Hosting an Instagram Loop Giveaway Without Losing Your Mind (3/3)

If you haven't already read Part 1 or Part 2 I recommend doing so before reading on...

During the Giveaway

I recommend saving a few of your best images for the window during and after your giveaway.  People may be sucked in by the chance to win something, but you want them to stay for your product, right?  So hang a little bait out and see if a few of them don't bite!

Reminders

Schedule a reminder image to circulate during the giveaway.  Don't post all at the same time again, but scatter it so that people who have not entered will be coaxed in without irritating those who have already entered.  Your reminder should be similar to the original image, though it does not have to be the same (example below).

Finding A Winner

Your giveaway has ended, and your new followers are bursting with excitement and anticipation!  Who to choose, who to choose?
There are a few different options for this, but I chose to use Random.org to select a random number, and then used Iconosquare.com to count off followers until I reached the previously selected number.  Then all I had to do was check his/her followers to make sure that she followed everyone in our loop!  I was actually surprised by how simple it was.
After a winner is selected, you will need to send out information to everyone again.  One thing that we ended up doing that worked well for us is that I alone posted the "winner" image.  It meant that I lost a couple of followers right away, but this also prevented us from blowing up of our followers' feeds—new and old.

We have a WINNER!
Congratulations to @______!
Leave your Email address below (or DM) to receive your prize!

A big "thank you" to everyone who entered, commented and encouraged these lovely businesses.

If we don't hear from the winner within 24 hours, another winner will be selected from those fulfilling the requirements.

Now What?

Your giveaway is officially finished!  Send out a final congratulatory message to the other brands, and remind them of a few tricks for keeping their clients:

• Delete the giveaway image(s).  What? You spent so much energy on that image!  But if you delete it, those who followed you just to win may not delete you as quickly—they won't remember why they followed your awesome content and will look around a little further.
• Don't overwhelm your new followers—keep your content classy, tasteful and timely.  Nobody wants to have their feed filled with a brand (even one that they love).
• Introduce yourself.  Share a little bit of history behind the brand for those who don't necessarily know your story.  People connect with the stories behind businesses and want to know that you are real.

I hope that you found this information helpful! I really enjoyed hosting my first loop giveaway and look forward to hosting another in the future.

Any other comments or questions?
Have you hosted a giveaway?  What did you find to be helpful?

Hosting an Instagram Loop Without Losing Your Mind (2/3)

If you haven't already read Part 1, I recommend doing so before reading on...

Communicating

Now that you have a collective group of individuals / brands, it's time to organize and get down to business.  Some people have recommend working right in Instagram using their direct messaging feature, but I did not choose to go this route because I found that many of my brands did not regularly check this inbox while I would receive an Email response almost immediately.
When I had all of the brands individually confirmed, I sent out a group Email with payment details, scheduled time for giveaway, sample text and the image.  As we adjusted, I sent all of the details (highlighting the adjustments) again so that nobody had to dig for information.  The overall layout looked something like this:

Date/Time:
Include your timezone so that brands from another location will post at the correct time!  Keep this in mind as you plan and schedule your post—you don't want half of your loop posted in the middle of the night just so that you can get that coveted 3-5pm window.  Also, a funny time is easier to remember.  Like, 5:05 or 7:11.
It may be helpful to schedule a post using latergram.me, though I recommend giving it a test drive if you have never used it and scheduling it shortly before your designated post time.  This app cannot post without your approval, so you still need to be available at the scheduled time.

Text:
Have sample text for your brands use that includes the rules.  Example:

Want to win ______??
I am so excited to announce that I am participating in a #loopgiveaway with a group of fabulous #wedding brands that are dedicated to making your big day special! 
Here are the rules for this Giveaway:

• Like this photo and follow me!
• Tap the photo to see where to go next
• Follow and like ALL of the accounts in the loop (We'll be checking, so don't miss anyone!)
• Once you get back here, you’ve completed the loop!
• Giveaway ends this Sunday at midnight! Winner announced on July 28th
• Instagram is not associated with this giveaway

Again, be sure to review Instagram's ever changing rules to make sure that you do not violate any of them!

Loop:
Organize who is tagging who in your loop.  It is helpful to have this planned out early so that the username becomes familiar to each person.  An example of a simple layout to follow is:

Username1  tags  Username2
Username2  tags  Username3
Username3  tags  Username4
Username4  tags  Username1

Billing

This is where it gets a little tricky.  If each brand is donating a product, you can pretty much skip this part, but if you are going in for a group gift card, you will need to find a way to collect all of the funds for the gift card (and images if you hire a designer).
I did use Paypal and found it to be a rather painless transition, though some of my calculations were a bit off.  Because the fees for using these programs are difficult to predict, I ended up paying more out of pocket than the other brands in addition to doing all of the extra work to organize this giveaway.
NOT a great deal for me, and I was a little bummed about this.  If/when I decide to lead a loop giveaway again, I will probably plan to have my share paid through the other brands to compensate for the extra time that I spend.

