---
title: Giveaway campaigns to build a list before a big sale
slug: giveaway-campaign-before-sale
summary: Instead of a "join the VIP list" campaign before Black Friday or a holiday sale, run a 2-week high-value giveaway on a conversion objective with an offer on the thank-you page, judged on ROAS, then draw the winner live just before the sale opens.
domain: marketing
tags: [ecommerce, lead-generation, meta-ads, promotions, black-friday, email-list]
related: [evergreen-discount-collection-page, meta-ads-scaling-rules-and-budget-split, referral-offers-and-event-marketing, bfcm-offer-site-and-email-plan, promotional-email-cadence]
sources: [yt:GR8JS8sQiL8, yt:WPAvZRXWvA4]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Giveaway campaigns before a big sale

## TL;DR
- Run a **high-value giveaway for ~2 weeks** before the sale instead of a VIP-list promo.[^1]
- Prize = your **product bundle** or something your niche wants but you don't sell (qualifies the leads). Never a generic laptop.[^1]
- Use a **conversion campaign, not a lead objective**, and put **something to buy on the thank-you page** — so you can judge and scale it on **ROAS**, not an arbitrary cost per lead.[^2]
- **Draw the winner live** (Instagram Live/Zoom) just before the sale (e.g. the Tuesday/Wednesday before Black Friday); non-winners get the sale offer.[^2]
- Well-qualified giveaway leads tend to have **high lifetime value**.[^3]

## Details
**Who.** Tip from Attila, a senior Smart Marketer media buyer, relayed by [[people/molly-pittman]] (July 2025). It worked for a client's Father's Day sale and is now recommended to all their clients before Q3/Q4 promotions.[^1][^3]

**Prize examples.** Antler Rings (Western/hunting/fishing audience) gives away a rodeo trip or an antler chandelier rather than its own rings, which can get stale. Smart Marketer gives away course bundles or a business makeover with Ezra and Molly — attractive only to its audience.[^1][^3]

**Thank-you-page offer** options: early access to the sale, another offer, a catalog, or the hero product.[^2]

**Why it beats "join our VIP list".** Consumers know a VIP sign-up means being sold to; a giveaway offers value up front and puts the conversion opportunity close to the lead capture.[^2][^3]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Check giveaway/sweepstakes rules in your country and Meta's promotion policies before running one.
- Results are anecdotal (one client's Father's Day sale); no numbers given.
- CTC's BFCM plan builds pre-sale demand through email and SMS instead: ≥3 emails a week pre-sale and 48-hour VIP early access. Joy Sharma cites Taylor Holiday's rule that half of Black Friday is built by who you acquired in the prior 60 days.[^4] See [[bfcm-offer-site-and-email-plan]].

## See also
- [[bfcm-offer-site-and-email-plan]] — CTC's full BFCM checklist
- [[evergreen-discount-collection-page]] — a page that can serve as the offer

[^1]: yt:GR8JS8sQiL8 @ 01:02 — Molly Pittman
[^2]: yt:GR8JS8sQiL8 @ 02:37 — Molly Pittman
[^3]: yt:GR8JS8sQiL8 @ 04:12 — Molly Pittman
[^4]: yt:WPAvZRXWvA4 @ 01:59 — Joy Sharma