Our friend fest giveaway was a January 2011 celebration with three luxury gift packs, each valued at over $200, and three different raffles for earning entries.
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We’re giving away 3 Gift Packs valued at over $200 each!
Below are the various ways you can win:
- Twitter Raffle: Follow us on Twitter and earn 1 raffle entry every time you tweet “Follow @CandlesOffMain and RT for a chance to win a luxury gift pack valued at over $200! http://bit.ly/dFiogd Contest ends 1/28/11.”
- YouTube Raffle: Subscribe to our YouTube channel and earn a raffle entry every time you post a comment on any video by 1/28/11.
- Facebook Raffle: Join our Facebook Page and earn a raffle entry when you post on our wall: “I’m here for friend fest”. Earn a raffle entry every time you have a friend join our Facebook page and post: “[yourname] sent me for friend fest”. Your friend will also earn a raffle entry for joining us.
We’ll announce the 3 raffle winners on Saturday, January 29th. Good luck!
We will ship the prize packages to any continental US address. Fragrances and colors may vary.
What the friend fest giveaway was
We gave away three gift packs, each valued at over $200. The prize packs included fragrances and colors that could vary, and we shipped them to any continental US address. The contest ran through January 28, and winners were announced on Saturday, January 29th.
I named it Friend Fest because the best entries came from sharing. A candle shop is a community, and nothing makes me happier than seeing friends invite friends.
Three packs, each worth over $200, made this one of our larger giveaways. We said up front that fragrances and colors may vary, since stock changes, and I think it is always better to be clear about that.
Reading the fine print was part of the fun. The rules were short, the dates were clear and the winners were announced publicly.
A giveaway is also a way for us to say thanks. We could not do this without you, and I mean that.
Three ways to earn an entry
On Twitter, you earned a raffle entry each time you tweeted our request to follow and retweet. On YouTube, you earned one for each comment on any video before the deadline. On Facebook, you posted that you were here for friend fest.
If a friend joined our page and posted that you sent them, you both earned an entry. That rule made the friend fest giveaway different from most, and it worked as a way to say thanks.
The tweet we asked for included a link and an end date, so people could pass it on without rewriting it. A ready-made message makes it easy for friends to join, and a single click on retweet did the rest.
YouTube was the quiet surprise. Commenting on videos is something not many shoppers think of, yet it gave us the best conversations about candles in the whole contest.
Each of those routes had a clear end date, which kept things tidy. When a contest has a deadline, everyone knows when to stop checking.
Making a giveaway fair
I try to design contests so that anyone can join without spending money. That is why the raffles were open on three platforms. Someone who prefers video can comment on YouTube, and someone who loves chatting can use Facebook.
Fair does not mean complicated. A few clear rules, a firm deadline and a public announcement keep everyone honest. The raffles on raffles shows how old and simple this idea is.
If you ever run a giveaway of your own, tell people the rules in one place and keep them there. Edits and surprises make participants nervous, and nervous participants stop playing.
Sharing with friends, and more contests
Sharing a giveaway can feel awkward, so I suggest you do it the way you would share a recipe. Tell your friend why you like the shop and what you are hoping to win. A personal note is much better than a copy and paste post.
A candle is a very good thing to share, too. A gift pack lets you pass on a scent you love, and it is one of the best ways I know to say thank you.
If you enjoyed the friend fest giveaway, read about Trapp Giveaway Week, which ran with a similar friendly spirit. Our Valentine’s Day is another way we like to celebrate with readers.
Keep an eye on the blog, since we always have something planned. Thanks for being part of our community.
I also think sharing is how scent spreads. Most of us found our favorite candle because someone said, try this. The friend fest giveaway was an excuse to make that sentence a habit.
Whether the prize is large or small, the pleasure is in taking part. Friends hearing about a shop from someone they trust is worth more than any advertisement.
The friend fest giveaway ended in January 2011, but the spirit stays with us. Every time a customer brings a friend to the shop, it feels like a small Friend Fest all over again.
When winners were announced, we posted the news in public so everyone could see the draw was honest.
Header photo: Dave & Margie Hill / Kleerup, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
