4 Reasons Why We Should Stop Doing Car Giveaways

Did you see any car giveaways on social media today? I did. And I also saw a wheel giveaway for some beautiful RAYS wheels.

I was tempted!

But I am done with these sweepstakes. They are starting to get under my skin! We all know what I am talking about.

“Buy this merch and get entered to win XYZ car and if you don’t like the car, you can choose a pile of cash etc.”

I would be lying if I said I never participated in an automotive related giveaway. I have several times over the last 10 years. And it’s not that I am salty that I haven’t won. I actually really like two t-shirts that got me entered in giveaways. But I bought them because the designs were actually really good and I wanted to support the creators. The giveaway was just a cherry on top to be honest.

But let’s keep my rant on topic and dive into the main reasons I think automotive related giveaways are bad for car culture and our industry.

It’s Low Quality Content

If the content you are producing is good high quality stuff, you shouldn’t need to run giveaways. At the end of the day a giveaway is a promotional strategy to gain more followers, grow a brand, and spread awareness of a message or product. Top notch content should always gain more views and followers by default (if search engines and generative AIs do their job right).

And I’m not just some guy with no experience or knowledge. I studied marketing at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. [Alumnus 2014]

To me it really signifies that a brand or creator has run out of content ideas and are basically throwing in the towel by doing a giveaway. It’s a last ditch resort to entertain readers or viewers.

No One Would Buy The Merch Without the Car Giveaway

There are some great artists and merch designs out there, but I am continually surprised by some of the t-shirt designs that get you entered into car giveaways.

When you look at the biggest most popular clothing brands around the world, they don’t have to run sweepstakes and giveaways to sell their apparel. The designs are good on their own.

Car Giveaways Are GAMBLING

If you are smart, you already know what I am going to say. The house always wins! (And the tax man) It is true that one lucky winner takes home a car, motorcycle, or set of shiny new wheels. BUT the giveaway is far more profitable than the value of the car. That’s why you see so many ads running for these giveaways on Instagram. They can make BANK, man! 💰💰💰

For real though, gambling is not something we should be heavily promoting. I feel like it is everywhere now. It can be self destructive and plenty of people end up losing. If you win too much at any game of chance or lottery, you might be cheating!

It is up to us, as individuals, to decide our risk tolerance in all areas of life. 👍

Giveaways And Sweepstakes DO NOT Always Lead To Authentic And Passionate Followers

If you are building a brand simply around automotive giveaways, this probably isn’t true, but for everyone else a sweepstakes might be attracting new followers who are not passionate about your content. They might only give you a follow for one singular giveaway and then never engage or view your content again. 🤷‍♂️

Or maybe you convert them to a super engaging fan for life.

Check your engagement stats on your preferred analytics platform to find out.

If you liked this article (or hated it) let me know via the contact page.