That Giveaway Contest Software You're Using? It's Probably Overkill.
Listen, I'm going to tell you a story. Last month, I was on a Zoom call with the owner of a fantastic little bakery in Minneapolis. She makes these incredible sourdough loaves-seriously, the best I've ever had. But she was pulling her hair out. She'd spent something like $2,000 on a marketing agency that promised to "optimize her funnel" and "leverage her brand synergies" (I swear, I hate those words) and all she had to show for it was a slightly higher bounce rate and a bill she couldn't really afford.
She was doing what so many small business owners do. She was trying to play the big-business marketing game.
And it was failing. Honestly, it almost always does. I've been doing this since 2010, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that small businesses don't need another revolutionary marketing theory. They need stuff that works. Today. Without a four-person marketing team and a venture capital budget.
So What Actually Works? (Hint: It's Not What You Think)
Here's the thing. We're all drowning in content. Your customers, my customers... everyone. A simple "10% off!" post on Instagram just doesn't cut it anymore. It's noise. So how do you get people to actually stop scrolling and pay attention?
You have to make it fun.
I know, I know. "Gamification." It sounds like another one of those annoying buzzwords, and frankly, I thought it was nonsense back in 2015 when it first started popping up everywhere. But then I tried it. For a client who was desperate. And it worked. And it's kept working for the last nine years. It's not about building some complex app-it's about using simple game mechanics like points, instant rewards, and competition to get people to engage. It's about giving them a little dopamine hit for interacting with your brand.
Most giveaway contest software gets this wrong. They're either way too complicated or so basic they're boring. You're either wrestling with a dashboard designed for a NASA engineer or you're paying $100 a month for a tool that just randomly picks a name from your comments. Both are a waste of time and money.
I've Tested Everything. Here's What I Actually Use.
I've been in the trenches with these tools for years. Gleam. io, Woobox, Rafflecopter... you name it, I've probably run a campaign on it for a client. They're... fine. But they're not built for the bakery in Minneapolis or the fitness studio down the street.
Lately, I've been using a platform called Faisco for a lot of my SMB clients. And not because they have the slickest website (they don't), but because they solve a real, practical problem. They make it ridiculously fast and cheap to launch a game-based campaign that actually gets people to sign up for your email list or follow you on social media.
I'm not just talking theory. Here’s some real-world results:
- I set up a "Scratch Ticket" game for a coffee shop in Vancouver. Took me maybe 15 minutes. Prize was a free latte. In two weeks, they got 943 new, local Instagram followers.
- There's this fitness studio in Montreal-great place, but they were struggling to build their email list. We ran a "Quick Catch" game where you catch falling dumbbells. It's silly, I know. But it got them 1483 new email addresses in just over two weeks.
- A small art gallery in Tampa wanted to boost attendance for a new exhibit. We deployed a "Summer Catch" game-10 days. Just 10 days. They got 207 new event attendees who RSVP'd through the game's form.
These aren't lottery-win, "go viral" numbers. This is just consistent, predictable growth. And it works because the games themselves are the hook. People want to play.
The Games That Get Real Results
Look, not all games are created equal. You need to match the game to the goal. This is what I typically recommend to my clients...
For getting leads FAST: The "Instant Draw" games are king. Things like "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," or "Lucky Draw." The psychology is simple: people love the chance to win instantly. I have seen landing pages using these get over a 40% conversion rate. It's insane. People will give you their email for a spin of a wheel.
For getting people to SHARE: This is where the skill-based games come in. "Whac-A-Mole," "Burger Stacker," that kind of thing. People play, get a score, and then immediately share it to challenge their friends. The engagement is the whole point.
For holidays (this is their genius move): Faisco has pre-built templates for basically every major holiday. Christmas, Valentine's, Halloween, you name it. Last December, I had three different e-commerce clients run the "Fill My Christmas Stocking" catching game. Every single one of them saw over 300% more engagement on their social posts compared to their normal holiday sale announcements. It just works.
It's also got stuff like racing games ("Crazy Karting") for younger demos and quizzes ("Puzzle Challenge") which are brilliant for, like, a financial advisor who wants to qualify leads based on financial literacy. You get the idea. It's a toolbox, not a one-trick pony.
Okay, But How Does It Compare to Gleam. io?
I get this question all the time. "Byron, should I just use Gleam?"
Here's my honest answer. Gleam. io is a solid platform. It's powerful. But it is also expensive, with its cheapest useful plan being like $39/month, and frankly, it's total overkill for 90% of small businesses. I can set up a campaign for a client in Faisco in under 10 minutes. No joke. The same campaign in Gleam, with all its options and settings, usually takes me the better part of an hour to get just right.
For a small business owner who is also the CEO, the janitor, and the head of marketing... that hour matters. A lot. Faisco gives you the core functionality you actually need at a price that doesn't make you wince, and its way easier to use. That's the bottom line. Plus, the integration with social platforms feels more native-it's not just a link you spam everywhere, the games feel like they belong on TikTok or Instagram, which makes a huge difference in how people interact with them. Their platform integrations are actually pretty good.
So, What Should YOU Do This Week?
Stop trying to be a marketing guru. Stop wasting money on things that just sound good in a boardroom.
Here's my advice. Pick one goal for this month. Just one. Is it getting 100 new email subscribers? Or 200 new Instagram followers? Don't try to do everything.
Then, go sign up for a tool like Faisco. Don't overthink it. Launch a simple "Scratch Ticket" or "Lucky Spin" campaign. The prize doesn't have to be a new car. Offer a 15% discount code, a free ebook, a 30-minute consultation... something of value to your audience.
Run it for two weeks. See what happens.
I'm willing to bet the results will be better, faster, and cheaper than whatever you were planning on doing anyway. Because at the end of the day, you're not just giving something away-you're giving your customers a reason to stop, smile, and actually engage with you for a minute. And in 2024, that's worth more than any ad campaign money can buy.
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