When running a giveaway, you might think the important part is soliciting entrants and giving away the prize.
But spending too much time thinking about the winner and prioritizing that prize notification email neglects the great opportunity to connect with all those other entrants during and after your online contest.
Your giveaway strategy needs to be multi-faceted, so you’re optimizing each part of the journey. And the event follow-up email is one of the most crucial steps. Connecting with the people who enter your giveaway can result in leads, sales, and email subscribers.
Learning different techniques, like the timing of your follow-up email or how to create an email sequence to appeal to specific customers, can help you get the most out of your giveaway.
Keep reading to learn:
- How to send emails during your giveaway
- Why you should send event follow-up emails
- How to craft a post-event email strategy
- Tips and etiquette for follow-up emails
How To Send Emails During Your Giveaway
Before you get into event follow-up emails, don’t forget to keep in touch with entrants during the giveaway. It helps keep people excited and interested in the prize.
You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with information, but you should send just enough to keep users engaged.
If you’re not sure what to send, ideas include:
- Updates on the giveaway
- Details on the prize
- Noteworthy entries for a user-generated contest
- An introduction to your company
- Education about your brand
- Plans for next events
Why You Need an Event Follow-Up Email
Having a plan for after your giveaway is critical, and email marketing is a great tool to take advantage of for multiple reasons.
Research by Marketing Charts found that professionals used email marketing to increase sales revenue, engagement, and lead nurturing. These are the same benefits you can reap from following up with your giveaway participants.
A follow-up email is better than a cold email because you’ve already had an interaction, so you have your recipients’ attention. Instead of your email communications getting lost in a flood of junk, your company name will stand out because of the giveaway.
You started the conversation with the giveaway. Afterward, you’re in that sweet spot where users listen and might be more open to learning about your company.
Planning Your Event Follow-Up Email Strategy
Here are some considerations when planning your post-giveaway outreach.
When To Send a Follow-Up Email
After sending the winner’s announcement, wait two to four days after your giveaway to reach back out. After the initial follow-up, spread your subsequent emails a few days apart, so you don’t overwhelm your contest entrants.
The First Email After the Giveaway
The first email you send after the giveaway can be a post-event follow-up and a recap of the contest. If it was a content competition, share about the winner and the entrants. If it’s a frequent giveaway, share the details for an upcoming event.
And don’t forget to be grateful to those who entered. A post-event thank you email shows you care about the contest participants.
Revisit Your Goal
When you start structuring your sequential follow-up emails, go back to your objectives. Did you want to increase your reach or boost your sales? Whatever your answer is, you can build emails off of that.
Use the event follow-up email as a platform to tell your audience why they should convert and engage with your company.
Bonus Offer Follow-Up Email
Your email needs to provide a hook for your users to find out more. That could be:
- Discount prices
- Free content
- Referral bonus
- Product demo
While you might not have several contest winners, you can still give out a “prize” for every contest entry.
Figure Out Where Your Users Are in the Buyer’s Journey
When you better understand your potential customer, you can better appeal to them. Taking time to know where they are in the buyer’s journey or sales funnel can change your approach. Different stages mean different types of emails.
Users who entered to win your top-level offering might be closer to purchasing than others who might still need to find out more about your business and brand.
How you structured your giveaway, like the format or the social media platform you used, can help you understand more about the people who entered and if they have any pain points.
Ask for Suggestions
You might also want to use this time to solicit feedback about the event experience or your brand. A giveaway might have opened your company to new audiences, and they can share their impressions.
Any time you ask for responses from email recipients, sweeten the deal with a bonus like those mentioned above to get more replies.
Consider Multiple Email Marketing Campaigns for Customers
You can use strategic sequences depending on the users who’ve responded or clicked through to your website.
Track if someone has claimed a discount or free download, then you can send more targeted emails like a follow-up email after purchase or more information about a page on your website they visited.
Email Follow-Up Etiquette and Tips
- Don’t bombard entrants with too many emails. It can be a turn-off and lead to hitting the unsubscribe button. A Woodpecker study said that two or three emails is usually a good bet.
- Not everyone can be the giveaway winner, which is why follow-up emails can be considered “loser” emails. Craft your language gingerly to appeal to those who lost.
- Too hard of a sales pitch can be unattractive. Avoid saying the equivalent of “Sorry you didn’t win, but here’s the chance to buy some product.”
- You might want to sweeten the deal with a call to action (CTA) with more urgency, like a time-sensitive deal or a deadline for a free consultation.
Final Thoughts: How To Write Event Follow-Up Emails After Your Giveaway
Follow-up emails are an essential part of your email marketing strategy. Marketers should take the time to prepare emails after the giveaway to ensure they take advantage of potential conversions.
People might have entered your giveaway for the prize, but you can use this as a chance to get new subscribers or pique interest in your brand. Check back with your goal, consider the buyer’s journey, and plan your outreach timeline to create the most influential event follow-up email.
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