Instagram loop giveaways something you’ve been thinking about adding to your Instagram strategy? Well in this article, we’re going to get candid with you about the much-discussed Instagram loop giveaways. Some people hate Instagram loop giveaways, others love them, and lots of people are curious about them. Instagram loop giveaways have a lot of benefits, but to be honest, they also some negatives. In this post, we’re laying it all out on the table for you so you can make the best decision for your own page and personal growth.
If you’re totally new to the concept of Instagram loop giveaways, don’t worry. Chances are, you’ve seen what we’re talking about on your Instagram feed, even if you haven’t immediately noticed it. Instagram loop giveaways are essentially just contents run on Instagram with prize rewards and multiple participants. We’ve seen a number of different requirements listed in order to be entered to win, but typically it includes having to follow a list of people specified in the caption.
Instagram Loop Giveaways: The Standard
1) A group of participants is established
The number and quality of participants in an Instagram loop giveaway will vary based on how the giveaway is set up. We’ve seen loop giveaways being hosted amongst a group of like-minded bloggers as a fun and innovative way to share followers and boost numbers. In these cases, all of the participants are, at the very least, familiar with one another. Other times, though, the people in your loop giveaway could be complete strangers, where the participant list is established by a third party service that hosts loop giveaways.
Typically, when participating in an Instagram loop giveaway arranged by a third party loop giveaway service, there will be a sponsor involved. The sponsor is someone who is really prominent on Instagram and has a lot of engaged, high quality followers. This person is really pulling the weight in terms of giveaway entrants and follower gain. Their mass of followers is where the bulk of your growth will come from, and typically, the price you pay to buy into the giveaway will pay the sponsor for their participation.
2) A prize reward is chosen and purchased for the giveaway winner(s)
The prize reward often varies based on the situation. The most common prizes for Instagram loop giveaways run by third party services are designer goods, like a Louis Vuitton Never-Full bag, or a Gucci wallet. Lots of other popular go-to’s for giveaways are Apple products like iMacs, iPhones and iPads. In recent times, travel or “getaway” giveaways have been super popular, rewarding the winner(s) with trips to fun destinations with a combination of flights, hotel stays, excursions, etc.
In the less-common situations where brands will participate in or run their own Instagram loop giveaway, that brand will typically supply the reward/gift for the winners. Similarly, in Instagram loop giveaways hosted by groups of like-minded bloggers, they usually all pitch in to buy a gift of their choosing.
3) A “Loop Order” is Created in List Form
Once the list of participants is finalized, each participant is given the IG handle of the person directly after them on the list. That person’s IG handle is to be include in the caption. This is designed so that entrants can easily click through each caption, and thereby, easily click through (and follow) the list of participants for the Instagram loop giveaway.
4) Caption & Posting Date are Established
Perhaps the most important part of an Instagram loop giveaway is the posting time/date and making sure that everyone adheres to it. Everyone posts at the same time and same day to maximize exposure and follower gain. Closer to the established posting date, each participant is given a scripted caption to use on the giveaway post. As mentioned above, the caption includes the username of the person below you on the “loop order” list. In addition, the caption will contain giveaway rules, end date, guidelines, and regulatory info (indicating that the giveaway is, in no way, hosted by or related to Instagram).
Now that you have the basics down, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of Instagram loop giveaways. We have a lot of feelings about Instagram loop giveaways, both good and bad. We’ve participated in them and can speak from experience when we say that the benefit of the giveaway really depends on the individual giveaway itself. Below, we’ve outlined the major pro’s and con’s of participating in these types of giveaways:
Instagram Loo Giveaways: The Pros
1) (Some) Follower Growth
The follower growth is always an uncertain thing when it comes to Instagram loop giveaways, but it’s clearly the reason why everyone’s hopping onto this trend. Sometimes you get a tons of followers, and honestly, sometimes you don’t. The great thing about the follower gain is that it boosts your numbers, no matter how small the gain, and ultimately helps to get both your follower and engagement numbers up. The reason we included “(Some)” in front of this Pro will become clear in our Con’s section.
2) More Exposure
Maybe the best thing about loop giveaways is the exposure it gives you. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of people are being exposed to you that normally wouldn’t have come across your page. It opens up the opportunity for more friends, more followers, more collaborations.
3) Giving Back to Your Followers
Loop giveaways have the awesome added benefit of giving back to your followers. It’s a great way to show some appreciation and give them a chance to win a really awesome prize. Lots of people really like doing these fun giveaways and finding cool new accounts to follow in the process.
4) More Connections
Loop giveaways are a great way to network and interact with other bloggers in your peer group. We’ve not only made friends from joining loop giveaways, but we’ve experienced the added benefits of engagement groups, introductions to photographers, shared industry contacts, and greater exposure to collaboration opportunities.
Instagram Loo Giveaways: The Cons
1) Follower “Drop Off”
So, just to be totally honest, with a lot of loop giveaways, the follower drop off is really high. Tons of people participate in the giveaway in the hopes of winning the prize, but shortly after the giveaway winner is announced, a decent percent of those people go on unfollow sprees. We’ve seen as much as a 70% drop off in followers following a giveaway. One of the tips with loop giveaways is to make sure your page is eye-catching or differentiated enough to make people want to follow you. High quality content will make loop giveaway contestants think twice about hitting “unfollow.”
2) High Buy-In Prices
Because the prizes for the giveaway have to be purchased by the loop giveaway participants or by the third party manager, the buy in prices can be pretty high. The buy in prices are exceptionally high when there’s a sponsor involved, as their participation fees can be expensive. All of the participants split the total cost of the giveaway (sponsor + prize + shipping), so the more participants, the less money to buy in. However, with that being said, the more Instagram accounts that giveaway contestants have to enter to win, the less followers you’ll gain.
3) No Guarantee
Third party loop giveaway hosts often have “sign up” Instagram accounts where they’ll post upcoming giveaways and information about sponsors, buy in prices, rules, etc. In those posts they’ll often give an estimated follower count (typically a range). However, third party loop giveaway hosts will disclose in their posts that they cannot guarantee specific numbers of followers. So, to keep it short and sweet, if you pay $500 for an awesome giveaway with great gifts and sponsors and 100% of the followers drop off after the giveaway closes, you’re out of luck.
4) Perception
As mentioned earlier, a lot of people have negative things to say about loop giveaways. We often see influencers, both big and small in followers, posting Instagram stories and voicing their opinions about loop giveaways. A popular one is that, while loop giveaways increase your follower count, it’s not really genuine growth. From this standpoint, people who follow you in order to win a prize are worth less than someone who followed you for you, your style, your photography, whatever it is that makes you, you. And truth be told, sometimes they can be less engaged, less active, less relevant, and from a marketing/collaboration standpoint, less profitable.
So after hearing how Instagram loop giveaways work, and both their pros and cons is this something you’re interested in adding to your Instagram strategy? If you’re looking for more Instagram advice articles like this one on Instagram loop giveaways, then head to the Wolf Blog to read more!
