Run a giveaway
Reward buyers for bringing friends: set up a giveaway, see how entries are earned, and draw the winners fairly.
Who can do this: Owners, admins and managers.
Before you start
- Create the event first. It can be a draft or published.
- Write your official rules. They must be at least 200 characters and cover eligibility, dates, the prize, odds, how winners are chosen and contacted, and the sponsor.
- Have your rules checked by your own legal adviser. You are responsible for following giveaway and sweepstakes law wherever you offer the prize.
Part 1Create the giveaway
- 1Click Marketing in the dashboard sidebar, then press Giveaways.
- 2Find the New giveaway form.
- 3Choose the Event, then type a Giveaway name and the Prize.
- 4Set Opens and Closes. Entries only count between these two times.
- 5Set the numbers under How entries are earned. See the next section for what each one means.
- 6Set the Number of winners, from 1 to 100.
- 7Press Start from a template above Official rules, then edit the text to fit your prize and your state.
- 8Press Create giveaway. It is saved as a draft that the public cannot see.
- 9Check every detail on the page that opens, then press Start giveaway.
A giveaway cannot be edited or deleted after you create it. If a draft is wrong, leave it unstarted and create a new one.
Part 2Know how entries are earned
Entries come only from things Ticket-Worx can verify. Pressing a share button earns nothing by itself, because no social network confirms that a post was made.
- 1Set Per ticket purchase to the entries a buyer gets for each paid order, however many tickets are in it. It can be 1 to 100.
- 2Set Per friend who opens their link to the entries a buyer gets each time a different person opens their personal share link.
- 3Set Max link-visit entries per person to cap how many entries one buyer can earn from link visits.
- 4Set Per friend who buys to the entries a buyer gets when a friend buys through their link.
- 5Remember that anyone can enter free on the public rules page. A free entry is worth the same as Per ticket purchase, and each email can enter free once.
Purchase entries are only given for orders paid while the giveaway is running. A buyer opening their own link, or buying through it, earns nothing.
Part 3Show it to buyers
- 1Open your public event page. While the giveaway is running, a Giveaway box shows the name, the prize and the closing date.
- 2Click Official rules and free entry in that box to see the public page.
- 3Press Public rules page on the giveaway in your dashboard to open the same page and copy its address.
- 4Check the Free entry form. It asks for Full name and Email, a tick to agree to the rules, and the Enter for free button.
- 5Tell buyers to look for Bring your friends on their order page. It shows their entries so far and their share link.
Part 4Watch entries and draw the winners
- 1Click Marketing, press Giveaways, and open the giveaway.
- 2Read the figures: Total entries, Purchases, Friend link visits, Friend purchases and Free entries.
- 3Read the Leaderboard. It shows each entrant's entries and their Chance of winning.
- 4Press End giveaway when you want to stop entries early. Otherwise wait until the closing time passes.
- 5Tick the box under Winners that starts Draw winners now.
- 6Press Draw winners. Each entry is one chance, and nobody can win twice in the same draw.
- 7Contact the winners yourself using the names and emails listed under Winners. Ticket-Worx does not email them.
The draw is random, final, and recorded with the name of the person who ran it. It cannot be run again.
Tips
- The form itself warns that sweepstakes law varies by state, and that some states, such as New York and Florida, require registration before launch for prizes over $5,000.
- Keep the free entry route. A giveaway that requires a purchase can count as an illegal lottery.
- The rules template is a starting point only. Replace the prize section and have the final text reviewed.
- Open Reports and choose Giveaways to compare giveaways and see how many entries came from friends.
If something goes wrong
Draw winners cannot be pressed.
Read the gray line under the button. It says "Start the giveaway first.", "End the giveaway (or wait until it closes) before drawing.", or "There are no entries yet." Fix that and tick the box again.
The form says official rules are required, or "The giveaway must end after it starts."
The rules must be at least 200 characters. Press Start from a template and edit from there. Make sure Closes is later than Opens.
You see "This giveaway's end date has passed. Create a new giveaway instead."
A giveaway cannot be started after its closing time, and the dates cannot be changed. Create a new giveaway with new dates.
A buyer says their sharing did not earn entries.
Entries come from different friends opening the link, not from pressing share buttons. The same friend opening it twice counts once, and the cap in Max link-visit entries per person may have been reached.