How to pick a giveaway winner on LinkedIn
LinkedIn giveaways tend to be small and professional: a workshop seat, a template pack, a signed book. Entries come in as comments, and LinkedIn shows them by relevance rather than in order. Switch the sort, load every comment, copy the thread and draw from the people who followed your rule.
Draw your LinkedIn winner
Run giveaways that bring people back
Save one draw free. Host giveaways from $24/month or $19 for one.
Get your LinkedIn entries
Post from the account people expect
Run a personal giveaway from your profile and a brand one from your company Page. Comments from your own colleagues are still comments, so decide up front whether they can enter.
Sort by Most recent
Under the post, switch the comment sort from Most relevant to Most recent. Most relevant orders comments by LinkedIn's own ranking, which makes it hard to tell whether you've seen them all.
Load every comment and reply
Click Load more comments until the button disappears, then open any replies your rules count. A busy post takes a few rounds, so do it on a computer at linkedin.com.
Copy the thread
Select from the first name to the last comment and copy. Headlines, connection badges like 2nd and 3rd+, times and reaction counts come along. The LinkedIn comment picker skips the headline under each name and keeps the name and the comment.
Pick and check the winner
Filter for your keyword
If you asked people to comment a word, like "TEMPLATE", filter on it. Don't make tagging a rule: a tagged person pastes as their name, not a handle, so tags can't be counted.
Exclude yourself and your team
Add your own name, your company Page and any colleagues who replied, written the way their names appear on the post.
Draw with a backup
Pick the winner and one backup in the same draw. The result comes from public drand randomness published after your list is locked, so nobody can steer it.
Announce in the comments, then message
Reply to the post with the winner's name and the results link, and mention them so they get a notification. If you aren't connected, you may need a connection request or an InMail before you can message them.
Mistakes that make a draw look rigged
- Counting likes or reposts as entries. LinkedIn shows who reacted, but that list isn't built to export, so you can't prove you included everyone.
- Making tagging a colleague the entry rule when tags paste as plain names and can't be checked.
- Picking from the Most relevant view, which ranks comments instead of listing them in order.
- Letting your own team win. Say in your rules whether employees can enter, and exclude them if not.
- Skipping official rules. Check LinkedIn's current policies and the sweepstakes rules where your entrants live before you post.
Announce the winner
Post it where people entered, and link the results page so anyone can check the draw.
🎉 Congratulations [winner name], you've won [prize]! I'll message you today to arrange it. [number] people commented and the winner was drawn at random; anyone can check the draw here: [results link]. Thank you all for joining in.
Questions people ask
Does LinkedIn have a giveaway picker?
No. LinkedIn doesn't offer a way to pick a random commenter or export a post's comments. Copying the comments from a desktop browser and pasting them into a picker is the free route.
Can I require people to tag a colleague?
You can ask, but you can't check it fairly. A tag on LinkedIn pastes as the person's name, like any other text, so the LinkedIn comment picker has no tag rule. Ask for a keyword instead.
Can a company Page run a giveaway?
Yes. Post from the Page, then exclude the Page's own name and any admins who comment from their personal profiles.
How do I contact a LinkedIn winner?
Reply to their comment with the result and mention them, then message them. If you aren't connected, send a connection request or an InMail first.
Should employees be able to enter?
Usually not, and say so in your rules. Add colleagues to the exclude list before the draw so the result can't look like an inside job.
What if two people share a name?
With one entry per person on, matching names count as one person. If two different people share a name, turn it off or check the preview and remove true repeats by hand.