In this post, we’ve rounded up tried-and-true strategies on how to promote a giveaway on Instagram. Experiment with different options – or for best results, follow every step.
It is worth mentioning that in this article we will be focusing on giveaway promotions hosted on a microsite with their own URL, with a registration form to fill out, and data collecting capabilities. Hence, Instagram will only serve as a platform to promote your externally hosted giveaway. If your aim is to run a giveaway on Instagram itself, it’s possible to do so, however, such action does not allow for data collection.
The Instagram giveaway app is the easiest, most straightforward way of running a giveaway on the social media platform. It is a good first-step to build up your follower base and brand awareness before moving onto more complex digital marketing actions.
To better understand how to promote a giveaway on Instagram effectively, let’s delve into why and when you should do it.
- Instagram has managed to generate the highest engagement among its community members, partly due to its artistic style and prioritization of creativity, beauty, and visual content. To communicate your promotion, you’ll need a graphic designer or be proficient in creating visual designs.
- Instagram mostly appeals to Generation Z and Millennials. However, some Millenials and older age groups may be more active on Facebook than on Instagram. Does your target audience consist of Millennials or Generation Z? If it does, Instagram is a good channel.
- Certain types of products are highly appealing to the Instagram community, while others are not so much: health and beauty, arts, fashion and accessories, cooking, and food generate a lot of engagement on Instagram. If you’re in these sectors, you have even more chances of getting a good response.
If you are hosting your giveaway on a microsite with its own URL, keep this in mind throughout your entire communication strategy: Your main objective is to draw traffic to that URL. Here is where imagination, creativity, and the possibilities that Instagram offers come into play.
So without any further ado, here are five actions to promote a giveaway on Instagram:
Create a post to announce your giveaway on Instagram
If you’re wondering how to promote a giveaway on Instagram, begin with a post on your profile. And how exactly should this post be?
- Feature an attractive image or video and minimal yet direct text. “Win + [prize],” “Giveaway of a [prize],” “Contest,” etc. Keep in mind that it’s the image that attracts and retains the attention of Instagram users, and you only have a few seconds to capture it. You can use tools like Instasize, Canva, or other apps to create the image for your post.
- A video is also a good solution to explain the most important aspects of the contest, as videos tend to receive more views in the hashtag search section on Instagram.
- The hashtags are also crucial for organically spreading the promotion within Instagram. Use hashtags like #giveaway, #contest, #coupon, #prizes. One of Instagram’s primary options allows users to search for content by hashtag, and posts containing them stand out.
- Link in the BIO. Having clickable access to your giveaway is paramount, however, Instagram does not allow links on posts. Hence, the best solution is to include the link in the bio—the only clickable link that Instagram allows us to insert in the profile.
Top tip: It’s important to monitor this link (and any other we use to promote the giveaway) to know how many of the promotion’s participants come from this source. Add UTM parameters to the link in the BIO, and you’ll know how many participants originate from this channel. It’s as easy as writing this UTMs formula: https://a.cstmapp.com/p/2xxx5/?/utm_source=Instagram&utm_medium=linkbio&utm_campaign=yourgiveaway This will make it possible to register the source in the “Statistics” section of your promotion’s control panel.
Use Facebook ADS to promote your giveaway on Instagram
The reach you can achieve organically on Instagram is limited and mainly limited to your followers. So, if you wish to reach new audiences or most of your followers, you’ll need to support your outreach with paid actions offered by the Ads Manager for Facebook and Instagram.
So, what are the benefits of advertising your giveaway on Instagram? Promoted posts allow you to:
- Include direct links to your contest URL and prominent “Call To Action” (CTA) buttons to guide the audience to the campaign’s microsite.
- Segment the audience you want to reach with the promotion based on age, gender, country or region, interests, or their relationship with your Instagram profile.
- Understand the characteristics of the audience that reacts or responds most to your ads.
There are two basic ways to advertise your post using Facebook Ads:
A) Promoting the post from your profile
You can use the post published on your profile and promote it using the button in the Instagram app. It will provide a fairly simple step-by-step process to determine the type of ad you want to create.
The destination will always be your website, and you should indicate the promotion link as the destination URL, as shown in the screenshot above. Choose a CTA button to guide and direct your participants: ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Learn More’ are usually the best Call To Action buttons for this type of action.
Top tip: The percentage of text within your post’s image is crucial. Having more than 20% text will negatively affect your ad’s delivery. It’s also important that there are no political or sexual messages and that it doesn’t include buttons or CTAs.
This tool also allows you to target the audience you want to reach. In the following example, giveaway was promoted in Argentina.
Once you’ve filled in all the ad information, you can preview your ad and its main features before creating, paying for, and activating it.
This way of promoting your campaign has the main benefits of being simple, highly guided, and quick. On the downside, it doesn’t allow you to develop a more complex promotional campaign with multiple ads or various placements (such as also promoting it on the associated Facebook page, in Stories, or on other platforms like the Audience Network). However, it’s the most recommended way to get started if you’ve never run ads on Facebook or Instagram before.
B) Creating your Instagram promotion campaign directly from Facebook Ads
This advanced option is suitable only for those familiar with creating advertising campaigns for Facebook, Instagram, and its Audience Network directly from Facebook Ads Manager.
Its main benefits include the possibility of developing much more complex ad strategies and organizing advertising on each platform (Instagram posts or Stories). Additionally, it enables the creation of multiple ads to promote the same project and to determine which creative or copy works best, among many other functions.
What’s the most common way to promote a contest or giveaway that takes place on a URL external to Instagram? It involves creating a campaign with the objective of “Traffic” and specifying “Traffic to the website” (the contest URL) and using the contest or promotion creativities that have already been published on your Instagram profile.
The main challenge and benefit still lie in being able to provide a direct link to the contest’s microsite. Therefore, the simplest way is to promote a post already published. Take a look at the example below, where a CTA button and a direct link to the participation website have been added to the organic post.
Use Instagram Stories often and creatively
Instagram Stories allow users to create short-lived images and videos that disappear 24 hours after their publication (although you can save them in “Highlights,” another section of your profile). This content can be personalized with GIFs, stickers, emojis, texts, effects, etc., making it a section that generates high engagement among Instagram users. You can check out the infographic by Brand99, a company that provides interesting data about the use of Stories.
Instagram has incorporated many features into Stories: filters, polls, countdowns, etc. Start by using the basic functions and experiment gradually. Keep in mind that Stories is the primary channel for attracting traffic, a sort of Instagram storefront. If possible, post Stories every day explaining or announcing your giveaway.
Stories and links
Instagram allows business accounts to include links in the Stories they post. Make sure you include a link to your giveaway in the stories you post and make sure it’s clearly visible. Stories only last 24 hours but you can store them in the “Featured” section, so it’s a good idea to create a section of featured stories for your giveaways.
Collaborate
If your product involves micro-influencers, collaborating brands, or Instagrammers willing to promote your contest, don’t hesitate to use this resource! Co-branded giveaways or collaborations with influencers that promote your promotion among their followers are becoming increasingly common. If your target audience aligns with theirs, explore this type of action and give your giveaway a boost. Keep in mind that your collaborators should be aware of the terms and characteristics of the giveaway before launching it to ensure good coordination and success.
We hope you find these tips on how to promote a giveaway on Instagram helpful. However, if you have any questions or would like to know more about how to use the Easypromos platform to set up and manage giveaways, dont hesitate to contact us via live chat. We will be happy to help.
