With billions of active users, Instagram is the platform where people scroll, tap, and share every day. If you’re a brand looking to engage your target audience, it’s the place to be.
One of the best strategies that businesses use to do so is running giveaways and contests. They incentivize participation, spark conversations, and generate user‑created content that increases your reach and credibility.
But planning prizes, setting rules, tracking entries, and sending rewards isn’t as easy as it may sound.
In this post, we will guide you step by step from setting goals to picking winners and measuring results so you can run your Instagram automation for giveaways and contests with confidence.
Why Instagram Giveaways Are Essential for Engagement
Instagram giveaways are contests where brands offer prizes in exchange for simple actions, like following, commenting, and sharing. They invite your audience to take part, have fun, and feel rewarded. When done right, a giveaway can turn casual scrollers into active followers.
The impact of giveaways on follower growth and brand awareness
Giveaways accelerate follower growth by tapping into social networks.
When you ask people to tag friends or share your post to enter, each action brings new eyes to your profile. This tag-based entry method creates a chain reaction as more users join in and more followers follow.
At the same time, each share and post spreads the word about your brand. When people post about your giveaway, they give you a real recommendation that goes farther than an ad. The result is a bigger audience that already knows and trusts you.
Success stories from brands leveraging giveaways
Here are some success stories from brands leveraging giveaways:
1. Molly-Mae Instagram giveaway
Molly‑Mae ran a simple Instagram giveaway contest to celebrate one million YouTube subscribers. She spent £8,000 on prizes and asked fans to like the post, tag friends, and share it in their stories. The result was 270,000 new YouTube subscribers, 210,000 new Instagram followers, and 550,000 new followers for her Filter by Molly‑Mae brand.
2. Coconut Bowls
Coconut Bowls, a Shopify ecommerce store, ran a four-week Instagram giveaway for under $1,000 and generated massive buzz. Their landing page received over 222,000 views, they added 37,703 new followers, and converted 18% of visitors into 41,820 email leads. By asking fans to share, tag friends, and sign up for updates, they grew their audience and also built a library of user‑generated content that reinforced their sustainable brand story.
3. Ridge Wallet
Ridge Wallet ran a six-week Instagram giveaway with high-value prizes and simple entry steps. Users entered with their email and earned bonus entries through SMS signups or purchases. Weekly winners received Ridge gear, and the grand prize was a choice between a gold-plated Cybertruck, a Hennessey Velociraptor, or $100,000. The campaign grew their email and SMS lists, drove site traffic, and reinforced their premium, adventure-focused brand image.
Choosing the Right Giveaway Format
Picking the right giveaway style ensures you hit your goals with minimal fuss and maximum impact. Here are some popular Instagram giveaway formats to consider:
1. Like and comment contests
This is the most straightforward giveaway format. Users enter by liking the post, leaving a comment, or both, sometimes combined with a follow or save. It’s easy to join and great for quick engagement, especially when the instructions are clear and require little effort.
Example: A beauty brand might ask users to like the post and comment with the lipstick shade they’d wear on a first date to win the product.
Pro tip: Stick to one or two entry steps max. The easier it is to enter, the more entries you’ll get. Want long-term value? Include a “follow to enter” requirement to convert one-time entrants into lasting followers.
2. Tag-a-friend and share-to-story giveaways
This format is all about reach. By asking users to tag friends in the comments, you tap into new networks organically. Each tag introduces your brand to a new person. Adding a Story share brings even more visibility and top-of-feed exposure.
Example: A local bakery can offer a free cake to someone who tags two friends and shares the giveaway post to their Story.
Pro tip: Make the tagging feel relevant. If the prize is meant to be shared, say so. “Tag the friend you’d split this with” feels more natural than just “Tag for a chance to win.”
3. UGC‑based contests
These contests invite followers to create and share original content, such as photos, reels, short videos, or written stories. The focus is on showcasing your product in action or encouraging entries that align with your brand’s theme. UGC contests work well when you want authentic marketing content and deeper customer involvement.
Example: A travel gear brand might ask users to post a hiking photo or reel using their gear, along with a branded hashtag, for a chance to win a complete outdoor kit.
Pro tip: Clearly state in the rules that you may repost entries. If you’re asking for more than just visuals, like personal stories or testimonials, make sure you’re ready to review and moderate fairly.
Setting Up Automated Entry Management
Running giveaways manually gets messy fast. Automating key parts of the process helps you stay organized, saves time, and ensures fairness. Here’s how to streamline it:
1. Using chatbots to collect entries and verify participation
Chatbots in DMs can guide users through the entry steps and check if they’ve followed the rules, such as liking, following, or tagging. This cuts out manual tracking and ensures only valid entries are counted.
2. Automating responses to participants
Set up automated replies to confirm a successful entry or provide next steps. Whether it’s a thank-you message, contest rules, or a reminder to share the post, this keeps communication consistent and immediate, without needing to monitor DMs 24/7.
3. Managing contest rules and compliance
Use tools to enforce limits, track timelines, and store consent. This ensures fair play and helps you stay compliant with platform rules and data policies.
Picking Winners Fairly and Transparently
Choosing winners should be clear, unbiased, and easy to verify. Here’s how to handle it properly:
1. Random selection tools for fair giveaways
Use trusted random picker tools or giveaway apps that automatically pull winners from eligible entries. This removes bias and ensures the selection process is fair and documented.
2. Announcing winners effectively
Post winner announcements publicly on your feed or Stories. Tag the winner (if allowed) and include basic details like the prize and draw date to show transparency.
3. Handling disputes or claims
Have clear contest rules in place to handle any disputes that may arise. Respond quickly, refer to your terms, and keep screenshots or logs of entries to resolve issues.
Post-Giveaway Engagement Strategies
Here’s what you can do to engage users once the giveaway is over:
1. Converting giveaway participants into loyal followers
Share consistent, relevant content immediately after the giveaway. Highlight your products, share user stories, and communicate what followers can expect going forward.
2. Sending exclusive offers to non-winners
Share a time-limited discount or freebie with those who didn’t win. Send it via DM, email, or Story with a personal note, like, “Thanks for entering! Here’s something just for you.”
3. Creating follow-up campaigns
Use the giveaway list to launch a follow-up campaign, like a product drop, an early access offer, or a second-chance giveaway. Re-engage with similar incentives while your brand is still top of mind.
Tracking Giveaway Performance
To understand if your giveaway worked, you need to track the right metrics. Here’s how to evaluate results effectively:
Measuring engagement, reach, and ROI
Track likes, comments, shares, Story views, and follower growth to measure engagement and reach. Compare these against your pre-giveaway benchmarks. To assess ROI, weigh the cost of the giveaway (prize, tools, time) against what you gained—sales, new leads, or email signups.
Analyzing contest success with Instagram insights
Use Instagram Insights to review your post performance, including impressions, profile visits, saves, and website clicks. Look for spikes in activity during the giveaway period. This helps you see what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve your next campaign.
Conclusion
Instagram is the best platform for running giveaways and contests.
Its reach, engagement, and visual nature make it ideal for brand visibility and audience growth. However, managing entries, tracking participation, and handling responses manually can quickly become overwhelming.
This is where Interakt comes in. It helps you automate every step of your giveaway process, from entry collection to winner selection, with no manual effort.
