Running a Twitter Raffle That Doesn't Suck
Honestly, I remember this one client-a craft brewery in Denver, this was back in 2019-who wanted to run a giveaway on Twitter. They did the classic "Retweet & Follow to Win!" thing. And hey, the numbers looked great at first. They gained over a thousand followers in 48 hours and were thrilled. A week later? 800 of those followers were gone. Poof. They were just contest-hoppers who un-followed the second the winner was announced.
It taught me a lesson I've seen play out a hundred times since: most small business raffles are just empty calories. They create a momentary spike but no real, lasting engagement. It's a waste of time and, frankly, a waste of a good prize.
Look, I've been doing this stuff since 2010. Small businesses don't need more noise. You need something that actually builds a connection.
Here's the Thing: "RT to Win" is a Dead End
The whole "retweet to enter" model is a relic from, like, 2015 Twitter. It just doesn't work anymore. For one, the algorithm is way smarter-it knows the difference between genuine engagement and someone just mindlessly smashing the RT button for a chance to win a gift card they'll probably forget about. You're not building a community; you're just attracting a temporary crowd of people who don't care about your business. It's the digital equivalent of handing out flyers on a busy street corner to people who immediately throw them in the trash.
I mean, what's the actual goal here? Is it to get a vanity metric of "followers" that includes a ton of bots and people who will never buy from you? Or is it to find actual, potential customers who are interested in what you do? I hope it's the second one.
Frankly, it's just lazy marketing. And it gets you lazy results.
A Better Way: The Gamified Raffle (and no, it's not a buzzword)
Okay, stick with me here. When I say "gamification," I can feel people's eyes roll. It sounds complicated and expensive. It's not. I've been obsessed with this space for years, and what I'm talking about is using simple, satisfying games to get people to engage on a deeper level. Instead of a passive "retweet," you ask for an active bit of participation.
This is where platforms like Faisco come in, and I'm not just saying that because I use them. I use them because they solve this exact problem. I had a yoga studio in Portland that wanted to grow their newsletter. Instead of a boring "sign up for our emails" post, we ran an "Unlock Lucky Words" campaign on Twitter. They got 892 new, engaged newsletter subscribers in 12 days. Twelve! These were people who played a little game, felt a tiny dopamine hit, and then willingly gave their email.
Think about it. Which is more memorable? 1. Retweeting a post. 2. Playing a 15-second "Lucky Spin" or a digital "Scratch Ticket" and getting an instant result.
It's a no-brainer. The second one creates an actual experience.
So How Do You Actually Set This Up?
Look, the tech part is what scares most people off. They think they need a developer or an agency. You do not. I've used everything from Gleam. io to Woobox, and honestly, a lot of them are overkill for small businesses. Gleam is solid, but it's $39/month for the basic plan and takes me an hour to get a campaign right.
With a tool like Faisco, I can get a client's campaign live in under 10 minutes. No joke.
Here's what I typically recommend:
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Pick a Simple Game: Don't overthink it. For lead capture, the instant win games are gold. I'm talking "Lucky Spin," "Scratch Ticket," or "Lucky Draw." I've seen these convert at over 40% on the landing page because people love that immediate feedback. For a coffee shop in Phoenix, we used their "Summer Catch" game and got them 986 new Instagram followers in two weeks just by promoting it on their Twitter.
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Set Up the "Raffle": In Faisco, you basically create a mini-landing page with your game. You decide the prizes (e. g., one grand prize, 10 runner-up prizes of a 15% off coupon, etc.) and the probability of winning.
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The CRITICAL Step: You set it to require an email address to play the game. This is the whole point. You're not just getting a follower; you're getting a direct line of communication. A real lead.
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Craft Your Twitter Post: Now you write your tweet. But instead of "RT to win," it's "Think you're lucky? Spin the wheel to instantly win [Your Awesome Prize]! Play here: [Link to your Faisco game]." You pin that tweet to the top of your profile for the duration of the campaign.
That's it. You've now transformed a low-value raffle into a high-powered lead generation machine.
For God's Sake, Don't Screw Up the Prize
Listen to me. Please. Do not give away an iPad. Or an Amazon gift card. Or some other generic prize that has NOTHING to do with your business.
I get it, you think a big, flashy prize will get more entries. It will. But it will get entries from the WRONG people. You'll get thousands of people who want a free iPad, not people who are interested in your handmade soaps or your accounting services.
Your prize has to be a "customer filter." It should be something that only a potential customer would actually want.
- If you run a restaurant: A $100 gift card to your restaurant.
- If you sell a product: A big bundle of your best-selling products.
- If you offer a service: A free consultation or one month of your service for free.
Your just attracting the wrong kind of person otherwise, and you've wasted the entire effort. That Orlando fitness studio I worked with? They gave away a 3-month membership. They got 860 new email addresses from people who lived locally and were actually interested in joining a gym. See the difference?
What to Do After It's Over
So you ran the campaign, you got a bunch of new followers and a list of... let's say 500 new emails. Don't stop there. This is where the real work-and real money-is made.
Immediately send an email to everyone who entered.
- Subject: About the [Your Brand] Giveaway...
- Body: Thank them for playing. Announce the grand prize winner.
- Then, the kicker: "As a thank you for playing, here’s a 10% discount on your next purchase. We know not everyone could win the grand prize, but we still wanted you to have something!"
Boom. You're turning non-winners into potential customers and building goodwill. From there, you add them to your regular newsletter. You've taken someone who just wanted to play a game on Twitter and turned them into a warm lead you can nurture over time. That is how you organize a raffle on your Twitter page that actually contributes to your bottom line. It's not rocket science... it's just smart, practical marketing that respects people's time and gives them something fun to do.
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