Giveaway laws in the UK: Hosting a legal successful online contest

Hosting giveaways is a great way to increase traffic and attract new followers

Whether you own an online business, have a website or run a blog, hosting giveaways is a great way to increase traffic and attract new followers. 

The first step in hosting successful AND legal giveaways is clearly defining the Terms and Conditions of the contest. 

These should be easy to understand, easy to find and contain all of the laws required of hosting a giveaway in the UK. 

The good news is, as soon as you get the rules down once, future giveaways will be easier and faster to get up and running. 

Here are some more details and giveaway laws in the UK that will help you run successful and legal giveaway contests. 

No Purchase Necessary
No purchase necessary is something you have probably heard many times. Not surprisingly, it is the defining term to identify a contest from one that you need to buy into and one that is free to the applicant. No purchase necessary are the magic words that peak attention about your giveaway – try to include this in your giveaway description to clearly define this aspect of the rules from the very beginning. 

How To Set Up A Giveaways
The best way to decide how to set up a competition for your blog or website is by first determining basic rules for your giveaway. Start with the following:

  • How long will your contest last?
  • How will applicants enter your contest?
  • Are there age/location or other restrictions for applicants?
  • When and where will applicants be announced? 
  • How will your giveaway prize be delivered to the winner? 

Once you have these questions answered, your competition is almost set up! Use the next steps to organize how your competition draw. 

Organizing Your Competition Draw
Your competition draw is your next and final step! Simply run all of your applicants through any random name generator program and you’ll have your winner! 

The best way to announce your winner is with a social media post and email blast! It might be useful and eye-catching to create a graphic (try Canva for ease and functionality) with your winner’s name or an image of the prize included. But first make sure you have correctly followed the GDPR data privacy requirements.

If you’ve come this far and are still asking yourself 

  • “What is a prize draw?” 

you are not alone. A prize draw is simply another word for a drawing of contest participants to choose a winner. 

Whatever you want to call it – a prize draw, a competition draw, choosing a winner – as long as you clearly define your contest rules in the description and choose to follow them closely, we have laid the groundwork for correct giveaway laws in the UK and you are ready to host your giveaway!

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