Most people enjoy getting something for free, and hosting an Instagram giveaway is an excellent way to fulfill that need for people while gaining some benefits for your account. An occasional Instagram giveaway can increase engagement on your account in just a few days. You may also gain more followers, especially if you only allow entries from followers.
There are many types of Instagram giveaways that work well, including Instagram collab giveaways and trivia giveaways. If you’re looking for some ideas as you plan your first Instagram giveaway, browse this roundup of successful examples.
9 Instagram Giveaway Examples for Different Types of Giveaways
Gain inspiration from the following Instagram giveaway examples of real giveaways that use specific content or entry types to increase engagement and encourage people to enter their contests.
Photo Contest Giveaways
Instagram photo contests are good opportunities to increase tags to your account and create a branded hashtag for other accounts to use.
For example, this contest asks entrants to post their photo entries to their accounts, tag the giveaway host’s account, and use a branded hashtag created for this specific giveaway.
Screenshot from @explorebflo via Instagram
For additional entries, you might encourage users to like and comment on their favorite photo from your account or tag other users they’d like to see participate.
Instagram Collab Giveaways
Partner up with another brand or an influencer to give away a prize. Collabs can bring in audiences from both parties to increase engagement and participation even further.
This Liquid I.V.® and BlendJet collab is the perfect example of pulling two very different audiences together for a giveaway. The prize package is wellness-focused, so it works well for both brands. Entrants must do several engagement-boosting tasks that help both brands, like liking the post and following each account.
Screenshot from @blendjet and liquidiv via Instagram
Tag-A-Friend Giveaways
Instagram giveaways often ask entrants to tag their friends for entries into the contest. This requirement helps broaden the giveaway’s audience by getting the giveaway in front of tagged users. Then, when they enter, they’ll tag more people, exponentially driving more entrants to the contest. Often, these additional entries can turn into follows.
This giveaway example from Sally Beauty UK asks participants to like the post, follow the account, and tag someone who would also like to win. All three are required for a valid entry, so every person entering tags at least one person, which could significantly boost the engagement on the post.
Screenshot from @sallybeautyuk via Instagram
In this giveaway, the host allows multiple entries for additional tags. So, you could tag just one friend as required to enter, but tag another friend in a separate comment for extra entries. The host doesn’t cap how many people you can tag for more entries. However, you might want to have a cap to avoid people tagging spam accounts to boost their entries.
Screenshot from @celadonbooks via Instagram
Trivia Contest Giveaways
Trivia contests are a smart move for an Instagram giveaway because they require users to comment on your post. As you know, more comments equals more engagement, which could boost your post and account in the Instagram algorithm.
Accounts using trivia contest giveaways typically create a post with a question they want entrants to answer. Then, they ask their audience to answer the question in the comments, either choosing the “best” responses or the first correct responses as the winners.
For example, this account offered a brain teaser to its audience, choosing the first two people to answer it correctly as the giveaway’s winners:
Screenshot from @tarellathemovie via Instagram
And this brand asked followers to comment what they think the name of its newest product will be, offering a prize to one random participant who answered correctly:
Screenshot from @red90_liqueur via Instagram
Live Giveaways
Some creators choose to stream their giveaways live on Instagram, either running the entire contest on a live stream or choosing the winners while live. Either way, this type of giveaway can garner lots of live viewers, which can give a quick engagement boost.
For example, this doll giveaway asked participants to follow an account, share the giveaway, and comment on the post. Then, the account went live on Instagram to announce the winners from the comment section.
Screenshot from @youvegotdolls via Instagram
This account hosted an event on Instagram Live and encouraged its followers to join by promising one viewer a price package worth more than $1,200:
Screenshot from @bumpclubandbeyond via Instagram
Comment Giveaways
Keep things simple by requesting that participants leave a comment on your giveaway post answering a specific question. This is a simple way to increase engagement through commenting.
For example, this giveaway asks participants to enter by commenting their favorite read of 2022. Because this account is followed by people who love to read romance novels, this giveaway encourages engagement by getting followers to share opinions and discuss the romance novels they’ve read.
Screenshot from @dancingthrupages via Instagram
Running Successful Instagram Giveaways
The most effective Instagram giveaways tend to follow one of the above recipes, although there are numerous ways to host one. Whatever method you choose, be sure to learn how to run successful Instagram giveaways to have a prepared and organized event when it’s time to go live.
Reach a larger audience with your Instagram giveaways and other posts by installing the Instagram follow button on your blog or website, allowing visitors to follow you on Instagram with a simple click.
