GIVEAWAY! Who doesn’t love a good giveaway!?! But, how do you run one and how do you make it help your business? Well, first, use Instagram! It’s way more hoops to jump through and what not on Facebook, also the legal (which I’ll cover later) is easier on IG. Now, let’s get into The Good & Bad of Instagram Giveaways. All the types and what must do steps to take.
The 4 types of Instagram Giveaways:
Large - Connected to 20-40 other IG accounts
Loop - 15-20 other accounts
Collab - Just a few accounts
Self - Just you, just the one.
The “Pros and Cons”-
Large just isn’t as popular. It has a HUGE prize, like trips, but only 1 Winner. Costs about $100 per account participating. Can gain about 1000+ followers, but you may see a loss in engagement and not be targeting your ICA (Ideal Client Avatar).
Loop is just as titled. A lower cost to participate, works more like a team effort. Follow this account -> Follow -> Follow -> Until back to the first account, hence “Loop.” Typically prizes like gift cards.
Collab giveaways are good for sharing audience and exposure. Good for teaming up with accounts with similar ICA and branding. Bundle deal of each crafter/artist/shop’s products or a prize that would attract the group’s ICAs.
Self is pretty self explanatory (no pun intended). Just what you think your ICA would want or what fits your brand. Not the biggest reach and not a ton of traction. But this does work for your followers, your existing ICA’s to bring in potential IG accounts of friends and family with similar interest and may match your ICA.
With each giveaway you want to have a Goal or Outcome in mind. Are you doing this for Product Recognition or for more Followers? Because that can be your deciding factor. Product recognition, easy on self hosted. Want more followers? Think “The Bigger the Price the More People.” Word of Caution though, remember followers do not equal engagement ratings. Make sure to check out who you are teaming up with for branding and ICA in followers.
For prizes, keep your location and shipping in mind. Gift cards are easiest to ship and a easy go to in the US seems to be things like Starbucks. Think what works for you and your ICA.
Now that you’ve probably narrowed down what type of giveaway here are your ways to pull of that giveaway successfully:
In the caption be very clear about the criteria.
Example give exact easy steps-
Follow
Like
Tag 2 friends in Comments
Share in Stories
Etc.
Set a Time Limit. Somewhere between 3-7 Days. 3 Being the least. 7 being the longest. Don’t want followers to forget or feel like it’s far of that they won’t win (unless it’s like the Larger Giveaways, that may take longer).
Don’t forget your Legal Blurb! It’s not only important, but is required.
This is the blurb that I have used in the past: (Feel free to copy it)
Giveaway open until (X) date and a winner will be drawn on stories at 12pm PST.
This is in no way sponsored, administered or associated with Instagram, Inc. or any of the brands. By entering, participants confirm they are above (legal age) years old and release Instagram and all brands and participants of all responsibility and agree to Instagram's terms of use. Void where prohibited by law, no purchase necessary.
If you are a rule person, you can read them directly from IG here: https://help.instagram.com/179379842258600
Be Clear on how the Winner will be Announced. Will you “DM if chosen,” “Tag in the Comments,” or “Tag in Stories”? My method is using Comment Picker. I record it and share the video via stories with a tag and a congratulations to the Winner. Also, update caption to reflect giveaway is “Closed.”
After your giveaway is all wrapped up, if it does not make sense in your feed anymore archive it about 5-7 days later.
All ready to go? Let me know if you are running a giveaway and I would love to support you!
xoxo
