Instagram giveaways have been gaining traction – and rightly so. Chances are you come across at least one social media giveaway a week, or maybe a day – depending on how many brands you follow. The quality of engagement that sweepstakes generate cannot be compared to any other marketing tactic, and there’s no other type of campaign that encourages online communities to interact with their favorite brands as much as giveaways do. So far, we’ve established that Instagram giveaways generate engagement, visibility, and brand awareness. But how do they work?
How do Instagram giveaways work?
The concept of running social media promotions might scare off some marketers or small business owners as sweepstakes sometimes seem like a complicated type of campaign. But let us tell you that Instagram giveaways are easy to set up, run, and finalize! They’re also cheap and don’t require many visual assets. All you have to do is follow some simple steps and Instagram giveaway rules and you’re likely to attract loyal followers and potential customers.
Instagram giveaways are limited-time promotions in which brands give away a prize in exchange for interacting with the giveaway post or brand. Organizing brands reward one or more users that followed all participation criteria. Prizes tend to range from gift cards, through product samples, to a year’s supply of a specific product or service. However, it’s important to ensure that the incentive appeals to the audience, otherwise, the giveaway won’t generate buzz around your product, nor will it attract new customers.
Comment giveaways are the most popular type of giveaways on Instagram. They’re easy to automate, which allows you to save valuable time. It also means that the winner selection process is transparent. And transparency is important for any brand looking to generate customer loyalty and trust.
Users participate in Instagram giveaways by commenting on a giveaway post. You can ask them to answer an open question, tag a friend, or post a series of emojis, for example, describing their current mood. However, open-ended questions are the best engagement generators; they encourage real conversations and persuade users to interact with one another, further creating positive perceptions about the brand. In the above Instagram giveaway example, you can see that the online cosmetics and beauty shop asked entrants to explain how they take care of their hair during monsoon.
Are you looking for an Instagram giveaway post template? We have more than 60 ready-made templates with images and editable giveaway captions that you can use for your brand.
Use the Easypromos Instagram giveaway app once the participation period is over and you’re ready to choose a winner. All you have to do is connect your Instagram account, specify how many winners and alternates you want to pick and… you’re ready to announce the winner!
Giveaway ideas for Instagram: ask participants to follow your account
In the above section, we explained how Instagram giveaways work best: with comments. However, Instagram sweepstakes can also be based on likes and followers but these requirements cannot be checked automatically. Why is that?
The Instagram API doesn’t allow external third-party tools to access all the information about user interactions on Instagram. However, comments are the most accessible piece of information, therefore, we always recommend running your giveaways based on comments. However, if you ask your giveaway participants to like the giveaway post or follow your account, you will have to manually check if they have done so, after first choosing the winners from the comments.
So here are the steps you must take when choosing a winner if you asked participants to follow your account or like the giveaway post:
- Use an automatic tool to choose a winner from among the users that commented on your post.
- Did you ask them to tag friends in the comments? The Easypromos giveaway apps let you specify how many users participants had to tag. Only those that comply with the requirement will be added to the final prize draw.
- Choose how many winners and alternates you wish to pick.
- Did you get your winners? Check manually if each of the winners liked the post and followed your or your collaborator’s account.
- One of the winners is not a follower? Move on to the first alternate winner.
Not sure how to check if a user follows you? Here’s a quick explanation of how to do it:
If you’re still not sure whether Instagram giveaways would work for your brand, we recommend you take a look at real social media giveaway examples. Why don’t you head to Instagram in type in #giveaway in the search bar? You will see lots of giveaway ideas, as well as giveaway captions examples.
More things to keep in mind about your Instagram giveaways
In order for your Instagram giveaway to work, it’s important to follow Instagram guidelines, as well as local and federal laws. Another most important aspect of Instagram giveaways is picking the winners and then making the news official. Don’t forget to communicate the prizewinners with other participants, for example, by editing the original post, or sharing a new publication with the username of the winner. You can also take it to Instagram Stories to inform your audience of who the lucky participant is. Why don’t you find out more about protecting your Instagram giveaway from phishing?
Do you now understand how Instagram giveaways work? Make sure to use our giveaway post templates to get a head start. And don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions about giveaway captions or rules – we’re always here to help!
