Rafflecopter Updates: New Features & Functionality

On your mark… get set… go! With the release of the Rafflecopter Premium Account, a whole bunch of awesome features are now ready for you to use in your Rafflecopter giveaways. This post is mean to be a quick run-through of what you now have access to, whether you decide to upgrade to one plan or the next or stay at the free level. Without further adieu, meet the new features and updates!

Awesome Universal Features For Everyone!

With the release of the premium version, there are now three Rafflecopter account levels: free, blogger, and business. But hang on! Regardless of what plan you’re on, the below features and updates are now available to everyone.

Yes! That means that these following features below are free in addition to what you already had access to previously!

Email Notifications. Receive messages in your inbox reminding you when your giveaway starts, before it ends, when it ends, and when to pick a winner. You can subscribe/unsubscribe to these notifications in your account settings.

Custom Timezones. It doesn’t matter if you live in New York, Manila, Sydney, London, or São Paulo. You now have the ability to change your giveaway’s timezones worldwide. This can be done at the account level in your settings as well.

Mobile-Friendly Facebook App. Woot! The Rafflecopter Facebook app is now mobile-friendly. When visiting your Rafflecopter Facebook page tab as an admin, you’ll see a link on the top of the page. Paste this link in your Facebook status update to promote your giveaway. This URL will allow entrants to view the page from both their desktops and Facebook mobile apps.

Giveaway Widget Preview. It doesn’t matter when your giveaway starts or ends – you’re now able to preview your widget on the embed page at any point by clicking the ‘preview all options’ button.

Choosing Winners. If you’ve ever been confused on how to pick a winner to your giveaway, we’ve updated the flow of the moderate page so choosing a winner is even easier.

Le New Giveaway Export Butler. Ever had to email us because you weren’t able to export your entries? Those days are le over! The new exporting butler can handle giveaways with millions of entries. All your exports are now sent straight to your inbox!

Improved Entry Process. Rafflecopter’s backend was completely gutted and rewired. The Rafflecopter widget has received numerous design updates. Expect to see faster loading widgets and an overall better user experience because of it. In addition, extra info boxes are no longer allowed to be submitted blank.

Giveaway End Date. On all giveaways moving forward, if you hover over the time left area of the widget as an entrant, it will tell you the date of when the giveaway ends.

Terms & Conditions. Your terms and conditions link will now remain on every Rafflecopter widget, even if the giveaway hasn’t started or has already ended. Your entrants will also be able to read your terms and conditions before signing into the widget.

Premium Features: For Bloggers

In addition to all the new features above, we’re excited to introduce the following Rafflecopter premium account features for bloggers. The below features are available for unlimited use at $7.99/mo. Check out the pricing page for more info!

Custom Start / End Times. Flash giveaways are now twenty times easier. You’re now able to start and end your giveaways in 15 minute interviews throughout the day.

Create Polls / Surveys. Ever wanted to poll your entrants or maybe have them fill out a survey? It’s now very possible and very easy!

Guaranteed 24 Hour Support. Sometimes you have a question, but sometimes you need answer sooner than later. You’re a VIP here!

Adding Prize Photo Slideshow. Adding prize photos to your giveaways is now a piece of cake. Grab photos from your Facebook profile, your Instagram account, your desktop, or quickly search for one on the web.

Note: Incorporating this feature means adding an ‘img’ tag in your title as described in this blog post will no longer display an image as it had in the past. Having to do this manually was a good workaround, but it caused many support requests and would not work with the implementation of this new feature.

Pinterest Entry Options. Following someone on Pinterest and pinning an image can now be set up through Rafflecopter. These entry options will evolve as we see Pinterest promotion guidelines change.

E-Z Terms & Conditions Boilerplate. No need to leave your promotion naked of terms and conditions. Give us a few pieces of info and we’ll auto-prepare a terms and conditions section for you to use based on your giveaway’s credentials.

Premium Features: For Businesses

In addition to the entire features set above (including bloggers), we’re excited to introduce the following Rafflecopter premium account features for businesses. The below features are available for unlimited use at $59.99/mo. Check out the pricing page for more info!

Email List Integration. Build your email lists with Rafflecopter! You can now tie your giveaways directly into your MailChimp, AWeber, and ConstantContact accounts. Growing your subscriber base has never been easier.

Viral ‘Refer-a-Friend’ Entry Option. You can now have your entrants get incentivized for referring their friends to your promotion. After one of your entry options has been completed, a box will appear at the bottom of the widget that will give each of your entrants a unique URL that they can share with their friends. For each friend that enters the giveaway, the referring individual will receive +1 entry into the giveaway. Each entrant can refer up to 10 people.

Real-Time Analytics. Watch entries come in by the minute. Get a breakdown of how your giveaways were entered, when they were entered, and what entry options were popular.

Remove Rafflecopter Branding. All giveaways run through the business account will have Rafflecopter branding removed from the widget.

VIP Support Chat Room. We’ve setup a location where you can easily reach us for questions, support and advice. We’ll keep the light on for you :)

But Wait… There’s More!

You’ll probably discover a few other improvements here and there – browse around and let us know what you think. As stated in the Rafflecopter premium launch post, Rafflecopter has been a work in progress since day one. In the upcoming months, expect to see features being added and improved upon. And if you like what you see or have another suggestion, shoot us an email and let us know. We’d love to hear from you!