Running a contest is one of the best ways to grow your Instagram followers.
Giveaways on Instagram create connections with your audience and draw in new followers. They are a proven way to increase engagement that Instagram’s algorithm cannot help but notice.
Bonus: Get a free checklist to show you the steps that a fitness influencer took to increase their followers from 0 to 600,000.
Why an Instagram giveaway is important
Giveaways on Instagram can help you reach a variety of Instagram KPIs. These are the top reasons to include Instagram contests into your strategy.
Your following should grow
A giveaway on Instagram is a great way of growing your audience. Contests can bring new people to your page.
Bulletproof coffee asked its contestants to tag a friend and leave a comment for a chance to win their giveaway.
This post is on Instagram
Bulletproof(r), (@bulletproof), shared this post
Some of those tagged went on to tag friends, increasing the reach of this giveaway. Who doesn’t like a contest? Users love the idea of winning and can get to know your brand by looking at the possibilities.
Engage your audience
Giveaways are a great way to give your audience the chance to interact with you and your content. Sure, they can generate algorithm-friendly engagement through comments and likes. They can also encourage engagement that cannot be measured with statistics.
Giveaways and contests allow for authentic user engagement. This can bring your audience closer to you, your brand, and your ethos. This can get people talking about your brand on social media and increase brand awareness in brick and mortar retail.
These are also a great way for your audience to know you appreciate their support.
Collect user-generated material
Contests are a great way to let your audience generate (free and creative!) content for your page. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing photoshops or caption contests. This is a great way to encourage creativity in your followers.
It will be a great visual for your followers. UGC is social proof. This shows your followers and new account visitors that your brand has been loved by the community.
How to create an Instagram giveaway
1. Plan your contest
Start by defining the contest’s plan. This will include deciding what type of contest you want. Time constraints will also be necessary. You will need to make sure that the contest’s end date and time are clearly defined.
Most importantly, set a goal. What do you want to achieve from this contest? Increased followers Sales numbers for a particular product or service will increase. It doesn’t matter what it is, determine early what you want. This will make it much easier to track the success of the contest.
2. Establish the rules
Each contest has its rules. Yours will not be the exception. Make sure your entry deadlines and instructions for followers are clear and easy to read.
It is a good idea to include the guidelines when posting about the giveaway on Instagram (like the one below). This will make it easy for your followers to find them.
This post is on Instagram
This post was shared by The Trendy Store US, @thetrendystoreus
It is a good idea to make sure you include all important rules when sharing the contest on your website or other social media platforms. If it is not possible, direct users directly to the giveaway post’s caption and any other places where the rules might be described.
Be sure to clearly indicate that your contest is restricted to a specific geographic area.
3. Choose a prize
This should be fun! You should decide what your followers will be competing on. You could choose a product, an assortment of products, or a gift certificate. Make sure your prize is worth it!
You should also ensure that the prize is relevant to your brand. Random followers will be attracted to general prizes such as cash or Amazon gift card. It is easier to offer prizes and products that are related to your page’s theme. This ensures that everyone who follows and enters your contest is interested in what you do.
This will increase the number of people who visit your page and reward your followers for their loyalty.
4. Promote your contest
Once you have decided on the prize, now it is time to let people know that it is being given away! Make sure to promote your Instagram contest as widely and as often as you can. It’s a good idea to share your contest on Instagram Stories and any other social media platforms your brand uses.
Bonus: Get a free checklist to show you the steps that a fitness influencer took to increase their followers from 0 to 600,000.
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In this case, Daily Hive promotes an Instagram post by the Daily Hive that details their giveaway and a matching Story.
Source: Daily Hive Vancouver
You’ll want to know the results of a contest to determine how they help your site’s traffic.
Hootsuite can help you organize and track contests. The Planner allows you to schedule contest posts. You can leave comments and get answers in the Inbox. You can also track mentions and hashtag usage via Streams.
Find out how Hootsuite can assist you with Instagram contests and all your social media endeavors.
How to make Instagram giveaway rules
You need to ensure that you are following the correct advice and rules before you start your Instagram contest. You need to ensure you are following all laws pertaining to contests.
These are the rules and regulations for Instagram giveaways.
Follow the law
Although it may seem absurd, there are actually laws that govern contests hosted by brands. This is complicated further by the fact that these laws often apply to specific locations. They can differ from one state to another and become especially complicated when it comes to international entries.
Hosting a contest is not an easy task. There are many ways to ensure you don’t violate any laws. It will be up to you to research the laws and it may be worth having a lawyer assist you. It is important to ensure that you have all the legal requirements in place for a giveaway on Instagram.
Do not forget to mention that Instagram is not participating in this contest
This is an important one! Instagram has guidelines regarding promotions. Your giveaway must be clear that it is not sponsored, endorsed, administered or managed by Instagram.
Ask Instagram for support, but don’t ask
Instagram is very strict about giveaways because of this rule. It is clear that Instagram does not allow giveaways to be administered through its service. You will be responsible for fixing any problems that may arise with the giveaway.
Your contest-related questions will not be answered by Instagram. Instagram’s contest policy says that they won’t help you with your promotion administration and can’t advise you about consenting to user content.
This is why it is important to have all the rules in place before you launch the giveaway.
