With the Instagram Stories Giveaway app, brands can manage participation automatically and select winners in a transparent way. This solution responds to a clear market need: increasing visibility on Instagram while encouraging direct interaction with followers. By activating this type of giveaway, brands can reach a broader audience, grow their follower base, and reinforce brand recognition.
Let’s start by reviewing the two types of giveaways you can organize with the Instagram Stories Giveaway app. Understanding these types will help clarify how the app works in practice.
- Reply to a Story Giveaway. Run a giveaway among users who have replied to a Story on your Instagram profile. You can import replies from up to 30 days.
- Mention in a Story Giveaway. Run a giveaway among users who mention your brand in a Story on their Instagram profile. Mentions can be imported from up to 30 days prior to activation, allowing you to include recent interactions.
| Now that we have reviewed the two available types, let’s look at some real-life examples. |
Reply to a Story Giveaway by Casa del Libro
Casa del Libro is one of Spain’s largest bookstore chains. When Spanish author Albert Espinosa released his latest book, the brand launched an Instagram Stories giveaway to promote it.
Participants had to reply to the brand’s Story for a chance to win a printed copy of the book. Unlike passive actions such as likes, replying to a Story requires a deliberate interaction. This increases engagement quality and creates a more direct connection between the brand and its audience.
Did you know? When a user interacts with your Stories, your future Stories are more likely to appear first in their feed. Encouraging interaction increases visibility and strengthens your brand presence on Instagram.
Reply to an Instagram Story giveaway by Coviran
Coviran, one of Spain’s largest supermarket cooperatives and food distributors, organized an Instagram Stories giveaway and added an extra participation requirement. In addition to replying to the Story, users had to mention their favorite horror movie. This allowed the brand to celebrate Halloween with its community while encouraging more thoughtful participation.
One best practice from this campaign is how Coviran announced the five winners through a Story and created a highlighted Story with all the relevant giveaway information. In addition, the Instagram Stories Giveaway app allows organizers to contact winners directly through private message from the winners list, which simplifies prize management.ent.
Let’s now move on to the second type of giveaway: the Mention in a Story Giveaway.
Instagram Story Mention Giveaway by Adolfo Dominguez
Our next example is a Mention in a Story Giveaway organized by the Spanish fashion brand Adolfo Dominguez. The brand promoted the campaign in its Instagram feed, explained the participation mechanics clearly, and included a link in the bio with the terms and conditions.
The objective of the giveaway was to encourage people to wear the same outfit to work every Monday as a way to reduce decision fatigue. To participate, users had to post a Story with a photo of their outfit and mention the brand. The brand repeated the campaign weekly and rewarded users who followed the initiative.
Mention in a Story Giveaway by Hai Swimwear
Hai is a Taiwanese fashion brand that recently reached the milestone of 10,000 followers. To celebrate this achievement, the brand organized a Mention in a Story Giveaway with a clear and well-structured participation process.
To participate, users had to choose a swimsuit from the brand’s feed, repost it in a Story mentioning the brand, and explain in a comment why they liked it. One winner was selected each week over several weeks. The brand promoted the giveaway through a Story that included a short video explaining step by step how to participate, making the process easy to follow.
There are several relevant aspects to highlight in this campaign. First, asking participants to choose a product from the brand’s feed increases product visibility, as users actively promote the brand through their own profiles. Second, inviting users to explain why they like a specific product provides valuable insight into customer preferences and motivations.
In this type of giveaway, participants must mention the brand in their Story. This requirement allows the organizer to run the giveaway automatically. There are two available import options:
- Import only new mentions. Import the mentions made after the giveaway has been activated. Mentions published before activation will not be included.
- Import past mentions. Once the participation period has ended, you can import all mentions of your brand made up to 30 days prior to activation.
Instagram does not allow third-party applications to store images that mention your brand. However, you can monitor brand mentions daily to verify that they meet the participation requirements.
Instagram Story Mention Giveaway by Bebang Halo Halo
Our final example comes from Bebang Halo Halo, a restaurant in the Philippines. The participation process is clear and effective. Users had to post a Story featuring a Halo Halo (a traditional Filipino shaved ice dessert) on their Instagram profile and mention the brand. This approach turned each participant into a brand advocate through their own profile.
The brand shared participating Stories on its profile and announced the winners in a post on its feed, reinforcing visibility and transparency.
Important: The Mention in a Story Giveaway requires participants to have a public Instagram profile. Otherwise, the organizer will not be able to import their Stories. Make this requirement clear in the participation instructions and terms.
Useful insights from these examples of Instagram Stories Giveaways
- There are two ways to monitor participation and collect users automatically: activate live monitoring to gather participants in real time, or create the giveaway in your Easypromos account and import participations from up to 30 days prior to activation.
- If you organize a Mention in a Story Giveaway, recommend that users highlight their participating Stories on their profile. This makes it easier to review entries during the participation period.
- Make sure the terms and conditions clearly specify all key information about the giveaway, including prizes, dates, participation requirements, and how winner content may be used. Participants should explicitly grant permission if their content will be reused.
- Post more than one Story while the giveaway is active to increase visibility and attract more participants.
- Instagram Stories are ephemeral by nature. For this reason, short participation periods between 1 and 5 days are often effective. Engagement levels are typically higher on weekdays, so consider launching your giveaway during those days.
- A recommended best practice is to create a highlighted Story with all the giveaway information. This highlight should explain how to participate, link to the terms and conditions, and announce the winners once the giveaway has ended.
Now you are ready to create your first Instagram Stories Giveaway. If you want to see how it works step by step, watch our tutorial on how to create an Instagram Stories Giveaway or request a demo with our team.
