6 Tips on How To Run A Successful Instagram Giveaway
Giveaways are a great way to quickly boost your following, get brand recognition, and gain more interaction on your Instagram - which leads to even more page visibility. We're firm believers that a well planned giveaway can really help build up your Instagram community. We've listed our top 6 tips on How to Run a Successful Instagram Giveaway to help your brand succeed.
6 Tips On Running A Successful Instagram Giveaway
#1: Partner with the right account(s)
The number of accounts should be weighed against the value/quality of the gift. Eg. Higher value, more accounts are appropriate, less value - less accounts. This is often overlooked, but it's vital for a successful giveaway! You want to find accounts that…
Have equal to or more followers than you
- When they post on their page about a giveaway, you're casting your net into their account. You want that net to bring in as many people as possible, so partner with accounts with a high following.
- An exception would be an account with a lower following, but a high interaction rate on their posts. This means their followers like them, trust them, and in turn are more likely to trust you because that person recommends you.
Are like-minded but not direct competitors (unless you want to support that direct competitor and don't mind sharing your following with them)
- There's no point in casting a wide net into an account that does not resemble yours or value what you value. When you do a giveaway with a like-minded account, their followers will be more likely to want to continue following you after the giveaway is over.
Have followers that are real people, preferably that are within your target market
- Again, there's no point in casting a wide net into an account with followers that are less likely to continue following you after the giveaway is over. If their followers generally seem like they're real people and within your target market - you're setting yourself up for maximum follower increase and potential for this following to eventually convert to $ over time.
Aesthetically pleasing
- If someone's account within the group is not aesthetically pleasing, they won't make a good first impression and chances of capturing someone new is less likely.
#2: Give the right gift
This is another opportunity to up your chances of converting your new followers into $ over time. By giving away products that are desired by your target market, you're ensuring that the followers you're capturing will likely be interested in other items from your shop as well.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when choosing something to give away:
- Is this item considered valuable or on trend to your target market?
- Is this item in season? For example, we would gift one of our Open Weave Cotton Shawl for a Holiday Giveaway or our Camden Cotton Bath Mat during the Summer season.
- Do the items included have a common theme? (fair trade goods, Summer beach themed, Fall fashion, etc.)
#3 Create a captivating image or graphic
Since everyone's accounts have different styles, you'll want to create an image/graphic that looks good on everyone's page. We'd recommend snapping a photo of all the items on a white background or creating a neutral graphic everyone can post to their page.
#4 Create a marketing plan for after the giveaway
- Share several posts familiarizing people with your brand and mission
- Consider how you might be able to capture emails and get these new followers engaged on your feed
#5 Be a learner!
Gather data. How many followers did you gain? How many accounts unfollowed you right after? Did people seem interested in what you were giving away?
Make every collaboration a learning experience so that you can make your next giveaway even better!
#6 Follow the Rules
It is important to follow Instagram's rules when it comes to running a giveaway.
- Start by clearly stating that your giveaway is in no way associated with Instagram.
- Include the dates that the giveaway is running, including the time (+ time zone) that entries to the giveaway end.
- Make sure to clearly explain how to enter the giveaway, as well as participant requirements (location + age).
- Explain how the giveaway winner will be chosen, when/how they will be announced, and how they will receive their giveaway prize.
Looking for more tips and examples? Follow us on Instagram!
