Guidelines and inspiration for organising an Instagram giveaway
To increase your Instagram following, you need to actively engage with your audience. Giving stuff free is a terrific way to get people talking on social media, whether your goal is to get new followers or engage with the ones you already have.
In this article, you’ll learn all you need to know to run a successful Instagram giveaway, from setting up your account to selecting a winner.
The mechanics of an Instagram Giveaway
The term “Instagram giveaway” refers to a post or Story that promotes a limited-time offer of a free item or service. Often, the user will encourage their following to participate in some form (such as tagging a friend or sharing a post with a certain hashtag), and then a winner will be chosen at random and revealed shortly thereafter.
When is the best time to run a giveaway on Instagram?
Instagram contests can run as little as three days or as long as seven, with the average being about seven. The giveaway duration should be lengthy enough for your followers to see it and participate, but short enough that they don’t forget about it.
Guidelines for the Instagram contest
Like any worthwhile Instagram feature, running a giveaway requires adhering to a set of guidelines.
Do freebies incur tax liability?
If the value of your reward is $600 or more, and you owe taxes in the United States, you must report and pay those taxes. Most stories sidestep this problem by offering free or heavily discounted bonuses.
Do you have to be a certain age to enter a contest?
Unless otherwise specified, participants must be at least 13 years old to enter prizes. When announcing your offer online, you should verify the minimum age required by your state’s government and make that information readily available to participants.
The ins and outs of organising and hosting a successful Instagram giveaway
A first Instagram giveaway is ready to go. In order to get more people interested in your giveaway, more people following you, and more followers in general, follow these steps.
Choose a reward
Determine what it is you will be giving away before proceeding. During the introduction phase of a new product or service, some companies provide them for no cost. In other cases, the account will work with a different company to offer a free product or service. Or, you may provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, such as a private session with yourself.
Choose the admissions requirements that best fit your needs
In order to participate in the offer, what will your followers need to do on their end? The most frequent doorways are listed below:
Choose a minimum and maximum number of friends to tag (usually 3 to 5).
Include the link into their Instagram stories.
Comment about the article.
compose their own hashtag-based post or Story.
The duration can be adjusted
After that, set a deadline for when the giveaway will end. Include the giveaway’s closing date with the entry requirements and restrictions. It’s also important to specify how and when the winner will be announced.
Publish your contest entry
The moment has come to write up your piece, after which you may check it for accuracy. Despite sharing the news of your contest on your Stories and other channels, it’s still best to direct people to one central location where they may participate. This will make keeping count of attendees and recording their names much simpler.
Make a post to your feed, either a photo or a video, and provide the parameters for entry in the caption. Throughout the length of the giveaway, you may additionally promote the post as an Instagram advertisement.
Choose the victor
To make picking a winner fair and simple, most accounts use online tools like Google’s Random Number Generator. To keep track of who joined your contest, give them all a number once it ends. Numbering submissions in the order they were received is the most equitable solution.
Next, enter your maximum desired number and click “create.” The winning number is the one that was drawn.
I want to hear the winner announced.
You should notify the winner as soon as possible. You can make a fresh post or update your Story to reveal the victor. Tag them so they can view the post and provide their contact details so you can send them the award.
If you want to make sure that no one else tries to join the contest after the winner has already been declared, you should change the caption to reflect that.
Ideas for photography-themed Instagram giveaways
Make a short session available for free.
When figuring out how much to charge in taxes, a complete photoshoot may put you over the limit, while a giveaway for one of your more affordable services may not. As a means of increasing their exposure and attracting more clients, several photographers are now providing shorter, hour-long sessions or streamlined packages.
Send someone on your list a gift card
The prospect of receiving money for no work at all is highly appealing. You may hold a contest where the winner receives a $25 Amazon or Visa gift card for following your account.
Get a custom prize here!
Portraits, couples photography, or whatever your specialty is, might be promoted as a premium service by offering a bespoke package. Include the prize’s worth in your contest description to encourage more people to participate.
Businesses aren’t the only ones that can benefit from giving away free stuff. These giveaways are a fun way to connect with your audience, get new followers, and promote your brand.