Influencers and brands both tend to view Instagram giveaways as a tool for gaining ground on IG. Is that the case? Is it worth the time, effort, and money to put together and execute a giveaway? Here’s the truth about Instagram giveaways.
The Ugly Truth: Most Instagram Giveaways Have Negative Impact
Instagram users have used giveaways to go viral since the platform began. There are still articles today touting this as an Instagram growth hack. The problem is that Instagram has evolved, and techniques that once worked no longer do.
It’s important to remember that Instagram has changed two key points. They’ve improved their ability to recognize fake accounts and now reward engagement more than follower count.
Instagram’s Algorithm And Giveaways
You have to understand how Instagram works to see why most giveaways aren’t helpful. Instagram works hard to filter out spam posts, delete fake accounts, and recognize falsely inflated metrics gained through activities like buying likes and followers. Their goal is to improve user experience by filtering the most relevant, high-quality content to the top of each user’s feed.
The problem with giveaways is that they can raise some red flags with the Instagram algorithm. The algorithm constantly changes as engineers try to overcome challenges.
Specifically, how do they tell the difference between fake and real followers? So far, the best way to do that is to recognize how they engage.
Problematic Giveaways
Many people who try to use giveaways get negative results. Their efforts may seem to go viral at first, but they later find that their metrics take a nosedive. That’s because they don’t execute correctly.
Imagine that a hair and makeup influencer decides they want to use Instagram to earn more followers. Currently, they have 20K followers with excellent engagement rates. They’d like to double that. So, they create a giant generic giveaway (LGG). That’s a giveaway designed to target everybody. It goes well, and they gain about 1,000 new followers. The influencer continues throwing these big giveaways over several months until they reach their goal.
Everything seems fine at first. Then, influencers notice that their engagement has dropped significantly and continues to do so. Both likes and comments have dropped. The engagement they are receiving only seems to be coming from a close inner circle. It’s almost as if their account has become invisible.
Here’s the problem. When Instagrammers use LGGs to attract followers, it works. The issue is that the followers they attract have no intention of engaging with them. Instead, they do the bare minimum to enter the giveaway, ignoring the influencer’s account. The new followers may not have any interest in hair and makeup at all.
So, the influencer gets more numbers but much less engagement. That can signal to Instagram the new followers are fake or that the account is low-quality and cannot be trusted. Worse, because large generic giveaways see an increase in followers, they often repeat them. They simply never realize they are causing more harm than good.
Instagram Giveaways That Work
Small giveaways that are deliberately targeted to an engaged niche can be worthy of your time and effort. Imagine that the hair and makeup influencer did a set of giveaways. Each one was targeted to a specific audience group. For example, one small niche giveaway (SNG) might be targeted to women over 30 interested in sophisticated-looking products that are easy to use.
Now two things are happening. Because they are targeting an audience that is likely to be interested in their niche, they may earn engagement in addition to new followers. Additionally, giveaways like this can also boost engagement with and reward existing followers.
It’s essential to understand how this looks from Instagram’s perspective. These results don’t just bring a surge of numbers; the amount of meaningful engagement also increases.
SNG and Influencer Marketing
Like many other social media initiatives, giveaways are often more effective if partnerships between brands and influencers drive them. That is one more reason to focus on small niche giveaways over large generic giveaways. When brands and influencers partner with the help of JustGoViral, they can create focused giveaways that truly get impactful results.
How Does a Giveaway Partnership Work
When it comes to brand and influencer partnerships, a well-constructed giveaway can benefit both parties. The brand gets mentions and has its products promoted to a new audience. The influencer enjoys new followers and some high-quality engagement. They also get compensated by way of free products, commission, or direct payment.
The best Instagram giveaways begin with a partnership between a brand and influencer that are well-suited for one another. JustGoViral helps with this process by matching verified brands and influencers with similar target audiences.
Once the match is made, the brand and influencer can work together to create a giveaway that works for both of them and achieves their goals.
They must determine:
- Who will be targeted by the giveaway
- What product or service will be the prize?
- The rules for participation
- How the giveaway will be executed
- The length of the contest
Most importantly, both must agree on the influencer’s content and post to promote the giveaway and the product.
The giveaway rules are that participants must follow the influencer and comment on one of the posts with a branded hashtag explicitly created for the giveaway. For example, the hair and makeup influencer might work with a cosmetics brand to offer a mineral-based eyeshadow palette for people over 30. They might agree that the influencer will share a total of ten posts promoting the giveaway.
Final Thoughts: Dedicated Giveaways Can Work
Many giveaways have no impact or negative impact. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, an Instagram giveaway can benefit influencers, brands, and their followers. The key is to focus on a specific audience, plan the giveaway carefully, and focus on engagement over vanity metrics.
