentum going and stay connected with your audience.
- Offer a consolation prize like a discount code or exclusive content to keep non-winners engaged and encourage them to stick around.
- Keep new subscribers interested by sharing fresh content, updates, and behind-the-scenes insights. Make sure they don’t just enter and leave!
- Plan your next giveaway early so you can maintain excitement and keep engagement levels high.
- Showcase user-generated content from video contests in a gallery or on social media to highlight your community and encourage more participation next time.
• Use Gleam to email winners or export details
• Offer discounts or bonus rewards to non-winners
• Share UGC in a gallery or on social media
• Plan your next campaign early
• Keep new subscribers engaged with fresh content
The goal is to turn giveaway participants into long-term fans, not just one-time entrants!
Giveaways increase engagement, encourage sharing, and reward your audience—helping you grow your YouTube channel faster.
Offer a relevant prize, use video comments and views as entry methods, and promote across your social platforms. Click to learn how to grow your YouTube channel using a smart giveaway strategy.
To get more subscribers on YouTube, post high-quality videos consistently, optimise for SEO, engage with your audience, and run promotions like giveaways.
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