One of the most popular ways of growing your dogs following on Instagram is by running a giveaway. It’s your opportunity to be discovered by new accounts and give back to your loyal followers. But how do you ensure that your giveaway is a success? Below are our top tips to give your giveaway the best chance to succeed!
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K.I.S.S
The old KISS principle - Keep It Simple Stupid. Let’s break it down. The point of a giveaway is to get people to enter. People are busy. People want simplicity. Imagine these two competitions offering a similar prize pool;
* Follow 15 accounts, tell us your funniest story, tag at least 5 people. -or-
* Follow 5 accounts, tag 1 person.
Which one are you most likely to enter? You want to make entry as easy as possible. Not everyone has 5 people they’d feel comfortable tagging, so you’ve immediately ruled them out. The idea of the giveaway is to open yourself up to as many new followers as possible. Keep entry basic and quick!
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Remove barriers
As mentioned above, you want to open yourself up to as many entrants as possible. Instagram is a worldwide platform. We suggest making your giveaway international whenever possible to allow more traction.
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Attractive prize pool
It kind of goes without saying that you need to be offering up something that people will want to win. People want FREEBIES. Sure, discount codes are OK, but that's not what people really want. They want goods, in their paws, for FREE. Collaborating with other accounts is another way to boost your prize pool and reach a wider audience.
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Get noticed
It’s absolutely vital that you post your giveaway when your followers are online. Sure Instagram's algorithms are always changing but regardless, there always remains an element on posting at the right time. If you have a business account you simply need to check your insights to see when YOUR followers are most active. Typically weekday evenings or weekends are popular. Secondly, you need an eye catching image - STOP people in their scrolling tracks to ensure they take notice. Then you’ll woo them with your prize pack and easy entry steps ;)
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Gaining sponsors
In order to get that attractive prize pool your going to need some sponsors, unless your providing the prize pool yourself. When you approach businesses, take the time to respectfully ask for their support. A simple ‘can you donate to my giveaway’ is probably not going to suffice. Take the time to engage with their account (lots of likes and comments) and then explain why, when and how your running your giveaway and why you’d like them involved. A lot of business are now only supporting giveaways who have personally purchased from them. Your first point of call would be those businesses you have actually supported with purchases.
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Remind them and keep it fresh
Last but not least, a giveaway should not be a one time post, set and forget. You need to remind your followers several times to enter. We’d suggest at least two stories. One to launch and one as a reminder. In the reminder, don’t just tell them to enter, actually show them the prizes up for grabs. We also suggest you start promoting the giveaway before you’ve launched it so your followers know to expect it and it builds excitement. Don’t forget to use hashtags on your stories and posts to gain the attention of your non-followers. We recommend you run the giveaway for a maximum of 7 days. Typically, short and sweet giveaways tend to perform better.
It’s not a foolproof plan, but we believe if you follow these steps you’ll be on your way to running your most successful giveaway yet!
Happy Giving!!
NOTE: We do also suggest you research the rules for running giveaways on Instagram, just to cover yourself. There are certain terms and statements you need to note so you don’t get in trouble!
The above BLOG does not constitute business or marketing advice. It’s been compiled based on our experiences and observations along with tips from other business owners.
