Questions to Ask Before Partnering With an Influencer on a Giveaway

Partnering with an influencer or creator on a giveaway can put your brand in front of an audience that already trusts them. Done well, it's a great way to reach new people. Done carelessly, it can lead to confusion about who runs the giveaway, who picks the winner and who ships the prize.

Most of those problems can be avoided with a good conversation before anything is posted. Here are the questions worth asking, grouped by topic. Bring them to your first call, and write the answers down.

Fit: is this the right partner?

Who is your audience? Ask about where their followers are, what they're interested in, and which of their posts get the most genuine conversation. You're looking for overlap with your customers, not just a big follower count.

What kind of comments do your posts get? Look at their recent posts yourself, too. Real conversations are a better sign than lots of short, generic comments.

Have you run giveaways before? How did they go? Listen for how they handled the draw, the winner and any problems. If they've worked with brands before, ask what they'd do differently.

Do our values line up? Their content becomes associated with your brand during the partnership. Make sure you're comfortable with it.

Structure: how will the giveaway work?

Whose account hosts the giveaway? It might be on their account, on yours, or a joint post on both. Each option sends entrants to a different place.

What's the entry method? Agree on one clear action, such as "comment on this post". If you want entrants to include a hashtag, agree on the exact hashtag.

Are we running it on one platform or several? If posts go up on Instagram and TikTok, for example, decide whether each has its own winner or whether entries are combined into one draw. RaffleSelect's multi-network option, on the Platinum plan, combines entries from several posts or platforms.

When does it start and end? Agree on exact dates, times and the time zone, and make sure both of you post the same deadline.

The draw: who picks the winner, and how?

Who runs the draw? Decide who will actually pick the winner. One person running it, with the other watching or receiving a recording, keeps things simple.

How will we show it was fair? Agree to pick at random from eligible comments and share the result, for example with a winner certificate or a screen recording.

Which filters will we use? Agree in advance:

• Duplicate filter for one entry per person.
• Hashtag filter if entries need a hashtag.
• Block list (Silver and up) to exclude the creator's team, your staff and family.
• Number of winners and substitutes.

Will anyone get extra entries? If you want to give bonus entries, for example to existing customers, agree on it and state it in the rules. RaffleSelect's bonus entries feature (Silver and up) handles this. Unannounced extra chances undermine trust.

Responsibilities: who does what?

Who writes and publishes the rules? One set of rules, used by both of you, avoids contradictions.

Who contacts the winner? Agree on one account, and say in the caption which account it will be. This helps protect entrants from impersonators.

Who ships the prize, and who pays for shipping? Settle this before launch, including what happens if the winner lives somewhere you can't easily ship to.

Who handles questions and problems? Decide who replies to comments, reports fake accounts and deals with any complaints.

Disclosure and rules

How will the partnership be disclosed? Many places expect paid or sponsored content to be clearly labeled, and platforms have their own branded content tools and promotion guidelines. Agree on how the post will show it's a partnership.

Who checks the rules? Promotion rules vary by location, and each platform has guidelines for giveaways. Decide who's responsible for checking them. This post is general guidance, not legal advice.

Payment and results

What's the deal? Is the creator paid, given product, or is it a straight swap of audiences? Put it in writing, even if it's a short email.

What will we share afterward? Agree on what information you'll exchange after the giveaway, such as comment counts, follower changes or traffic, so you can both judge whether it worked.

What happens if something goes wrong? If the post is removed, the prize is delayed or the creator can't post on time, what's the plan?

Put it on one page

Once you've talked it through, write a short summary: dates, platforms, entry method, filters, who runs the draw, who contacts and ships, disclosure and payment. Send it to the creator and ask them to confirm. One page now saves a lot of messages later.

When your collaboration is ready to draw, pick your winner on RaffleSelect.