In February 2022, Instagram announced that they would no longer support the IGTV app, removing the feature from the Instagram app too. Instagram explains that the decision was made in order to make discovering and creating audiovisual content as simple as possible. This leaves us with three ways to upload videos to Instagram:
- Reels: all videos are saved in the Reels tab but they can also be saved in the feed.
- Stories: they’re visible for 24h but you can then add them to your profile as Highlights.
- Feed videos: upload videos directly to your feed. All videos are then grouped together in a separate tab on your profile.
How to organize a giveaway on Instagram videos
Uploading videos to Instagram makes it possible to generate closer relationships with followers and customers. Instagram Live videos shared on Stories work great when it comes to sharing content with the audience but they make it difficult to create meaningful conversations with the viewers. This is why uploading audiovisual content to the Instagram feed is an important aspect of generating engagement among your community.
As we’ve explained in the previous section, you can save all three different types of videos on your Instagram profile, however, only two out of the three formats allow you to retrieve comments necessary for running automated and random giveaways. And here’s how to do it.
1. Run comment giveaways on Instagram Reels
Giveaways on Instagram Reels are something we’ve all been waiting for! In July 2022, Instagram updated its API, making it possible to retrieve comments left on Reels. This means that you can now run automatic and transparent giveaways for your Reels viewers.
The participation requirements are exactly the same as for traditional Instagram giveaways. Ask users to comment on your post, tag friends, or follow your brand – however, you will have to manually check if the winner is also your follower.
Another important point aspect of running Reels giveaways is to make sure to make full use and take full advantage of all the options that Reels have. Add text to the video and use words like “win” and “giveaway” to grab more user attention and ensure you showcase the prizes that are up for grabs. Don’t forget to use the description section to clearly describe the giveaway dynamics, participation requirements, and participation dates. You can then use Stories to further promote the giveaway.
Are you planning to run a Reels giveaway for your followers? Make sure you check out our article about giveaways on Instagram Reels.
2. Organize a giveaway from comments left on your Live Video saved on your feed
Thinking to run a giveaway on your Live Video? Keep in mind that Instagram only allows comment-picking tools to import the comments left on Live Videos once the video has been published as a post, not the ones left during the live. Once the live videos are published on your feed, you don’t get to see any comments left by the viewers during the live, they’re simply gone.
Take for example this video of a healthy recipe. If the content creator wishes to organize a giveaway for those watching the video she must indicate that users must comment on the video once it’s published on the feed.
To sum up, during your Instagram Live you can’t:
- Do a giveaway during your live video
- Import comments left during your live video
But you can:
- Organize a giveaway for those that comment on your videos once it’s published on your feed
- Filter the users by the minimum number of mentioned friends
- Choose multiple winners and alternate winners
3. Organize a giveaway on a video uploaded directly to your Instagram feed
Sometimes you might want to upload an edited video in which you clearly specify the participation requirements, terms and conditions, participation dates, etc. This is why we recommend that you:
- Pre-record the giveaway announcement videos.
- Upload it to your Instagram feed.
- Create a description in which you explain the requirements and ask the question users must answer in order to participate in your giveaway.
- Explain participation dates and terms and conditions.
- Share the giveaway on Instagram Stories or create sponsored posts for maximum reach and visibility.
We recommend organizing giveaways on previously recorded and edited videos for the following reasons:
- You won’t lose any previous comments (left during the live video).
- You can better explain the participation requirements, and present the product, prize, and terms and conditions.
- The participants can clearly see or hear the participation dates so they know if they can still enter the draw.
How to select a winner of your giveaway on Instagram videos?
Importing comments from your Instagram video with Easypromos is pretty straightforward. Access your Easypromos account and select the Instagram Giveaway app. As usual, it will ask you to connect your Facebook account to be able to access the Facebook-Instagram API in order to pull all the comments from your post. Once you authenticate the application, you will see a list of your publications with comments and among them, including videos and Reels.
All you have to do is select your video or videos and continue with the process of importing all the comments as if it was a traditional Instagram giveaway. The Instagram Giveaway app allows you to:
- Exclude users from your blacklist
- Exclude previous winners
- Indicate a minimum number of characters that each comment must have in order to participate
- Indicate a minimum number of mentioned users
- Exclude users who participated outside of participation dates
Why organize Instagram video giveaways?
Most of all, Instagram video giveaways allow you to identify and reward the most loyal followers and especially those that interact with your content. You can raffle free entries to events, courses, and webinars, give away prizes from your sponsors or even reward users with products related to your industry.
By using the Easypromos Instagram Giveaway application you ensure that your giveaways are carried out with maximum transparency.
If you have any doubts or questions about running giveaways on Instagram videos, contact us via chat – we’re always happy to help!
