Running a competition website is an exciting way to engage customers, build a community, and generate income. But once your site is live, how do you drive traffic and actually sell tickets? Whether you’re offering cash prizes, tech bundles, or cars, marketing is the key to turning visitors into buyers.
Are you looking to make your own competition website? We have an extensive post that you can read here. How to Create a Successful Raffle or Competition Website.
In this post, we’ll explore practical, proven ways to promote your competition website and boost ticket sales—no hype, just results.
1. Nail Your Website Design and User Journey
Before marketing, make sure your site is set up to convert:
Mobile-first design: Most users will be on mobile. Ensure the purchase flow is smooth and fast.
Urgency indicators: Use timers, stock countdowns, and “X tickets left” to drive FOMO.
Trust elements: Show previous winners, customer reviews, and secure payment badges to build credibility.
Creating a good-looking website increases trust, goes for not just the website design but also the design of your competition pages. They need to be consistent and attract customers. Not just an image of money, for example, but an image of cash falling from the sky with text showing the odds of winning, your websites logo, the price and even some emojis to add a level of depth to the image.
The above image shows The Vintage Watch Draw, we created a custom system that makes it easier for customers to see how much discount they get when they buy more. If they buy 1 ticket it costs £20, but if they buy 10, they save 10%, inceasing sales. It also shows the odds of winning on the right, if they buy 10 tickets its a 1 in 95 chance of winning which is pretty good!
💡 Tip: Add a “Recent Winners” or “Live Draws” section to show legitimacy.
Make sure your site isnt cluttered, having a clean design with not too much going on will attract more customers. Many competition sites look too scammy, customers will pick up on the vibe of these sites and click away. Make sure you don’t give the same information too many times, for example, 80%, 80/100 and 80 tickets sold, 100 remaining, are all saying the same thing but in different ways, we’ve seen many sites do this.
Make sure you create great looking product images too! Canva is a great tool for this.
2. Use Social Media to Build Buzz around your competition site
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are powerful tools to showcase your prizes and engage with your audience.
Create prize teasers and countdowns
Go live for draws or instant win reveals
Share user-generated content (e.g. photos from winners)
Run giveaways to grow your followers
Please bear in mind that you’ll need an RMG license to post on Social media!
Below is from Prizes Galore Facebook page, they are great at interacting with their audiences to generate buzz around competitions.
3. Invest in Facebook & Instagram Ads
Paid social advertising remains one of the most effective ways to scale traffic and ticket sales quickly, especially for raffle and competition websites. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to reach highly targeted audiences who are already primed to engage with competitions, giveaways, and prize-based content.
Target the Right Audience
The key to profitable ads is precision targeting. Instead of broad audiences, focus on:
Interests such as competitions, giveaways, online shopping, luxury items, cars, tech, or specific prize-related niches.
Location targeting, particularly if your competition is UK-only or region-specific.
Behavioural targeting, including online buyers, engaged shoppers, or users who frequently interact with ads.
This ensures your ad spend goes toward people most likely to enter — not just casual scrollers.
Use Eye-Catching Creatives
Your ad creative will make or break performance. High-performing competition ads usually include:
Short-form video showing the prize, winner reactions, or ticket reveal moments.
Carousel ads highlighting the prize, ticket price, odds, and urgency (“Ending Soon”).
Clear on-screen text explaining how to enter in under 5 seconds.
Pro tip: Ads that look organic (less polished, more authentic) often outperform highly designed graphics.
Above is an Instagram story from the Vintage Watch Draw, it creates urgency and shows off what they’re giving away.
Retarget Warm Traffic
Not everyone buys on their first visit — and that’s normal.
Retargeting campaigns allow you to show ads to:
Visitors who viewed a competition but didn’t purchase
Users who added tickets to cart but didn’t check out
Past customers who may want to enter again
These audiences are significantly cheaper to convert and often deliver the highest return on ad spend.
Build Lookalike Audiences
Once you have enough purchase data, you can create lookalike audiences based on:
Previous ticket buyers
High-value customers
Repeat entrants
Facebook and Instagram then find users with similar behaviours and interests, helping you scale while maintaining quality traffic.
Test, Track & Optimise
To stay profitable, ads should never be “set and forget.” Make sure you:
Test multiple creatives, headlines, and calls to action
Track conversions using proper event tracking
Pause underperforming ads quickly
Scale winning campaigns gradually
Small optimisations can dramatically reduce cost per ticket and increase overall profit.
4. Build an Email List and Use It
Email is often overlooked, but it can drive repeat customers and last-minute sales.
Offer a discount or free entry in exchange for sign-up
Send reminders before a draw ends
Share behind-the-scenes content or early bird promotions
💌 Don’t just sell, entertain and build trust with your subscribers. Sending out interesting emails about winners stories, and how many tickets they bought, if they see a customer bought 50 tickest and they won a big competition, they will encourage customers to buy more.
Using catchy subject lines like “Massively Undersold Competition” will attract clicks and purchases.
Tip: If you connect your email provider to your website properly, you should be able to see how many purchases came from emails, which gives you a real figure on how effective email marketing can be.
Mailpoet is a great built in email provider for competition websites.
5. Offer Instant Wins and Incentives
Adding instant win prizes can boost engagement and increase overall ticket sales. People love the idea of winning something right now.
Highlight instant wins across your site
Show winners in real time or recent wins
Consider free bonus tickets, discounts on bundles, or early entry to future draws
Below shows the number of instant wins left available, as well as who as won and the numbers they got. This is a great way to show transparency as well as urgency because people want to win right now.
6. Leverage Influencer Marketing
Micro-influencers (under 50k followers) are often affordable and highly engaged.
Partner with influencers who have a niche but loyal following
Offer them free entries or commissions via affiliate links
Encourage them to film prize reveals or ticket purchases
Make sure when you find an influencer that they understand what they are advertising, make sure you write them a list of features you want them to talk about.
7. Use Scarcity and Limited-Time Offers
Don’t leave ticket sales to the last minute—create urgency throughout your campaign.
Flash sales (e.g. 24 hours only!)
Limited ticket bundles
Early bird or “first 100 entries get 10% off” offers
⏳ Urgency + exclusivity = higher conversions.
8. Track, Test and Optimise Everything
Use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and heatmaps to see what’s working.
Where do people drop off in your checkout?
Which pages convert the most?
What time and day do sales spike?
🧪 Make small changes, test, and double down on what works. You might find a small change can make a massive difference.
Final Thoughts – How to make your competition website
Marketing your competition website isn’t about luck, it’s about strategy, consistency, and understanding what drives people to buy. From social media hype to irresistible offers and solid design, every detail matters.
Whether you’re running a side hustle or scaling a full-time business, following these tips can help you sell more tickets and grow a loyal customer base.