At the beginning, I used giveaways. It felt like a quick way to get eyes on a new product, a flash of temporary engagement. It felt like solving a problem.
It wasn't solving anything. It was delaying the real work.
I thought volume was the goal. More followers, more eyes, more momentum. Over time, I realised the volume was hollow. I was trading brand integrity for cheap attention. And for a premium product, that's one of the worst trades you can make.
Your goal isn't reach. It's the right reach. This connects to the same logic behind why constant discounts erode brand value. Both tactics feel like growth, but both attract the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
You attract the wrong audience
The people who show up for a giveaway are not there to buy. They're there because they want free things. I've seen who shows up: freebie hunters, people who enter every competition they come across, people who will never look at your product again once the winner is announced.
The real customers, the ones who might actually spend money, scroll right past. They recognise the tactic and mentally place your premium product in a discount bracket. That's not the association you want to build.
It cheapens the perception of the product
A premium brand is meant to feel elevated, intentional, and considered. Running giveaways tells people the product's value is negotiable. It can be won for free if you tag three friends and follow the account.
Some luxury brands do occasional lucky draws, but only for existing customers who have already spent money. They're not handing out free products to strangers on the internet. The confidence of a high-end product doesn't need to shout free.
And just like keeping your margins healthy, protecting perceived value is something you have to be intentional about from the start. Once you've cheapened the perception, it's hard to walk back.
"Followers are not customers. Cheap engagement does not equal revenue."
Followers are not customers
One small giveaway at the very beginning is fine. It gets things moving. But don't build your identity on it.
If your primary strategy relies on asking for shares to win a prize, you're optimising for noise. You're training your audience only to engage when a reward is attached. And when the reward is gone, so is the engagement. The effort spent on a giveaway is almost always better spent on creating something genuinely worth sharing.
What worked better instead
Instead of giving things away to the crowd, I started creating structured offers. Still generous, but with intention. It's slower. But it builds real interest from people who actually want the product.
A small discount for first-time buyers who subscribe to the newsletter. Buy one, get a second at a reduced price during a real scheduled launch, not a perpetual sale. A small gift is included with a purchase, which reinforces the decision to buy rather than rewarding the decision to click.
The difference is in what behaviour you're rewarding. A giveaway rewards existing, before there's any real relationship. A gift with purchase rewards commitment. One brings followers. The other brings customers.
