How to Pick a Winner on Facebook: the Easy Way to Run a Giveaway

Sílvia Martí
Sílvia Martí
So you’ve created a Facebook giveaway... and you've got a LOT of participants. How are you going to pick a winner? Here's the easy way to do it. No copy-and-pasting or random number generators required!

So you launched a giveaway, attracted participants, and now it’s time to pick a winner at random. This means that you need a guaranteed, fair way to pick a lucky participant to receive the prize raffled in your Facebook giveaway.

Here’s how the Facebook comment picker works – and why it’s good for both, brands and followers.

Run a random Facebook giveaway

Start by setting up a giveaway that’s fair, transparent, and clear. Explain to people exactly how to take part – it’s the best way to ensure that your promotion will attract more participants and won’t generate confusion. Make sure to use an attractive image that showcases the prize involved in your Facebook giveaway – it’s always a good idea to add words like Giveaway or Win to the image to grab more attention from your Facebook community.

pick a winner of your facebook giveaway

The next step is to specify entry requirements. Remember that Facebook has strict rules about giveaways. You can only ask people to comment on your post or like it; you can’t ask for tags, shares, or follows. This is why we always recommend that you use open questions for your giveaways. It gives participants a chance to write more than one word; they can share their opinions, memories, or suggestions. Additionally, open-ended questions are great conversation starters and give you an opportunity to start long-lasting customer relationships.

open-ended questions on a facebook giveaway

Another important aspect to have in mind is terms and conditions. Make sure you share a direct link to your T&Cs so that participants can read them whenever they want. Terms and conditions protect you from possible complaints from participants and clearly state all important information like eligibility, participation dates, etc.

Filter out fake accounts

Use filters to make sure that everyone’s followed the rules properly. For example, if you asked participants to comment with a specific hashtag, you can reject all participations that come without it. You also have the option to create a blacklist for repeat offenders or exclude previous competition winners.

Do you want to launch a Facebook giveaway but you don’t know where to start? Use one of our 50+ Facebook giveaway templates for a head start!

Get proof your Facebook giveaway was fair: Certificate of Validity

Use the Easypromos Facebook comment picker to ensure that once you choose the winner, the platform will generate a Certificate of Validity. This is a permanent, public document that proves that your giveaway was organized correctly and that all winners were chosen automatically in a transparent process.

Example of a Certificate of Validity from a Facebook giveaway

Don’t forget to share it with followers to demonstrate that your brand is trustworthy. You can add a direct link to your post or share it as a comment on the giveaway post.

Pick the runners-up

Here’s a tip that many people forget: whenever you choose a giveaway winner on Facebook, you should also choose runners-up.

If you can’t contact the first winner, or they have to be disqualified, you’ll need an alternate winner. Set up your Facebook comment picker to choose a few runners-up, in case of emergencies. In the above example of the Certificate of Validity, you can see that the organizer chose three alternate winners.

Announce the winners of your Facebook Giveaway

Now that you know how to pick a winner from Facebook comments, it’s time to do it and… share the results with your community!

You could announce the winner by updating your giveaway post, sharing a new post or Story, streaming a live video… Or all of the above!

The Easypromos Facebook Giveaway app allows you to download a fun video with visual and sounds effects that you can also share with your Facebook community. It’ll generate further excitement and engagement, and will keep your audience satisfied.

Send out the prizes to your Facebook giveaway winners

If you’re sending prizes to the winners, then you’ll need their contact details – either a physical postal address or a virtual email address. Our Facebook giveaway picker comes with a special tool that can help you collect key information from prize winners, and store data securely. Learn more about the Claim Your Prize feature.

➡️ Get started with the Facebook giveaway app from Easypromos! ⬅️

Are you ready to pick winners of your Facebook giveaway? Don’t worry in case of questions or doubts – our Customer Support Team is ready to help!