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How to run a giveaway on VK
Giveaways are run on VK more often than anywhere else, and the platform’s rules are the most detailed here. We cover what VK explicitly allows, where the line with fake activity runs, and how to run a giveaway through a community bot so participants stay your customers.
What VK requires from a contest
In its recommendations for authors and businesses VK asks you to:
- clearly state the dates, prizes with their value, conditions and number of winners;
- publish short rules in the post and full rules as a separate document;
- not change the conditions during the contest;
- pick the winner with a randomizer or a jury and publish the results openly on the promised day;
- not present VK as a co-organizer without written permission.
The giveaway itself must comply with the law — VK doesn’t review contests but steps in if participants are deceived.
Why “like + repost” is a risk
The VK terms of use (clause 6.3.16) prohibit mass identical actions aimed at growing counters — likes, reposts, “tell friends” — including for a promised reward. At the same time VK for Business describes a repost contest as acceptable if the group is open. The line is blurry, so a “like + repost + tag three friends” condition is a risk for the community. VK doesn’t like “subscribe to sponsors” conditions either: they require activity outside the contest community.
The safest option is a subscription to your own community and entry through the bot: it’s not counter inflation but a one-time action.
Which conditions are safe
- A subscription to your community — a single action that’s easy to check.
- Joining through community messages — the person starts the conversation themselves, and you can continue it later.
- Answering a question — a quiz about your product instead of “like and repost”.
- A purchase as a condition — allowed, but then the giveaway ads must state the dates and link to the rules (Art. 9 of the Advertising Law).
Risky conditions are likes, reposts and “tag your friends” for reach, subscriptions to other sponsor communities, and mass mailings. Paid participation is not allowed in any form.
Comment giveaway or a bot
By comments or reposts — the VK classic: participants comment under the post and the winner is picked with an external randomizer. The downside — after the draw you’re left with nothing but a reach figure, and a fair pick is hard to prove.
Through a community bot — the participant taps a button in the post and writes to the community. The bot checks the community subscription, issues a number and after the draw messages the winner. Each participant stays a contact you can keep talking to.
A comment giveaway: how to pick a winner
If you run a giveaway by comments, announce in advance what counts as an entry: for example, one comment per person, left before a certain date and time. When entries close, save the list of commenters — if comments keep coming in, the result can’t be re-checked later. Remove duplicates and, if subscribing is a condition, those who aren’t subscribed. Then number the list and pick a number in a way that can be verified.
VK randomizer services can collect a post’s commenters and filter out suspicious accounts on their own. That’s convenient, but the list stays with the service and the participants don’t stay with you: you won’t be able to message them after the results.
How a participant joins through the bot
The “Join” button in the post opens community messages via a link with a special tag — that’s how the bot knows which giveaway the person is joining. The participant’s first message reaches the bot together with the tag: the bot checks the community subscription, asks the “not a bot” question if needed, assigns a number and states the results date. Since the person wrote to the community themselves, the bot can reply to them after the results too.
Before publishing the post, go through the participant’s path yourself: tap the button, write to the community and make sure the bot replied with a number.
Results that can be checked
VK participants are used to screen recordings of a randomizer, but a recording doesn’t prove the list wasn’t edited before it. A scheme where the pick can be repeated is more reliable: the hash of a secret number before the start, a public list of numbers once entries close, and the number itself at the draw. More in the article how to pick a winner fairly.
Results: how to publish them
Publish the results in the same community as the post, on the promised day — as a post or a comment on the original post. List the winners’ numbers, names only with consent, a link to the detailed record and the deadline by which winners must respond. If a winner didn’t respond and the prize went to a reserve participant, add this to the results — participants see that the prize didn’t go to “insiders”.
Message the winner from the community, and add to the results post the phrase “the organizer writes only on behalf of the community”. This protects participants from scammers who copy giveaways and write “you won” from fake pages.
Common mistakes in VKontakte
- Changing the conditions or the results date after the start.
- Not stating the prize values and the number of winners.
- Making “like + repost + tag three friends” mandatory conditions.
- Calling VK a partner or co-organizer without written permission.
- Not re-checking subscriptions before picking the winner.
- Messaging the winner from a page participants don’t know — it’s easy to mistake for a scammer. Write on behalf of the community.
How to do it in CHBT
The CHBT bot on VK replies in community messages. In the “Giveaways” section it checks the subscription to the community connected to the bot, issues numbers, runs the draw with a public record, messages the winner and tracks the handover as a CRM deal. The bot doesn’t pick winners among likes, reposts and comments: a participant is someone who joined through the bot. The same giveaway can accept participants from Telegram and MAX. Template — “Subscription giveaway”; the limits of a VK bot are on the VK bot page.
FAQ
Can I run a repost contest? VK for business describes a repost contest as possible if the group is open, but the terms of use prohibit mass identical actions to inflate counters. The line is blurry — a subscription condition and joining through the bot are safer.
Do I have to publish the results? Yes: VK asks for results to be published openly on the promised day. The winner’s name only with their consent, otherwise the participant number.
Can I combine participants from VKontakte and Telegram? In CHBT — yes: one giveaway accepts participants from VKontakte, Telegram and MAX bots, and each confirms a subscription to the channel or community on their own platform.
How much does it cost in CHBT? One giveaway — on the Free plan with a limit of 30 conversations per month. Without the limit, with prize handover in the CRM and friend invites — Basic, 650 ₽ per bot per month.
“Subscription giveaway” templateHow to pick a winner fairlyGiveaway rules and prize taxVK bot for a community