YouTube Help Giveaway Goof--Need Help!

[JRocksPRT]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and have a newish channel with kindness rock painting tutorials. A couple weeks back I tried out a couple new products (the rocks I painted on and paint pens) and the result was pretty cute, so I thought why not do a giveaway to try and shake things up. I researched all the legal stuff as well as a layperson can, the end date hit, and I used a random name generator to pick the winner from the comments. The part I did NOT think through was setting a time limit for the winner's response and a proper way to contact me. I commented on the post and on the winner's comment for her to contact me via FB or Instagram (I haven't created an email for this as of yet and am not too keen on putting my personal email out there) but haven't heard anything after 6 days. How would you handle this? I would kind of like to say "sorry, moving on" and select a new winner, but I didn't put any "rules" out there that the winner must respond within X number of days. I've searched for this person's name in all the Facebook groups that my tutorials get shared in, but no luck. Thanks in advance for any advice!

You can go to the Giveaway video if anyone cares to look at the description/comment thread to see how I set it up.

 

[EnglishwithLiz]

To avoid any future conflict, bad comments, reviews etc. I would not select another winner put it down to experience and maybe do another giveaway a few months down the track but not associated with this one.

More importantly, do you think the giveaway generated any extra views & subs?

 

[JRocksPRT]

That's a great suggestion...I never even thought to just move on! lol

I'm not sure this was a huge draw for subscribers, but it did up my engagement by asking them to comment (I don't get a ton of comments thus far, or they're happening outside YouTube because they are shared in several Facebook rock painting groups. Surprisingly the views went higher than I expected because I linked it on end screens as the end date drew near.

I have had an unexpected surge with Instagram since creating an IG about 10 days ago by simply using hashtags that are common among rock painters. I think a future giveaway will have better success because of that. I gained 100 Instagram followers in a week and 32 YouTube subscribers in that same week, so I think the engagement there is going to be helpful, even if I have to point them to the "link in bio." Thank you so much for the feedback!

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

my approach would be to make a follow-up video explaining to my audience the goof. Apologize to the original winner (and explain they can get in touch via FB etc to chat as needed) but run the contest again. One of the most engaging things you can do is to show humility by explaining your goof; im betting your audience responds really well to it.

 

[Beanie Draws]

Well. you've learned from experience, and lucky for you, the giveaway wasn't particularly expensive, so it won't be as big of a deal. Doing giveaways on YouTube is a sticky situation and I'd just avoid it completely to be honest. Also, using a random generator while a good way to select someone to pick, also doesn'tavoid the fact that some people just might not be active or know how to get in contact with you, or even know there was a giveaway. they could very well have been a bot or a spam account.

It's probably better doing giveaways off platform, and then you gotta know the specifics of each other platforms policies on giveaways. So at the end of the day, I probably wouldn't bother with it until you have a lawyer, or done a lot more research.

Giveaways are also result in empty followings. You'll get some followers, but you won't get likes on your post generally outside of the giveaway. So I generally wouldn't worry about it, and it wouldn't suprise me if Facebook and other government bodies clamp down on giveaway legalities.

 

[EnglishwithLiz]

Facebook and other government bodies clamp down on giveaway legalities.

This is potentially the problem with running competitions. So a little more detail.

In the UK there are a host of rules and regs that have to be followed, and having run competitions in the past for other businesses, they can be a total pain. There are people out there who prey on companies making mistakes and seek compensation. So unless you have properly drawn up watertight T & C's, my advice is, avoid

 

[SILTHW]

This is potentially the problem with running competitions. So a little more detail.

In the UK there are a host of rules and regs that have to be followed, and having run competitions in the past for other businesses, they can be a total pain. There are people out there who prey on companies making mistakes and seek compensation. So unless you have properly drawn up watertight T & C's, my advice is, avoid

Same in the US. Famously so because of the "game show scandal" in the 60s that was the subject of the movie "Quiz Show". To make it more complex, each state can have modifications to the "sweepstakes and giveaway" rules.

I've noticed that there are actually services that run these for you just to help navigate the legal complexities. I won't link them, but its a quick search in your favorite search engine.

 

[Beanie Draws]

This is potentially the problem with running competitions. So a little more detail.

In the UK there are a host of rules and regs that have to be followed, and having run competitions in the past for other businesses, they can be a total pain. There are people out there who prey on companies making mistakes and seek compensation. So unless you have properly drawn up watertight T & C's, my advice is, avoid

Ahh much like "Patent Trolls"
Doesn't surprise me that there's be a patent troll variation when it comes to people looking for companies making mistakes to see compensation, and technically, there's nothing illegal about that, you just have to make sure you're crossing all your T's and dotting all your I's. indeed, a pain in the back.

 

[JRocksPRT]

Wow, thank you all SO much for the feedback. It sounds like it's better to just stay away! Now that I have an Instagram/FB page set up, I think there are some other fun ways to interact with people like polls, stories, etc.

Considering all the legalities, do you think I should remove the video as a whole? It had 110 views (2.8 watch hours), 24 comments and 16 likes. Small potatoes, but for me it's my highest # of comments and about middle ground for likes. The views/hours not so much compared to my other videos. I'm just thinking I may not want to leave myself OPEN to some sort of legal issue by leaving it up.

Thank you again for all your help!