Millions of Americans will be on the hunt for deals between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. Adobe forecasts that consumers will spend $240.8 billion this holiday season on everything from art to cooking supplies to vacuum cleaners.
A Thanksgiving giveaway can help your business tap into this spending and build brand loyalty. Whether you’re giving away Thanksgiving turkeys or baking accessories, you’ll attract more potential customers and grow your reputation. The best part? You don’t need to invest much money or time to reap the rewards.
Use these fun Thanksgiving giveaway ideas as inspiration for your next holiday promotion. We’ll also share effective strategies to promote your giveaway and attract more customers.
Benefits of hosting a Thanksgiving giveaway
Customers have dozens of brands competing for their attention, especially during the holidays. Memorable Thanksgiving giveaway ideas will stick in customers brains and help your company to stand out amid a sea of generic discounts and coupons. It’s a highly effective way to improve brand awareness and generate new leads at the beginning of the holiday shopping rush.
A Thanksgiving giveaway will strengthen your relationship with your existing customers, too. Everyone likes to receive free items, especially from their favorite brands. The lucky winners may even brag about their prizes to their friends, promoting your brand through word-of-mouth.
Unlike many types of marketing, giveaways are very interactive. Customers must engage with your brand for the chance to win a prize, so this approach naturally encourages connection. For example, you could invite your audience to submit Thanksgiving recipes or photos to enter your contest. Once customers start interacting with your brand, they’re more likely to keep engaging — perhaps by checking out your website or signing up for your rewards program.
9 Thanksgiving giveaway ideas
As a small business owner, competing with large corporations during the holidays can feel intimidating. But you don’t need a huge advertising budget or celebrity partnerships to connect with your audience and achieve your sales goals — even though filming a Christmas commercial with Mariah Carey would be fun.
Whether you own a restaurant or an ecommerce store, hosting a Thanksgiving giveaway will help you create buzz and drive sales. Here are ten giveaway ideas to kickstart your planning.
1. Classic turkey giveaway
Turkey is one of the most iconic Thanksgiving meals, appearing on millions of dining tables nationwide. Tap into the almost universal love for this food with a turkey giveaway. You’ll help make a few lucky customers’ main entrée that much more special while building stronger relationships with your entire audience.
For smaller, local businesses, a turkey giveaway is relatively easy. If you own a grocery store or restaurant, you can deliver the free turkeys or let customers pick them up. Otherwise, you can partner with local businesses to distribute the food.
The logistics get more complicated if you have a wider reach, but you can still give away turkeys with a little creativity. Consider buying food for your customers from a reputable Thanksgiving meal delivery service, such as Harry & David or Goldbelly.
Whichever option you choose, lay out the ground rules for the giveaway ahead of time. Specify the type of turkey you’re giving away, how and when customers will receive it, and other relevant details. That way, you won’t have to worry about customers feeling confused or frustrated if they receive a frozen turkey when expecting a hot dinner or vice versa.
2. Thanksgiving dinner giveaway
Some businesses prefer to give a few fortunate customers an entire Thanksgiving dinner. If you own a restaurant, you could host the winners and their families for a delicious dinner at your finest table on or near Thanksgiving, while grocery store owners could provide winners with all the ingredients they need to make their own feast. You could also consider partnering with local stores and restaurants to offer a sit-down or delivery dinner.
A Thanksgiving dinner giveaway is sure to build excitement while enticing customers with mouth-watering photos and videos of your Thanksgiving spread.
3. Social media photo contest
Many people enjoy sharing holiday photos and videos on social media. Tap into this enthusiasm with a Thanksgiving-themed photo contest involving your brand. For example, you might invite customers to submit photos of themselves using your kitchen gadgets to cook their Thanksgiving meal or wearing a shirt with your restaurant’s logo during their holiday festivities.
Encourage participation with prizes for the best, most creative, or quirkiest content. Cash prizes typically attract the most attention, but you can also offer free merchandise or products related to Thanksgiving.
This strategy increases engagement with your brand and allows you to interact with customers through social media comments and shares. User-generated content is also a powerful promotional tool that provides social proof of the value of your products or services. People who see their friends sharing content related to your brand may feel intrigued and decide to investigate your offerings, leading to more sales.
4. Thanksgiving seasoning or spice blends
Thanksgiving meals often feature rich flavors, from something savory, like a three-cheese macaroni, to a tangy classic like cranberry sauce. Enrich your customers’ holiday cooking experience with free Thanksgiving seasoning or spice blends.
Brand the packaging with your business’s logo to make your freebie more memorable. You could also increase engagement by inviting customers to share their seasoned meals on social media.
5. Gift cards
A gift card is one of the most versatile and universally appealing giveaways. This freebie lets customers choose the products or services that fit their interests and needs. It also gives them an opportunity to sample new offerings they may not have considered before. For instance, a client may try a new dessert on your menu and decide to keep ordering it in the future.
Gift cards are a great prize for things like holiday trivia competitions and caption contests. And unlike a turkey, a gift card is a timeless reward that won’t go bad. Some customers may wait to use it until after the holidays too, extending your relationship with them well into the new year.