Posting Day:

You've planned and scheduled, and the day has finally arrived!  I recommend sending out one final Email about 2-3 hours before the scheduled time just to serve as a final reminder.  Include all of the final information you sent beforehand: Date/Time, Image, Text, and tagging list.  After that, you've done all that you can, and the rest is up to your brands to remember!
Once you've posted at the designated time, you can relax a little.  Hopefully everyone will have posted and your loop will be complete—if not, Email or call your missing brand to make sure that they are live as soon as they can be!


And just like that, we're done with Part 2!
Hungry for more? Check out the links below:

In Part 1, we go over different giveaway options, images and finding the right group for you.
In Part 3 (coming Friday!) reviews what you should do during the giveaway, how to pick a winner and "life" after the giveaway.

Hosting an Instagram Loop Without Losing Your Mind (1/3)

We're taking a quick break from the wedding scene this week to chat about something new!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to host an Instagram Loop Giveaway with a group of wonderful business owners.  It was certainly quite a bit of work, but I met so many new people and learned a lot about organizing brands and communication, about funding, timing and handling a little bit of chaos.  And I had the opportunity to build my business while supporting other businesses that I love and believe in.

I am open to hosting another giveaway in the near future, but there are a number of things that I would change the next time around.  Below is part 1 of a 3 part series that covers what I did, what I would change, and what really helped me as I strove to lead this group of brands.

What is an Instagram Loop Giveaway?

It's genius really.
Everyone in the group posts the same photo at the exact same time.  Each of these photos has a different (per-determined) member of the group tagged in it. Example: I have "@writefullysimple" tagged in my photo, and she has "@unlikejuliet" tagged in her photo, etc.
As viewers come upon your photo, they click on the brand that you have tagged in your photo, follow that profile and click on the account of the next brand who is tagged, and follow them! And so on until they reach your original post again.
Simple enough, right?
The most important thing is that EVERYONE posts at the EXACT SAME TIME or the link will be broken and you could not only lose potential followers, but get a lot of frustrated complaints!

Find Brands/Businesses to Participate:

I highly recommend working with a theme;  ie, a group of people/brands who are working towards the same target audience or lifestyle.  Whether that's a "mommy" group, clean eating, exercising, wedding businesses, or Etsy shops, a consistent theme will not only unify you but also clarify your target audience and make you more attractive to those who you are actually trying to draw to your shop/feed.  And that's the goal, isn't it? Not to gain a ton of short term followers who don't care about you or your work, but to grow your following with people who could become potential friends and clients.

For my giveaway back in July, I worked with a group of small business owners who work in the wedding field.  We had calligraphers, photographers, planners, designers and jewelers—all businesses that had Brides as a main audience.  This worked really well for us, though next time I might limit it even further and stick with those who work solely in the wedding field.

Choosing a Prize:

You can either have a collective bundle where each brand offers an element of their own shop / services, or a lump gift card that will interest your target audience.  I did end up choosing to go the gift card route because it really simplified my job as the host/organizer and I could guarantee that each brand paid their "due".
If you choose to give a gift card, have a set amount in mind for the prize ($200, $500, etc) and give your group a rough estimate of how much that will cost them—don't finalize anything until you know all of your costs so that it can be an even split.

Whatever you decide to do, have a plan for delivery in place (most companies allow you to send gift cards via Email—Did this. Love this.) so that you don't have to scramble as soon as the winner is selected.

Style Your Giveaway Image:

As a designer, this was really important to me.  I ended up designing the giveaway image myself (below) rather than handing it off, because I wanted the design be strong, but also to reflect the brand that our gift card was coming from.  If you are not design savvy, I recommend either selecting someone in the group who is or paying someone to take care of this for you and including that in the group cost.
There is nothing more frustrating than performing less than your best because your image is sub-par.  We've all been sucked in by a good design... and turned off by a bad one.  This is instagram, the bar is set high, so reach for the stars!

Also, be sure to review Instagram's ever changing rules for posts and giveaways.  We love these rules because they limit the spam that we are hit with, but we hate to dance around them.  The point is, they are there and it's always best to do your homework beforehand and not have your account closed or suspended!

Phew.
That's all for Part 1!  Are you still with me??  What a trooper, I hope this was helpful.  If you are looking for more information, stay tuned for Part 2 and 3!

In Part 2 (coming Wednesday!), I review how to set up for the big day—collecting funds, sharing information and unifying your brands.
Part 3 (coming Friday!)  goes over day-of game plans, during the giveaway, and picking a winner.