Free stuff is the bomb. There’s just something in our psychology that reacts to things that are given for free—it kinda makes us value the product all the more.
According to economists, that response is called the zero price effect. And that’s the reason why Instagram giveaways are such a powerful tool.
Successful Instagram giveaways will have a direct impact on your brand’s perception—enhancing the interest of your business and engagement with your content.
Instagram gifts are:
- Fun and entertaining. A good Instagram giveaway establishes a connection between your brand and your target audience.
- Cost-effective. The only thing you need is a prize.
- Easy to set, run, and repeat. Once you have a formula that suits your audience, you can hold a giveaway as much as you want.
So how can you make sure you’re doing the giveaway right?
We’ve put together a brief guide to help you make your first-ever Instagram giveaway the best it can be.
1. Choose the Prize for Your Giveaway
The first thing you’re going to want to do is to decide on the item, service, or experience you’re going to offer as your award. This would vary depending on the goal—-if you intend to spread information about a product launch, for example, you’re likely to want to give away that particular product as your reward.
Alternatively, you might want to work with a brand to come up with a special prize that appeals to each of your viewers.
Finally, you could consider selling an experience instead of a specific product or service—like a weekend vacation, a spa day, or a chance to meet a leader in your field.
2. Establish Criteria for Your Giveaway
Again, the entry-criteria depends on your ultimate goal. For example, if you only want to promote brand awareness, you could ask each participant to like your post and comment on the name of a friend—this helps you to easily expand your visibility and might contribute to new followers.
Alternatively, you might want to attract attention to your blog or another page on your website. If this is the case, you may ask the participants to go to your blog or web page to find the entry criteria—such as a query that you would like them to address in your Instagram comments section.
Finally, you can with a brand and, in exchange for one of their items as a giveaway, you can include a request to follow their brand as part of the entry-criteria.
3. What Is Your End Goal
By setting a clear target, you can tailor your approach more precisely and keep track of whether or not your gift has been fruitful.
Your target could be an increase in page traffic, more followers, an increase in engagement, or an increase in sales—it’s up to you to choose what does your brand better.
4. Consider a Brand Partnership
Giveaways are especially successful when new companies are working together. For example, a company may post a recipe, and then reference particular brands in the ingredients section. A good giveaway is normally where a brand partner with a content creator or influencer to create something specific, and then they drive the prize through both their platforms.
At the end of the day, a giveaway could allow you to reach the followers of a similar brand, and vice versa—it’s a win, win.
5. Choose a Hashtag for Your Campaign
Instagram hashtags help the content surface on Explore, which also improves the visibility on the site. Consider creating a persuasive and unique marketing hashtag to help spread awareness about your campaign. For example, along with #giveaway, you might include #winitwednesday #[yourbrand]giveaway #[yourbrand]contest, or something of similar nature.
6. Put a Time-Limit on Your Giveaway
Tell your participants how long they will have to complete your criteria by setting a time limit on your contest and then adding “Giveaway Closed” at the end of that time.
Ideally, the time limit will build a sense of urgency and encourage fans to engage with your post more quickly—which will also help your offer remain at the top of the Instagram feeds of your followers.
7. Launch and Promote Your Instagram Giveaway
When you’ve selected your award, entry requirements, possible partners, hashtag, time-limit, and goal, you’re finally ready to launch and promote your post! Remember, Instagram users will prefer updates at some point in the day, so you’ll want to schedule carefully.
In addition, you are likely to draw more exposure to your giveaways if you also post details on a blog post, Facebook page, or other social channels. Think where else you can market your giveaways.
3 Reasons to Do an Instagram Giveaway
A well-planned Instagram giveaway lets you maximize your following, build engagement with your content, and increase customer loyalty.
If you’re new to the platform or trying to stir up some hype for your existing following, giveaways are a perfect way to jump-start a relationship with your followers.
Running your own giveaways will:
- Attract followers faster. Instagram accounts that hold a contest or giveaway grow 70 percent faster than those that don’t.\
- Entice both present and prospective followers to participate. Increased engagement suggests to Instagram that they should feature your content more regularly and serve as social evidence for your brand.
- Create deeper connections with your current audience. When you hold giveaways, it serves to build an emotional bond between you and your fans.
Yet that’s not half of it.
Outside of the relationship-and audience-building advantages that we have just addressed, there is also one practical benefit:
Contests and giveaways can be used to tease an upcoming product or feature release and encourage followers to share and submit user-generated content (UGC).
Start Using Instagram Giveaways to Grow Your Brand
Whether you’re looking for more followers, more interest, or more recognition, Instagram giveaways are a great tool to expand your brand.
When you follow this checklist, it means that you’re not just giving anything for free. You create an opportunity to communicate emotionally with the audience and give them something of significance in exchange for their engagement.