6. Festive gift basket
A beautiful gift basket is an excellent way to showcase your best products. Assemble a few holiday goodies — like hot cocoa powder, stuffing mixes, or turkey-patterned cookware — and add branded merchandise from your business. You could also partner with other companies with complementary products to build even more extravagant gift baskets.
Presentation is everything, so decorate the gift baskets with eye-catching ribbons and other accessories. Take well-lit photos of the finished freebies to display in your marketing materials. An unboxing video can also generate excitement while letting you show off your products.
7. Kitchen tools
Thanksgiving meals often require special tools and supplies. Give your customers a helping hand by creating gift packages with must-have gadgets or novel tools. A simple package might include a meat thermometer, rolling pin, and turkey-shaped cookie cutters engraved with your business’s name.
8. Recipe competition
Many people have inherited or invented scrumptious Thanksgiving recipes. Allow them to show off their magic formulas with a social media recipe competition. Create categories like “Best Pumpkin Pie” and “Most Creative Thanksgiving Dessert,” and allow customers to vote for their favorite submission. Winning entries could receive baking supplies, gift cards, merchandise, or other prizes.
This type of giveaway builds community by allowing your customers to share knowledge and participate in a friendly competition. Be sure to engage users through social media comments to make the giveaway more interactive and humanize your brand.
9. Thanksgiving decorating contest
Give your customers a gift they can use year after year with free Thanksgiving decor. Small decorations like candles and centerpieces will instantly elevate any Thanksgiving tablescape. Meanwhile, festive holiday wreaths could adorn your clients’ front doors for months and remind them of your brand every time they leave home.
Build engagement by pairing this giveaway with a social media photo contest. For example, you could award additional prizes for the best — or worst! — Thanksgiving tablescapes.
Strategies for promoting your Thanksgiving contest
Once you’ve chosen the best items for giveaways, it’s time to spread the word to current and existing customers. These proven tactics will help you attract participants and grow your brand image.
Design an exciting social media marketing campaign
When it comes to promoting Thanksgiving giveaways, social media is your best friend. Instagram, TikTok, and other popular platforms let you share enticing photos and videos about your competition.
Create a mixture of content to keep your social media campaign fresh and appeal to diverse audiences. If you’re promoting a free Thanksgiving dinner giveaway, your campaign might include:
- A quick video of you explaining the contest’s rules and how to participate
- Eye-catching photos and videos of the Thanksgiving meal you’re offering
- Periodic countdown posts showing how much time is left to enter the giveaway
- Behind-the-scenes videos of chefs preparing the offered dishes
- Interactive polls asking users about their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, memories, and traditions
Tag all your posts with relevant hashtags, such as #Thanksgivingtriviabowl2024 and #Thanksgivingturkeygiveaway. These links make it easier for interested users to stumble across your posts while searching for Thanksgiving-related content, increasing your brand visibility.
Developing a social media campaign may seem intimidating, but you can save time by repurposing content for different channels. For instance, you might create a longer behind-the-scenes look for YouTube, then divide it into shorter Instagram reels. This strategy lets you maximize your reach without overwhelming your marketing team.
Strengthen your connection with your audience by interacting with them regularly. Film short videos answering common questions about the contest, respond to their comments in your brand voice, and show enthusiasm for their participation. These simple interactions will build brand familiarity and excite customers about your Thanksgiving giveaway.
Raise awareness with email marketing
Email marketing is a cost-effective way to share information about your Thanksgiving giveaway. Like social media marketing, this isn’t a one-and-done effort — it’s an opportunity to build anticipation in the weeks leading up to the holiday.
Begin your campaign with a message announcing the giveaway and outlining the requirements. Encourage readers to follow your social media accounts for more updates
Send one or two reminder emails as Thanksgiving approaches, but be careful not to overdo it — even your biggest supporters don’t want to get spammed with messages. Consider adding interactive content like polls and quizzes to boost engagement.
Your final email should come a day or two before the competition ends. Use strong calls to action to encourage immediate participation, such as “Don’t forget to enter!” or “Last chance — join our Thanksgiving decor competition now!” This urgent messaging is often the final nudge customers need to engage with your giveaway.
Build a detailed landing page
Social media posts and emails are great for promoting your giveaway, but you shouldn’t cram all the details into this content. Instead, create a landing page on your website where customers can get the full scoop. Include all relevant information, such as:
- Photos of the giveaway items
- Contest length
- Rules for entry
- Age limits
- Geographic restrictions
Optimize your landing page for search engines using relevant keywords, such as “Thanksgiving recipe contest” and “restaurant freebies for Thanksgiving.” These keywords can help your content rank higher in the search engines pages, driving more organic traffic to your website.
Kick off the holiday season with a thrilling Thanksgiving giveaway
A thoughtful Thanksgiving giveaway will help you raise brand awareness and boost your holiday sales. The best giveaway items resonate with your target audience and subtly remind them of your brand without feeling too salesy.
Consider polling your social media followers or conducting focus groups with your customers to learn about their giveaway preferences. Watch other brands to see what Thanksgiving giveaway ideas they have. And finally, remember to track your successes to see what Thanksgiving giveaway ideas seem to stick year over year.
Next up, continue the cheer of the holiday season with more festive content. Download our Holiday Marketing Quickstarter for more ideas and strategy tips for the season.
