How to Announce Winners of a Giveaway with Instagram Stories

When you’re planning a marketing strategy around online contests and Instagram giveaways, there are a few key questions you should ask. What are your marketing objectives? How many promotions are you going to run? What prizes will you award? How many lucky winners will there be? And last of all: how are you going to announce the competition winners?

Once your prize draw is over, your followers will be anxious to know who won – and whether the sweepstakes was fair. Your winners will need a way to claim their prizes. And, if you put enough effort into announcing the winners, you can extend the benefits of your Instagram giveaway, long beyond its closing date.

Why should you use Instagram Stories for your giveaway winner announcement?

It’s our professional opinion that Instagram Stories are the best way to announce your giveaway winners. Stories get more engagement than any other content on Instagram – so if you want to make waves with a giveaway, then you should be posting Stories all the way through.

Today, we’re going to discuss how to share the results of a prize draw on Instagram. We’ll explain how to announce the winners in your Stories, and why it could transform your marketing strategy.

Did you know that Easypromos offers the only available tool in the market to run fully automated and reliable giveaways on Instagram Stories?

Use Show Mode to create a viral video for your giveaway winner announcement on Instagram Stories

Some time ago, we noticed that lots of our customers were sharing a video of the moment they chose the winner. It’s direct, thrilling, and shows that the contest was run properly.

There’s only one problem: the videos looked terrible.

So we created Show Mode.

Whenever you run a sweepstakes with Easypromos, the platform automatically generates an animated video with sound effects that you can further customize with your texts and images. What’s more, the video is generated in vertical and horizontal formats so you can post it in Stories format. Now you really can announce winners with a bang!

Real examples of giveaway winner announcements on Instagram Stories

Claim your prize

So you’ve set up and run a giveaway based on Instagram comments. You’ve used Easypromos to pick the winners, and now it’s time to share the news.

There are two main goals here:

• telling your followers that the contest is over
• announcing who’s won the prize

But it can seem complicated to manage winners and prizes – especially if your contest has more than one. That’s why we designed a tool to make it simple: Claim Your Prize.

This creates a microsite which you can share like any other web link. Winners visit the site, confirm their identity, and share their contact details with you. It’s an easy, direct way for winners to accept their prize, and it’s completely secure.

Here are some easy ways to share the prize page link on Instagram:

• Quote the URL in your Instagram bio. Use Instagram Stories to direct users to your profile for the link.
• Link to your profile or giveaway post. Direct followers to your profile, where they can find the link in bio for themselves.
• Add a swipe-up link to your Stories. Don’t forget to write a call to action too, so that users know they can claim their prize in just one click.

Mention and DM the winners

If you only have one winner, or you just want to stay inside Instagram, then you can announce and contact winners with a simple @mention or direct message.

Create a Story announcing the end of the competition, showing the winner’s name as a @mention. Then encourage the winner to DM you for details of how to receive the prize.

Then the winner can contact you, quickly and privately. They might even share the Story with their followers, bringing your posts to a new audience.

When you pick a winner with Easypromos, you can add an automatic comment to your giveaway post and tag the winner. Couldn’t be easier!

Show off the prize and tag the winner

This is a great option for giveaways with multiple prizes. Post a Story with a @mention of the winner, and an exciting description of the prize.

Why does this work so well? Because you can publish as many Stories as there are winners!

It’s a good way to boost the size and reach of your promotion. It also shows your users the benefits of being part of your brand community. Save the Story in your highlights for maximum impact.

Post live Stories of your giveaway winner announcement

Sharing a live Story is an excellent way to show your followers that the contest has been transparent, free and fair, as guaranteed by Easypromos.

Show off the excitement in your office, or livestream a video where you unbox the prize. You can get reactions from your followers in real time – then leave the video up for more viewers to enjoy later.

Post a sequence of Stories to add excitement and build suspense. You could use the series to tell a story, or create a gif effect by changing pose between Stories. Then reveal the name of the winner at the end!

Viral tips for your giveaway winner announcement on Instagram Stories

What makes a Story successful? How do you make sure that as many users as possible hear about the giveaway? Here are our top tips to bear in mind:

• Use the main image from the giveaway post in your Story to announce the winners. Then it will be easy for them to recognize the giveaway!
• Mention @easypromosapp in your Story to announce the winners, so that users know the giveaway has been fair.
• Add emojis and stickers to make your Story pop. Did you know there are custom Easypromos gifs on Instagram?
• If you don’t have a graphic design department, and your own art skills are limited, use Canva to create a stylish, effortless image design.
• Make sure your Stories are shareable, so the winners can pass the news on to their friends.

We hope you find these tips useful for making the most of announcing the winner of your next Instagram giveaway. If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us via live-chat. We will be happy to help!