7 Instagram contest ideas
The fun part is over now! Giveaways and contests on Instagram can be a great way to connect with your audience. These are the top and most reliable giveaways you can run.
1. Comment and like win
It’s not necessary to complicate things.
The easiest way to give away Instagram accounts is to ask your followers to comment and like the post. The contest format is simple for all involved. The contest is easy for everyone involved. You don’t even have to track Instagram hashtags and other similar things to keep track.
This post is on Instagram
Film Companion (@filmcompanion), shared this post
Film Companion’s contest allows for easy and effective fan engagement. To enter, all they have to do is like the post and leave a quote from a Bollywood movie in the comments.
You can add a comment to the requirements to help you weed out Instagram bots or anyone who enters random contests in bulk. You don’t need to make a specific comment, such as the one in the Bollywood movie. This also encourages engagement, which helps in the algorithm favoring your post.
2. Photo caption contest
Caption contests can be a great way to engage with your audience. It’s easy: simply post a photo and ask your audience to create the perfect caption.
The winner is often determined based on the quality of the entries. This brings out the best from everyone. You can either judge the winner by yourself, or ask users to vote for their favorite caption. The winner is the one with the most likes.
Participation in caption contests encourages users to engage. Your followers will often respond to captions that they like, which can help build a community around your pages.
This post is on Instagram
This post was shared by
Pokey the Boston Terrier (@petitepokey).
Pokey, a well-known Instagram star and Boston Terrier, held a caption contest. It is exemplary. It generated a lot of engagement from the page’s community. The comments were filled with creative content. This is all you need from an Instagram giveaway. It was a huge success!
3. Tag a friend
Instagram giveaways are designed to increase your followers. Your followers can do this for you. To enter the contest, simply tell your followers to tag a friend (or a few) in the comments.
This will send the friends you have tagged a notification. It will also take them to the comment that they are tagged in. It is common for the friend tagged to follow your page and possibly tag some friends as entries.
This post is on Instagram
This post was shared by The Hive Bouldering Gym, (@hiveclimbing).
Not to be overlooked, tagging can also be used in other contests. In the above Pokey example, friends had to be tagged in order to enter. This is the beauty of this method for your giveaway. It can be used in any contest and is versatile.
4. Content created by users
A giveaway of user-generated content is a great way for community engagement, regardless of whether you are asking for text or photos. You will have lots of content to add to your Facebook page.
You can ask your followers to upload a photo of your products if your page is advertising them. Your followers can also be encouraged to post photos that follow a particular theme.
These contests are a great way of collecting testimonials. Ask users to share their personal stories about the brand, product or those that are related to your page’s ethos. You have the option to choose, but make sure the rules state that you can repost any entries.
This post is on Instagram
Brute Magnetics (@brutemagnetics), shared this post
Brute Magnetic’s photo contest may be one of the most unique you will ever encounter. It’s still a great example of one of these contests. It is very targeted. It requests user-generated content that is compatible with the community’s interests. The entries are quite entertaining by themselves.
5. Trivia
For ages, trivia contests have been held offline. You don’t have to take something proven and trusted and put it on your site!
Your followers can participate in trivia giveaways on Instagram. They could answer questions about you and your brand, or even current topics like pop culture or sports.
In general, you will want to make it appear that the winner is selected randomly. The time it takes to answer correctly reduces the effectiveness of your post.
This post is on Instagram
North Shore Kia (@northshorekia), shared this post
North Shore Kia’s trivia contest was short and sweet. It is the perfect trivia contest. The contest tests the knowledge of its audience about Kia and attracts new eyes by adding the “tag your friends” requirement.
You’re notified on Instagram when someone shares a post to the repost app, or to their stories. This is a smart way to host an Instagram giveaway. Tell your followers to create a contest post, and ask them to share it via Reposts or to their stories.
It is easy to keep track of entries and choose a winner. It also allows you to share your post in large numbers. This increases the visibility of your contest, and your page.
This post is on Instagram
Venmo (@venmo), shared this post
Venmo recently introduced semi-regular cash giveaways. They only require that you share the contest post, and leave your tag in comments.
7. Hashtag contest
Instagram, like many other social media platforms uses hashtags in its algorithm and user interface.
They make it easy to compile posts on similar topics and are a great way for giveaways. A hashtag giveaway is similar to a contest for user-generated content. Participants must post to their stories or pages under a particular hashtag (you decide what it is).
You want to end up with a hashtag that has significant traffic. This format allows you to keep track of all entries. This format also encourages engagement with specific hashtags, which the algorithm tends take into account. A good hashtag will bring traffic back to your page and post.
This post is on Instagram
Destify (@destifyweddings), shared this post.
This contest was a success for Destify Weddings. The contest was branded with the hashtag #WhereDidYouWed. The hashtag was used to share some amazing UGC which the brand utilized on their page. Some of the entries were even used to promote the contest.
When planning a hashtag contest, remember that there are many hashtags. You should ensure that the hashtag you choose for your contest is unique. If you don’t, it will be much harder to keep up with the entries. You also want to ensure that the hashtag generated by your giveaway leads back to you.
Hootsuite can help you run an Instagram giveaway. You can manage your Instagram posts from one dashboard. Get it today for free.
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