Giveaway vs Paid Ads Cost Per Lead Calculator
Enter your numbers to see your real cost per lead from ads and from a giveaway, side by side. The calculator counts your time, revenue from non-winners, and extra entries from Viral Share.
Enter your numbers to see your real cost per lead from ads and from a giveaway, side by side. The calculator counts your time, revenue from non-winners, and extra entries from Viral Share.
Paid Ads Stop Working When the Budget Stops
Paid Ads Stop Working When the Budget Stops
A Giveaway Leaves You a List
When the ad budget stops, the leads stop too. A giveaway leaves you with a list you own: every entrant's email, the Actions they completed, and where they came from. You can use it on every campaign after this one.
Beehiiv
Know Who Showed Up
Ad reports show clicks and impressions, but little about the people behind them. Gleam shows you each entrant's email, every Action they completed, which referral brought them in, and which entries were flagged as fraud.
A Giveaway Keeps Working After Launch
Paid ads need daily monitoring, creative testing, and bid changes. Once a giveaway is live, Viral Share keeps bringing in referrals, Gleam verifies Actions and flags fraud, and new emails sync to your list without you stepping in.
Ask Entrants What You Need to Know
An ad conversion gives you an email and a pixel event. With custom fields, you can ask entrants for a birthday, a location, a product they own, or anything your next campaign needs. Your list arrives segmented from the first entry.
Your Giveaway Leads Go Straight Into the Tools Your Ads Already Feed
Your Giveaway Leads Go Straight Into the Tools Your Ads Already Feed
Every email syncs to your CRM and email platform the moment someone enters, with no CSV export or manual import.
Every email syncs to your CRM and email platform the moment someone enters, with no CSV export or manual import.
Email Marketing Platforms
Sync giveaway entries to your email lists
CRM & Marketing Tools
Track and nurture leads automatically
Content Platforms
Embed giveaways anywhere on your site
What Makes the Giveaway Numbers Work
Package Pro
from
$79/mo
Complete access to 4 growth apps
100+ actions and integrations
Unlimited campaigns
Email support
Invite 1 extra team member
Custom Fields and Entry Data
Collect more than an email. Ask for birthdays, locations, or product preferences, and every answer arrives with the entry.
Viral Share Referral Tracking
Every entrant gets a unique referral link worth bonus entries, and you can see exactly who referred whom.
Automatic Lead Verification
Gleam checks every Action with the social platform before it counts, and flags fake accounts and bots so your lead count reflects real people.
Real-Time Email Platform Sync
Every verified email goes straight into Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or your email platform the moment someone enters.
Go Deeper on Giveaways vs Paid Ads
Go Deeper on Giveaways vs Paid Ads
The data and frameworks behind the calculator.
The data and frameworks behind the calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions About Giveaways vs Paid Ads
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Giveaway vs Paid Ads Cost Per Lead Calculator
Enter your numbers to see your real cost per lead from ads and from a giveaway, side by side. The calculator counts your time, revenue from non-winners, and extra entries from Viral Share.
Paid Ads Stop Working When the Budget Stops
Every Dollar You Spend on Ads Disappears When You Stop Spending
The problem: paid ads rent you attention. The moment the budget stops, the leads stop. The fix: a giveaway with an email action leaves you with an asset. An email address is the one thing a giveaway gives you that you own. Among giveaways that got at least 100 people entering, the email signup was finished by about 84 out of every 100 people who entered, from 40,537 giveaways run by 6,028 businesses. A follow or subscribe was finished by about 51 out of every 100, from 77,459 giveaways run by 12,482 businesses. A follow sits on a platform whose rules and reach can change without you. The address does not.
Beehiiv
Giveaway Data Tells You Who Showed Up
The problem: click and impression data from paid ads tells you a campaign performed, but not much about the people who converted or why. The fix: a giveaway gives you email addresses, every action each entrant completed, who referred them, and which entries were flagged as fraudulent. That data stays useful for every campaign you run after.
Both Channels Take Time to Run
The problem: setting up a paid ad campaign properly takes time, and daily monitoring, creative testing, and bid optimization add up through the month. A giveaway takes time to set up and promote too. The fix: once it is live, Gleam handles the repeat work. Viral Share tracks referrals, fraud detection runs in the background, and on Pro and above every email syncs to your email platform without an export. Put your own hours for both channels into the calculator above.
Ask Entrants What You Need to Know
An ad conversion gives you an email and a pixel event. With custom fields, you can ask entrants for a birthday, a location, a product they own, or anything your next campaign needs. Your list arrives segmented from the first entry.
Your Giveaway Leads Go Straight Into the Tools Your Ads Already Feed
Every email syncs to your CRM and email platform the moment someone enters, with no CSV export or manual import.
Email Marketing Platforms
Sync giveaway entries to your email lists
CRM & Marketing Tools
Track and nurture leads automatically
Content Platforms
Embed giveaways anywhere on your site
What Makes the Giveaway Numbers Work
Package Pro
from
$79/mo
Complete access to 4 growth apps
100+ actions and integrations
Unlimited campaigns
Email support
Invite 1 extra team member
Custom Fields and Entry Data
Collect more than an email. Ask for birthdays, locations, or product preferences with custom fields on Business and above, and entrants give you the answers directly.
Viral Share Referral Tracking
Every entrant gets a unique referral link worth bonus entries, and you see exactly who referred who. Viral Share is on Pro and above.
Automatic Lead Verification
Wherever a platform allows it, Gleam checks each action against that platform's API before it counts. Fraud detection flags fake accounts and bots on every plan, so your lead count reflects real people.
Real-Time Email Platform Sync
Every verified email flows directly into Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or your platform of choice the moment someone enters. No CSV, no manual import, no lag.
Go Deeper on Giveaways vs Paid Ads
The data and frameworks behind the calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions About Giveaways vs Paid Ads
?
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About Gleam