However, it is necessary that you follow some rules so that your giveaway on the platform achieves the desired results. One of the best ways for you to succeed in them is by using apps. They will help you in creating a giveaway much more easily and smoothly. Tip: do you need that your followers have access to more links, but the bio limits you to only one? Then create an Instagram links page by using AppTuts.bio. Follow this link to start using it!
Instagram giveaways can be amazing… or not!
There are a lot of accounts that increase their engagement in their profile by using Instagram giveaways. However, there are others that generate serious issues by doing this sort of contest. And if you don’t want to have issues when doing giveaways, pay close attention to the next few lines… First and foremost, it is important that you’re aware that there are rules by Instagram itself. These rules mandate what you can and can’t do. They aren’t exactly complex, but it is always important that you do read them, which you can do here. The second tip is related to the prizes. What exactly is the prize for your giveaway? Have you given any thought? Lots of people offer prizes that are no related to their business, which can hinder their odds when trying to run successful Instagram giveaways. If you sell handmade items, why would you give away iPhones, for instance? Have as a prize something that does relate to your brand. Do you sell the best phones? Give phone cases away. Do you sell sports materials? Give some running shoes away! Another detail: if you want to have good results on your giveaway, create something unique. Don’t offer a shoddy prize just because you’re giving it away. You should offer something unique and special so that people feel motivated to participate!
Rules are important to run successful Instagram giveaways
When you decide to run a giveaway, a detail you should make particularly clear are the rules. As such, create a post where you talk about them in detail. This post should respond to the following questions:
When does the giveaway start and when does it end? Is it a giveaway for your city, state, country, or is it international? How many winners will there be? Is it a random giveaway or are you choosing the winner based on some criteria? How will you announce who has won? How can people take part in it?
Another detail you should take into account is that, should you require the person to tag you in a post or to use a hashtag, their account must be public. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see their post (we’ll talk about this more in-depth). Here’s the example of a description you can use when you create a giveaway: “Hey peeps! We’re giving away three beautiful Adidas sneakers for you! The giveaway starts September 3rd and it finishes September 6th. It is valid anywhere in the US, and if you want to be a part of it, you need to:
Tag 2 friends in the comments who will get a pair of sneakers each; You and your friends must all follow our account.
We will select one of the comments as the winner through a random giveaway. Another important rule: each person can only comment once. On the 7th, at 4 PM PST, we will notify the winners and post a Stories where we’ll announce who won. Pay attention and good luck! :)” If you want, feel free to copy and paste this text’s structure and use it :)
Using hashtags and tagging the brand in giveaways… beware!
Pay attention that in the above example I said to tag people in the comments. There are brands that prefer using hashtags or asking that the customers tag the brand in a post so they can enter the giveaway. Different strategies, that’s alright, but… When you ask that someone use hashtags or tag your brand in their posts, it’s extremely important that you make it clear that the account must be made PUBLIC. I’ve seen many brands failing to run a successful Instagram giveaway since the participant’s account was private, and so the brand couldn’t see the post.
I’ve posted my giveaway. How do I publicize it?
Lots of people who run giveaways on Instagram feel frustrated as they feel they create a giveaway and very few people take part in it. There are a few ways you can make it so your giveaways reach more people. Here are a few tips:
Don’t create a single post talking about the giveaway. Create several; Use Instagram Stories to make your giveaway much more public; Place your giveaway on Instagram highlights; Use other social media to draw people to your giveaway (such as Facebook, Twitter).
