Pros & Cons of Instagram Giveaways
Giveaways are a great way to boost your followers and gain engagement on Instagram. If you spend a lot of time on Instagram then you will have come across many accounts running giveaways to promote new products and increase brand awareness.
You may even see giveaways in your feed from accounts that you are not following. This is because giveaways are often promoted using Instagram Ads in order to attract new followers.
One of the most appealing things about an Instagram giveaway is that they give users a chance of winning a free gift or experience by following a simple call to action. For example, ‘like this post’, ‘comment below’, ‘tag a friend’ or ‘share to your stories’.
Instagram giveaways can be very beneficial to your brand; however they can also have a few unlikely, but unwanted complications.
Read on for the pros and cons of Instagram giveaways…
Pros – Attracts new followers
Instagram giveaways help to speed up the process of attracting new followers.
Pros – Increases engagement
Instagram giveaways receive high levels of engagement.
Pros – Encourages user-generated content
You can use Instagram giveaways to encourage your followers to create content for your brand.
Cons – Short-term Followers:
Your giveaway may attract followers who are only interested in the prize and will un-follow when the giveaway ends
Cons – Unengaged followers:
Giveaways may increase your total number of followers, but they can decrease your percentage of engaged followers, which can have a negative impact on Instagram’s algorithm.
Cons – Fake accounts and scams
Instagram has seen a huge rise in scammers targeting giveaways recently. They create a fake account cloning your profile and then they contact your followers saying they have won your giveaway. They then ask for personal information or payment details for postage of the prize.
It’s important to note both the pros and cons to help you make an informed decision on running an Instagram giveaway.
It is also vital to abide by Instagram’s Promotion Guidelines and acknowledge within your caption that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
If you would like some more advice on setting up or planning an Instagram giveaway for your business, please get in touch and our social media team will be happy to help.
