The Moment After You Hit “Enter”
You’ve filled out the form, clicked the button, and gotten the confirmation that your entry went through. Then the page refreshes and suddenly there’s a whole new menu of options. Follow us on social media for two more entries. Refer a friend for five. Watch a short video for one. Come back tomorrow for another. These bonus entries can feel like a gift or like a chore depending on your mood, and most entrants handle them inconsistently, doing some on one sweepstakes and none on the next without much of a plan. That inconsistency is where a lot of value quietly slips away.
Bonus entries exist because sponsors want more than your name in a database. They want attention, followers, website visits, and new people discovering their brand. In exchange, they offer extra chances in the drawing. Understanding that trade makes it much easier to decide which bonus actions are worth your time and which ones you can safely skip, because the smartest entrants don’t treat every bonus as equal. They treat each one as a small decision with a cost and a payoff.
Why Bonus Entries Matter More Than They Seem
In a random drawing, your chance of winning is tied directly to the share of the total entries that belong to you. If a sweepstakes gets ten thousand entries and you have one, your odds are one in ten thousand. If you have ten, you’ve multiplied your odds tenfold. Bonus entries are one of the few ways to legitimately increase your share without breaking any rules, and because many casual entrants never bother with them, the people who do can end up with a meaningfully larger slice of the pool.
This is especially true for giveaways run through entry widgets that stack multiple actions on one page. In those promotions, the gap between someone who entered once and someone who completed every reasonable bonus action can be dramatic. One person might have a single entry while another has fifteen or twenty. Over the course of months, those small differences add up across dozens of promotions, and that’s how consistent entrants slowly tilt the odds in their favor.
Sorting Bonus Actions by Real Value
Not all bonus actions are created equal, and the easiest way to evaluate them is to think about entries per minute of effort and what you’re giving up in the process. A social follow that takes five seconds and earns three entries is an easy yes for most people. A long video that takes four minutes to finish and earns one entry might not be. Some actions, like daily return entries, take very little time each day but can generate a large number of entries over the life of a sweepstakes, which makes them some of the most valuable options available.
Referral entries deserve special attention because they often carry the highest entry values. Sponsors know that a personal recommendation is worth more than an ad, so they reward it generously. The key is to share referral links in a way that respects the people in your life. Sending a link to a friend who genuinely enjoys giveaways, or posting it in a space where sharing is welcome, is very different from flooding group chats or spamming social media comments. Done thoughtfully, referrals can boost your count significantly while also helping someone else find a promotion they’ll enjoy.
Then there are actions that cost you something other than time. Signing up for a newsletter, downloading an app, or connecting a social account may mean more emails, notifications, or data sharing than you’d like. Those actions aren’t necessarily bad, but they deserve a moment’s thought. If you’d genuinely enjoy hearing from a brand, the extra entries are a nice bonus. If you’d unsubscribe the moment the drawing ends, consider whether it’s worth it, or use a dedicated sweepstakes email address to keep your main inbox clean.
A Simple Way to Prioritize
When you’re looking at a long list of bonus options, it helps to have a quick mental checklist. A practical order of priority for most entrants looks something like this:
- Daily return entries, because they cost little time and compound across the whole entry period
- Quick follows or likes on accounts you don’t mind seeing in your feed
- Referral links shared with people who would actually want them
- Newsletter or email sign-ups for brands you’re genuinely interested in
- Longer tasks like videos, surveys, or app downloads, only when the entry value justifies the time
This isn’t a strict rule, and your own preferences should shape the order. Someone who already follows dozens of brands might happily complete every social action, while someone protective of their feed might skip them and focus on daily entries instead. The point is to make deliberate choices rather than clicking randomly or skipping everything out of fatigue.
Watch the Rules on Bonus Entries
Bonus entries come with their own fine print, and it’s worth reading before you dive in. Some promotions verify social actions and remove entries if you unfollow before the drawing ends. Others limit referral bonuses to a certain number of friends or require that referred friends actually complete an entry before you get credit. A few disqualify entrants who use fake accounts, duplicate emails, or automated tools to generate extra entries, and those penalties often wipe out every entry you have, not just the bonus ones.
There’s also a line to keep in mind with purchases. In the United States, a sweepstakes generally can’t require a purchase to enter, and promotions that reward purchases with entries typically have to offer a free way to earn comparable entries. If a promotion seems to suggest that buying something dramatically boosts your chances with no free alternative, that’s worth a closer look at the rules. Most reputable sponsors handle this correctly, but knowing how it’s supposed to work helps you spot anything that feels off.
Turning Bonus Entries Into a Habit
The entrants who get the most out of bonus entries usually build them into their routine rather than treating them as optional extras. If you track your sweepstakes in a spreadsheet or notebook, add a column for daily bonus actions so you remember to come back. Bookmark promotions that offer return entries and visit them during a set time each day, like with your morning coffee or during a lunch break. A few minutes of consistent attention can generate dozens of extra entries over the course of a single month.
It’s also smart to review your approach every so often. If you notice that you’re spending a lot of time on bonus tasks that don’t seem to lead anywhere, scale back on the lower-value ones. If you find that daily entries and referrals are the easiest wins for you, lean into those. Your strategy should fit your schedule and your comfort level, not someone else’s.
Small Clicks, Bigger Chances
Bonus entries are one of the most overlooked tools in a sweepstakes entrant’s toolkit. They don’t require special knowledge or expensive tools, just a little attention and a willingness to think about where your time goes. By prioritizing the actions that offer the best return, respecting the rules, and building a steady routine, you can turn a single entry into many and give yourself a much stronger shot at the prizes you want most.
Looking for more opportunities to put those strategies to work? Join the OMG Sweeps network and get exclusive chances to win delivered right to your inbox, so every day brings a new opportunity to stack your odds.