Another good tip to make help spread the word about your giveaway is to create a paid ad. When creating one, you invest just a few dollars but you can make your post reach thousands of people. To use ads, you need before anything else to have a professional account on Instagram. If you don’t know what that is, check out our article about how to get more Instagram followers, where we talk about it. After making your profile a professional one, under each and every post you’ll see a blue button that says Promote. To explain how you can promote a post, I’ll show an image from my Instagram profile. Next, there will be a few steps for you to create your ad. First of all, we will decide what is your goal when creating the giveaway: getting More Profile Visits, More Website Visits, or More Messages; In the case of a giveaway, it’s recommended you choose More Profile Visits:
Then, you will need to choose the Target Audience. That is, who is going to see the ad when you want to run successful Instagram giveaways. You can choose a Special Ad Category, use Instagram’s Automatic option, or to create your own. To make matters easier, you should select Automatic. Now, you will choose how much you’re going to spend, and for how long:
Last, you’ll be able to review your Promotion, and you’ll need to choose a form of payment. Do so and tap Create Promotion to finish!
Don’t fall into the trap of doing too many giveaways
Another extremely important tip is that you shouldn’t do too many giveaways. Run them every once in a while on your profile. If you run too many too often, you’ll attract nothing but followers who are only interested in free stuff and will never buy from you.
1. Ambassador
An extremely versatile tool you can use to run successful Instagram giveaways is Ambassador. It has a design that’s geared towards helping users who take part in the contests via mobile devices, making it one of the best options for Instagram, as it is more often than not used via smartphone. Ambassador lets you create photo and video contests, give out discount coupons, giveaway free items, and promotions for those who refer a friend, among a lot else. The platform is paid, but it has a 7-day free trial. Check it out right now!
2. WooBox
An app conglomerate to run successful giveaways on Instagram and other social media, WooBox lets you do almost all sorts of promotions. Other than simply giving items away, the apps it offers in its subscription plan also let you raffle discount coupons, create contests, quizzes, and polls, and much more. There’s no limit as to the number of fans that can take part in the giveaway and, should you become a subscriber, you’ll have unlimited access to all of these apps. Follow this link to see more about it.
3. ShortStack
With integrations for you to run giveaways on Instagram and Facebook, ShortStack lets you create giveaways through their own hashtags on Instagram. Other than creating giveaways and contests, the app offers around 90 different templates for you to create your campaign! Further, it has analytics so you can check how much your profile has grown due to the giveaway, as well as the possibility of increasing the likelihood for a follower to win if they refer a friend. Check out its full list of features by following this link.
4. AgoraPulse
A social media manager, AgoraPulse also offers a module for you to run successful giveaways on social media platforms, including Instagram. It lets its subscribers create giveaways and photo contests, as well as quizzes, and even offer discount coupons. The upside is that, even though it is more expensive than the aforementioned options, the app also delivers many features for you to manage your pages and profiles. Follow this link to learn more about AgoraPulse right now!
5. Tradable Bits
Specialized in the area of songs and sports, Tradable Bits is a digital marketing platform that also lets you give away free items for your Instagram followers. It also lets you host polls and all sorts of contests, promotions, and quizzes. TradeBits comes with both a free and a paid plan, but it is worth mentioning that only regular giveaways can be done for free. Even so, you can easily run successful giveaways on Instagram using this platform. Learn more about it!
Apps to create images for giveaways
Any giveaway needs a good image, does it not? If you’re not a designer, there are many apps you can use to make your life easier when creating an image for a giveaway. I’ll list some of them here for you:
- PlaceIt – By far one of the best tools to create images of all sorts, it is available only on the web. Learn more about it here. 7. Canva – It is available on the web as well as on mobile, with versions for Android and iOS. Learn more about it here! 8. Adobe Express – It resembles much of the previous option. It has some different options for images, and I usually use one of them. Check it out. 9. Bazaart – Another extremely useful app to create images. You can download it for iOS here.
If you want to learn more about apps to create and edit images, check out our article about the apps for editing photos like popular influencers!
Had you ever used any of the apps to run successful Instagram giveaways?
Now that you’re aware of some of the best apps, it’s time to put them to the test and compare results. Which one is your favorite? Share this article with your friends, and don’t forget to also check out how to unfollow on Instagram, the best statistics tools, and the best Instagram bio link tools! Images by DepositPhotos.
