5 best ways to host Instagram giveaways

Hosting Instagram giveaways can be vital in quickly gaining a large following for your brand or company. This marketing tactic not only heightens suspense but also offers exclusive products or services to the viewers. As far as marketing strategies go, Instagram has the most advantage over other platforms as it has many features like reels, videos, stories, etc. Multiple aspects like brand awareness, generating leads, and boosting engagement can be possible due to giveaways. In this blog, let us discover how to spice up your outreach and gain new followers in a fun way.

What does a giveaway include?

Giveaways are not only great conversation starters, but they also serve as a potent tool for subtle brand promotion and engaging customers effectively. These last for a short period, emphasizing the whole point of 'first come, first serve'. Typically, you would ask your audience to do one or more of the following things:

Like and/or repost your Instagram post
Use your customized hashtag
Tag friends in the comments section
Follow your Instagram account

Why should you host a giveaway?

Accounts that host giveaways, especially small businesses, hold the utmost potential to attract new followers and drive traffic to the initial post.

High-quality engagement: Giveaways tend to attract a large number of users who are genuinely interested in your brand or product. This can often lead to high-quality engagement, which means more likes, comments, and shares on your posts.
Increased reach of your posts: The Instagram algorithm favors posts with high engagement, so arrange Instagram comment giveaways to reach a wider audience, including newcomers. Remember, a common way to join Instagram giveaways is by commenting on the post. You can leverage this by including specific instructions in the caption, such as "Comment 'link' and I will message you the link." This ensures participants know exactly what to comment.
Brand awareness: These gram giveaways can also help you skyrocket brand visibility. Encourage participants to tag a couple of friends in the comments. It will help you set transparency as more Instagram users increase your exposure. If you want to gain instant exposure at the initial stage, then consider buying followers and likes on Stormlikes.
Loyalty and trust: For any brand, it is vital to earn loyalty and trust to maintain a good reputation in the long run. Social media users are drawn to brands that offer informative and creatively engaging content, appealing to the naked eye.

But what is in high demand today are brands that reciprocate well with their community. By conducting frequent Instagram giveaways, you can enhance customer loyalty and increase conversions.

Guide on how to do a giveaway

Decide the goal

Decide and plan what is the ulterior motive behind these campaigns or promotional tactics? Seeking support from your creative team might be a wise choice, as they have a million thoughts running around in their heads, including ideas. Your goals might match some of these:

Run a competition to increase your number of followers
Get more newsletter engagement.
Increase traffic to a specific site to grow your audience.
Promote new products or services.
Collect user-generated content (UGC) from specific influencers for your promotion.
Get more likes on Instagram to spread brand awareness.

Set an entry limit

This is a crucial step as you should be able to measure your results swiftly later, and you must even announce a winner or two at the end. Your entry criteria can vary as they depend on your overall marketing strategy. Here are some of the end-goals and the desired actions that you can include in your giveaway. Increase brand awareness and identity - repost the story and share it with friends Build an email collection - sign in to your newsletter/website. Increase following - follow your account and share with the other two Increase likes - comment on a specific word/ tag two friends. Attract user-generated content - submit photos and profile videos.

Decide on a type of giveaway.

Once you have figured out the end goal and action simultaneously, choose the type of giveaway you want.

Caption quest: Ask users to caption a photo and let the best caption win
Trivia contest: Play a game of QnA and let the best answer win the jackpot
Challenge giveaway: Attract users to do a dance move or some other activity to get selected for the successive/ final round.
Live giveaway: Host your giveaway in real-time; this starts a buzz and increases curiosity, which can benefit conversion
Collaboration contest: Partner with relevant brands to uplift your giveaway's reach
Hashtag contest: Start a specific hashtag based on the giveaway, which users can share along with the contest.
Follow to win: Users are only eligible for a chance to win if they follow you.

Decide a prize for the winner

Your reward should be a compelling incentive enough for users to join the giveaway. Ensure that it aligns with the preferences of your target audience and resonates with your brand. This ensures that participants are genuinely interested in what you have to offer, resulting in more meaningful engagement. If you have a product or service, you can offer that as a prize, showcasing the best of what your brand provides. Additionally, you can team up with other brands to provide a more attractive and valuable prize package, which can also help in broadening your reach and appeal. Remember that the prize's quality directly impacts the level of engagement and participation. A thoughtfully chosen reward not only incentivizes participation but also fosters a positive association with your brand, increasing loyalty and long-term customer retention.

Finalize your contest rules

Before you anchor down the rules, plan on a good hashtag, as this helps separate these giveaway entries into a different collection, increase their chances of being viewed on the Explore page, and increase visibility amongst the rest. Regarding contest rules, your first step should be adding a disclaimer to abide by the original Instagram laws. This limits only certain people from entering, as this can eliminate bias and maintain a specific eligibility list to track later. Also, remember to set a specific limit, as sooner the deadline is, the more rapid the word of mouth and actions will occur.

Key takeaway

Giveaways can be a fun and profitable marketing tactic that benefits not only the customers but also the brands or companies by increasing visibility and trying out new launches to observe the responses. Additionally, they offer an excellent way to build customer loyalty and foster a strong relationship with your audience. By following these simple guidelines, you can create successful Instagram giveaways that will elevate your brand and drive conversions.