Thinking about hosting an Instagram giveaway in 2023? Hold on a minute! Discover why this popular trend might not be as great as it seems.
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On the internet, you will find little about this topic because it's a practice that many applaud.
But speaking from my experience, and based on Instagram's policies, I will tell you why I never recommend doing giveaways the way they are usually done.
When you hold a giveaway, that post will have a reach that no other post has ever had—unless it's another giveaway—which will signal to Instagram that the content you publish is very important to your community and that others with the same interest might like it.
Therefore, it will show you more, and your statistics will increase thanks to that post. More likes, more followers, more comments, more reach, more everything.
And here you are happy.
Your next post will not be a giveaway, meaning nobody will be obliged to comment, follow you, and like it because they clearly won't win anything by doing so.
And that, Instagram sees—logically—as "the community doesn't like the content".
It doesn't understand that your previous post was a giveaway and that the next one has the same amount or even slightly more interaction than all the ones you were doing before.
It simply sees it as "it had 700 likes and 35 comments. Now it has 5,000 likes and 10,000 comments. Posted something new and only reached 1,200 likes and 5 comments. Hmm... I think people didn't like what this account posted new. Let's show less of its content so it doesn't harm the community"
So now you have more followers, only that your interaction has dropped.
And when the giveaway ends, you will begin to lose followers—those you only gained through the giveaway—and there you will see the decline of your account as the days go by.
Yes. But it doesn't really agree with them, moreover, the community policies make it very clear that they do not recommend giveaways. You can read it here.
On the other hand, forcing people to follow, comment, like, save... in short, any inauthentic behavior is prohibited. You can read it here.
And unfortunately, all the giveaways on the platform are like this. They force you to perform massive inauthentic actions to participate.
If you don't follow Instagram's community guidelines, consequences can range from limiting your actions—such as commenting, sharing, and liking posts—to having your account deactivated. You can read it here.
And even though many people have not been affected—or so you think—that doesn't mean it can't happen.
There are people who have lost the ability to advertise or even had their accounts closed without an explanation.
I'm not saying that if this has happened to you, this is the only reason, but it could be one of many.
The next thing I'll tell you is worth evaluating.
A giveaway is made to generate a massive increase in statistics without organic growth. And I think there's almost no difference between buying followers and hosting a giveaway.
With that said, I leave you with some advice: think 1,000 times before holding a giveaway.
To gain followers, it's better to focus on creating valuable content. If you have no idea how to do that, you can have a personalized consultation with us.
And if what you are looking for is to motivate your community to participate, believe me when I say there are many ways to do it. Moreover, those many ways will also help you increase not only followers and interaction but also sales and credibility.
