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How to run successful giveaways in your Advent calendar

In brief

Giveaways make Advent calendars more interactive and give people a clear reason to take part. To make sure they not only look good but also work smoothly, the mechanics, participation process and legal information should be considered together right from the start in the editor.

When is a giveaway worth it?

A giveaway is a great choice whenever a Türchen should encourage more than just a quick visit. It adds activity to the calendar, creates an extra incentive and can motivate people to come back or take part.

It works especially well for Advent calendars focused on activation, customer engagement or lead generation. The important thing is that the giveaway does not feel like a separate standalone campaign, but fits naturally into the overall calendar.

How to set up a giveaway in the Türchen editor

1. Open the relevant door

The giveaway is created directly inside the Türchen where you want it to appear. Go to Content → Door Content and open the relevant door.

2. Add the right mechanic

Next, add the interactive block that fits your giveaway. Depending on your idea, this could be a quiz, a survey, a free-text field or a mini-game.

This creates the basic structure for your giveaway.

3. Add content and define the flow

Now it is time to fill the door with content. This can include:

  • a clear question or task
  • suitable answer options or input fields
  • additional text or images
  • clear instructions on how to participate

Participants should immediately understand what the giveaway is about and what they need to do.

4. Choose the right participation option

Without login
The Türchen is interactive, but no personal data is collected. This is a good option if your main goal is playful engagement.

With login
Participants enter their email address. This can then be used to manage the giveaway, for example to select or contact the winner.

With login and email validation
If email addresses will also be used for marketing purposes, you will need Participation Plus. This allows you to properly manage consent and the double opt-in process.

5. Add the required legal information

A giveaway also needs the appropriate legal information. Before going live, make sure the following links are included:

  • Legal Notice
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Especially for company Advent calendars, these are not optional extras but part of setting up a giveaway properly.

6. Complete your door

Once you have chosen the participation option, you can finish setting up and designing the giveaway. Depending on your setup, this may include:

  • detailed settings for answer behaviour
  • feedback after participation
  • whether the correct answer is shown
  • additional explanatory text
  • additional form fields
  • a consent field for marketing communications, if required

By this point, the door should not only work technically, but also feel complete in terms of content and user experience.

7. Test before going live

Before launching the giveaway, test the entire Türchen from start to finish. In particular, check:

  • Is it immediately clear how to participate?
  • Is all relevant information visible?
  • Does the Türchen work properly on mobile devices?
  • Does the giveaway fit the rest of the calendar visually and in terms of content?

What should you keep in mind?

A good giveaway is about more than just the prize. People also need to quickly understand why taking part is worthwhile.

Make sure you have:

  • a clear participation process
  • easy-to-understand instructions
  • a prize that fits the calendar or brand
  • a seamless integration into the Advent calendar
  • complete legal information and terms

The clearer the Türchen is structured, the more likely people are to participate.

Common mistakes

The same issues often come up when running giveaways in Advent calendars:

  • The participation process is not explained clearly.
  • Login or legal information is missing.
  • More data is collected than necessary.
  • The giveaway feels disconnected from the rest of the calendar.
  • Participation Plus is required but has not been considered during setup.

Conclusion

Setting up a giveaway in an Advent calendar is quick, but it only works really well when the Türchen, participation process and relevant information all fit together. By setting everything up properly in the editor and considering the process from the participants’ perspective, the giveaway becomes more than just an add-on — it becomes a strong part of the calendar.

Create your giveaway calendar now

Any Questions?

Feel free to check out our help section or watch our YouTube channel for a detailed explanation of Türchen.

 

Or write us a ticket

In diesem Artikel

When is a giveaway worth it?
How to set up a giveaway in the Türchen editor
What should you keep in mind
Common mistakes
Conclusion

Related FAQs

How does lead generation work with Türchen?

With the Participation+ feature, email addresses can be collected, for example as part of a competition or mini-game.

If the contact data is to be used for marketing purposes afterwards, such as newsletters or follow-ups, separate consent is required. This consent is confirmed via double opt-in and documented transparently.

This allows you to gain new contacts and use them for further communication in a GDPR-compliant way.

Why does my competition not work?

Check whether the competition has been set up correctly in the door and whether the right participation option is activated.

Complete and correct information in the imprint, privacy information and terms and conditions of participation is also important.

Why does my participation not work?

This is often caused by incomplete form details, an incomplete registration or a missing email confirmation.

If the data is used for marketing purposes, the email address must be verified.

Can participant data be exported?

Yes. Participation data can be exported as a CSV file in the editor.

Which data may be used depends on the participation option:

Why does double opt-in not work?

Double opt-in only works with Participation+.

Check whether:

  • Participation+ is activated
  • if the login-switch is turned on at the quiz/interaction block
  • the correct email address was used
  • the confirmation email has also been checked in the spam folder

How are winners selected?

The participation data can be viewed in the system and exported as a CSV file. Winners are then selected either using our prize draw feature (in the editor under: Reporting > Prize Draw) or separately/independently using the exportable CSV file—for example, through an external random selection process.

For a quiz, the selection can be limited to participants who provided the correct answer.

Can I integrate competitions and games?

Yes. Competitions and games can be added directly to individual doors using content blocks.

Possible formats include quizzes, surveys, mini-games or free-text fields. The exact options depend on the selected bundle and the features included.

View bundles and differences

What do I need to consider for competitions and data collection?

For competitions, the following information must be completed:

  • imprint
  • privacy information
  • terms and conditions of participation

What is the difference between Participation and Participation+?

Participation enables login, registration and active participation in competitions or campaigns. The collected data may only be used for participation and winner notification.

Participation+ adds email validation and double opt-in to the simple participation option. This allows contact data to be used for marketing purposes such as newsletters or follow-ups in a GDPR-compliant way.

Which types of participation are available?

There are three options:

  • without login → simple use without storing data
  • with login / Participation → participation with assignment, for example for competitions
  • with Participation+ → participation with email validation and double opt-in for the use of the data for marketing purposes

How does GDPR-compliant lead generation work?

To use email addresses for marketing purposes, double opt-in is required. With the Participation+ feature, participants additionally confirm their email address by email.

Only then may contact data be used in a GDPR-compliant way for newsletters, follow-ups or further marketing activities.

Where is my data stored?

The data is processed and stored on servers in Germany.

This keeps the use of Türchen GDPR-compliant and legally transparent for business campaigns.

For sensitive use cases, a data processing agreement and further data privacy information are also available.

Is Türchen GDPR-compliant?

Yes. Türchen meets the requirements of the GDPR. Data is hosted on German servers, securely encrypted and processed only to the extent necessary for using the calendar and running the campaign.

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