How to Gain Followers by Using Loop Giveaways

Do you want to be able to increase your followers by 5 or 10 times overnight? The smartest brands on Instagram are achieving that with loop giveaways. Loop giveaways are flourishing on Instagram, and yet, many businesses don’t know what they are. Holding giveaways can help you achieve 70% faster growth of followers. Tailwind conducted Instagram research to assess the effectiveness of Instagram raffles, contests, and giveaways, and they found that Instagram contests get 3.5 times as many likes and 64 times more comments than regular posts. Learn what a loop giveaway is and how it can increase your followers.

What is a Loop Giveaway?

A loop giveaway is a marketing strategy in which a business makes an irresistible offer, has its entrants follow the host and its associate, and then in the end, one winner receives the giveaway prize. For example, Kylie Jenner promoted a $20,000 giveaway that included 9 luxury bags; brands gained over 230,000 new followers from this giveaway, and the giveaway was a huge hit.

You may be wondering if loop giveaways are effective. If Kylie Jenner’s campaign didn’t convince you, loop giveaways continue to evolve, and many A-list celebrities have hosted cash giveaways. Brands and influencers have gained millions of followers almost overnight from these giveaways.

Offering Big Rewards for Little Effort

Loop giveaways are effective because they offer a big reward for almost no effort on the consumer’s part. However, if a brand wants to host a giveaway, they’ll need to shell out some serious money. The upside is that the cost is shared by all participants, so if several businesses want to grow their audiences, they can host a loop giveaway together and share the costs.

9 Steps to Setting up a Successful Loop Giveaway

1. Get familiar with how they work- join one!

Join one or two loop giveaways, before trying to run your own, to familiarize yourself with how they work. Loop giveaways involve more than running a simple standalone contest on your feed. The loop element of the giveaway means the user needs to visit multiple accounts, so setting one up will take coordination and management.

2. Select a Theme

Consider what the theme will be, as this will help decide who you want to partner with. Here are a few examples:

• A particular product type

• A special event or holiday

• A seasonal giveaway

• Business types

• A particular cause

3. Reach Out to Your Participating Brands and Connect Them Together

A loop giveaway relies on the involvement of multiple brands, usually between 3 and 10, but can be successful with a few as 2 accounts or as many as 20, 30, or 40. However, the more brands that participate, the more work there is for the organizer. Keep away from competitors. Instead, approach complementary businesses. Once you know who you want to partner with, begin reaching out to them.

• Message them directly, point out the benefits, and ask if they want to participate

• Post an invite on your account, asking brands to participate, and include your contact information

Don’t expect everyone to jump at the chance. For five partners, you may need to send 50 messages, finding participants may take some work. Once you have the desired number of participants, start a group DM to share ideas, strategies, images, prizes, etc.

4. Select Prizes

Prizes depend on your theme, the products you sell, and how many winners you want. If you want your giveaway to achieve the desired results, the prizes must be of value to your audience. One winner is standard, but sometimes each participating brand offers a prize and ships to separate winners. Here are some ideas:

• Participating brands contribute towards a gift certificate

• Participating brands donate gifts and you create a gift bundle

• Participating brands all offer and ship their own gifts (to more than one winner)

5. Create Your Giveaway Contest Image and Caption

You may want to feature an image of the prizes or text an announcement that states the value of the giveaway. However, your giveaway needs to stand out, and that requires more creativity. Remember that all participating brands will post the same image and the same announcement in the description. Be sure to include the following:

• The announcement of the giveaway

• The theme

• Which brands are participating

• When the contest starts and ends

• What the prizes are (and their values)

• What the rules are for users to enter

• The date of the winner announcement

• How prizes will be shipped

• Any geographical limitations (e.g. U.S. only)

• Disclaimer to cover Instagram’s terms and conditions

• Relevant hashtags

6. Send the Giveaway Details to all Participants

Everyone will need a copy of the image and caption-text they are to post. Send it a few days before the giveaway and make sure everyone knows what they need to do. Make sure brands follow the guidelines, or the loop will be broken, entrants will be confused, and become disengaged. Walk participating brands through the process.

7. Post, Promote, and Follow Up

Consider creating a teaser post that prepares your followers for the prizes they can win. Post the contest image and caption at the time the contest starts, and the other participants should do the same. Promote your loop giveaway on other social media accounts with a link back to the post. Your post will, ideally, immediately gain traction. However, if the response is less than expected, remind your followers to check out your post and follow the instructions.

8. Announce the End of the Contest and Choose a Winner

Announce when the giveaway is over with a ‘contest over’ or ‘now closed’ image, and announce the winner(s) in the caption. All participating brands should do the same and make sure the posts are consistent. To choose a winner or winners, choose random numbers between 1 and the number of entrants, then match this number with the order of likes for your announcement post. Afterwards, contact the winner(s) for their shipping information. Remind those who didn’t win that they can buy the items from the giveaway from your store or your participants’ stores. Consider following up with a discount or free shipping on the items for a limited time as a thank you to those who entered the contest.

9. Review and Reach Out After Your Giveaway

Review the campaign and reach out to the new followers you’ve attracted. Consider the lessons you learn from your giveaway so you can improve the next one. Ask your participating brands how they thought it went and consider their feedback. After reviewing, ask yourself these key questions:

• How much time did it take to organize the contest?

• How much did we spend on the giveaway?

• What was the participation rate?

• How many new followers did we attract?

• What was the cost per new follower?

• How many new followers did participating brands gain?

• Was the entry process clear enough?

• What feedback (comments) did we get from participants?

• Was it promoted well enough?

Loop giveaways can increase your followers by 5 to 10 times overnight. It can also connect you to more brands like yourself and gain insight into your business. Host and participate in loop giveaways to boost your follower count by the thousands