How to run a giveaway step by step
Take a ceramics studio with 5,000 followers. Its prize announcement gets 400 “I’m in” comments, then the inbox fills with claims of a rigged draw. These steps settle such disputes before launch.
Prize, deadline and who can enter
Name the prize precisely: “a set of three handmade mugs worth 4,500 rubles”, not “a gift”. Write the deadline with a date, hour and time zone, and do not change it after launch.
The rules: what to put in the caption
The rules go in the caption. If someone complains, point to a line in the official rules.
- Prize, value and who pays for delivery.
- Deadline: the date, hour and time zone when entries close and results go up.
- Entry action: one comment, or tag a friend.
- Eligibility: 18 or older, delivery country, one account per person.
- The draw: a random number against the comment list, on a screen recording.
- What happens to duplicates and deleted comments.
- Winner reply: 48 hours, then a new draw.
- Disclaimer: Instagram does not sponsor, endorse or administer the promotion, and entrants fully release Instagram.
Entry condition: comment, tag or follow
| Condition | What the account gets | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Comment under the giveaway | Replies in one place and a clear list for the draw | Hundreds of short “I’m in” replies with no conversation |
| Tag a friend | People who never heard of you see the giveaway | Tagged people did not ask for the attention, and mass tags look like spam |
| Follow the account | A higher follower count | Unfollows after the results and people who only want the prize |
A small task tied to the account works best: “tell us which mug from the collection you would pick”. Ask for one tagged friend, not five, since people fill five slots with random names.
What Instagram’s rules require
The Promotion Guidelines set the key rule: a promotion has official rules and eligibility terms, such as age and residency. The promotion must include each entrant’s complete release of Instagram and a note that Instagram does not sponsor, endorse or administer it.
The guidelines rule out inaccurate tagging: you cannot ask people to tag themselves in photos they are not in.
The recommendation guidelines do not mention giveaways. On fake engagement, coordinated comment networks count as low quality, and Instagram tries not to recommend accounts that repeatedly bought likes. An entrant who tags dozens of friends can have their actions restricted, as the article on Instagram restrictions explains.
How to pick a winner in a comment giveaway fairly
Comment list and a random number: do you need a randomizer
You do not need a dedicated randomizer. A numbered comment list, any random number generator and an unedited screen recording are enough.
- Wait for the deadline. Late comments do not count.
- Copy the comments into a spreadsheet: number, username, text.
- Remove duplicates by the published rules.
- Start a screen recording and show the giveaway and the last spreadsheet row.
- Set the range from 1 to the last number and press the button once.
- Without stopping the recording, open the drawn row and the winner’s profile.
Take an account with 5,000 followers: 612 comments, 540 rows after cleanup. The generator returns 317, and row 317 holds Anna’s comment. Anyone can rewatch the draw.
Announcing the results: the recording and the caption
A fair announcement shows the whole draw with no cuts. Publish the results on the day and hour set in the rules. The caption tags the winner and gives the entrant count after cleanup, the drawn number and the reply deadline.
Duplicates, bots, private and deleted accounts
- Duplicates: one account gets one number.
- Bots: empty profiles with no photo and no posts stay off the list.
- Private profiles: they enter on equal terms, and you check follows against your own follower list.
- Deleted comment or account: the number drops out, and you run the generator again.
If the winner stays silent for 48 hours, run a new draw on a new recording from the same spreadsheet and say so in the results caption.
How to prepare the account for a giveaway
Which prize to choose
The best prize is tied to what you do: a ceramics studio gives away its own mugs, not headphones. Then the entrants are people who care about your work, and they stay in the feed after the results. A generic prize such as gadgets or cash draws prize hunters who leave as soon as the winner is named.
Match the prize value to the account size and to what your followers actually want to get: your own work, a set of several pieces or a voucher for your service.
Between giveaways, fill the feed with regular posts about your work. Whether they carry a live conversation is shown by the comment analysis at the end of this article.
Before launch: what new people will see
A giveaway brings people who see you for the first time. Before launch, publish three or four regular posts about what you do: a ceramics studio shows firing, glazing and a finished shelf. A new visitor opens the profile and sees right away why it is worth staying.
Check the profile header too. The bio says in one line what you do and how to order, and Highlights hold reviews, prices and shipping terms. A new visitor finds the answers there without sending a message, and sees during the giveaway that the studio’s work can be bought, not only won.
Pin the giveaway post to the profile and remind people about it in stories on day one, in the middle and a day before the results.
After the results: how to keep new followers
Show in stories how the prize is packed and shipped, then a photo of the winner with the parcel. Such a story shows entrants that the prize is real. Ask for the winner’s address and phone number only in direct messages and only to ship the prize.
Right after the results, publish a post worth staying for: a lesson, a roundup or a look behind the scenes. Reply to the comments under the results post: a live conversation there shows new people they are welcome after the promotion too.
Pitfalls
Freebie hunters and bots instead of an audience
A prize attracts people who want the prize, not you. After the draw they stop reading, and bots with empty profiles stay silent under your regular posts. The article on bots and inactive followers shows how to spot them.
Unfollows after the results
After the results, some new followers leave, and the article on why people unfollow you explains why. A strong post right after the results keeps them, as described above.
Scammers posing as the organizer
Fake winner messages come from lookalike accounts where one letter or a dot differs. The impostor rushes you and asks for a money transfer for delivery or a “tax”, a card number or a text message code. If the winner pays for delivery, the official rules say so upfront. A real organizer writes from the account that ran the giveaway and names the winner publicly. The article on reporting on Instagram explains how to report it.
What the giveaway did to your comments
Short “I’m in” replies under the prize post are expected. The real result shows under regular posts before and after the giveaway.
Comment analysis collects the comments under a public account’s recent posts, with no login to your account. The report shows posts with conversation and posts with emoji, plus the share of short and one-word replies. Questions under the posts come as a separate list, next to the most frequent commenters. It covers up to 10 discussed posts, the first page of comments for each, with no thread replies and no sentiment score.
The analysis does not pick a winner or list every entrant. It shows whether a conversation survived the promotion.
We show where a public profile’s posts sparked conversation and where they only got emoji.
Check comments after a giveawayQuestions and answers
What does Instagram require from a giveaway?
The Promotion Guidelines describe such promotions: official rules, entry terms, a release of Instagram by each entrant and a line saying that Instagram does not administer the promotion. Clear terms and a fair draw on a screen recording do the rest.
How do you run a free Instagram giveaway without paid tools?
A spreadsheet and a random number generator are enough. Copy the comments into a numbered spreadsheet, remove duplicates by the published rules and start a screen recording. Set the generator range from 1 to the last number, then show the drawn row and the winner’s profile. Publish the recording with the results.
Should a follow be an entry condition?
The Promotion Guidelines allow it. But follows made for a prize often end in unfollows after the draw, so a small task tied to the account works better: a comment about what the person likes in your work.
What if the winner does not reply?
Follow your rules. Once the reply window, say 48 hours, has passed, run a new draw on a new screen recording from the same spreadsheet without the old number. Announce the new name in the results caption or in a story that says it is a redraw. Entrants then see the prize did not go to someone you know.