7 Ways to Grow Your Email List With Instagram Giveaways

Ready to turbocharge your marketing strategy with the power of Instagram giveaways and email marketing? Let us show you how to grow your email list with Instagram giveaways to engage your audience, expand your reach, and skyrocket your brand’s visibility.

In this post, we dive into how combining Instagram giveaways with savvy email tactics can boost your follower count and transform them into loyal email subscribers. Stay tuned as we unfold the secrets to crafting irresistible giveaways and building an email list that brings your brand to life in the inboxes of new and existing fans.

Let’s start by discussing some compelling reasons to harness the magic of Instagram giveaways in your email marketing strategy!

Instagram Giveaways and Email Marketing

Your followers love to see your business updates on Instagram, interact with your posts, and even buy your products or services directly from the app. But how will you take your relationship with them one step further? The answer might surprise you. Take them off the platform. 

You should move the conversation to another equally effective channel: email marketing. Just like social media, emails are a popular communication channel. And growing, as the graph shows:

Conversely, Instagram giveaways provide a unique opportunity to engage and increase your followers. By seamlessly integrating these efforts, email marketing, and Instagram giveaways, you foster a sense of community with exciting contests while creating a direct line to your followers’ inboxes. 

Combined, the two channels help you reach your audience where they already are and maximize your efforts to enhance brand loyalty, increase conversions, and drive website traffic. To guide you through this journey, we’ve gathered all the tips and tricks for running an exciting Instagram giveaway to grow your list. But let’s start with the ‘why’ you should create a giveaway.

How to Plan the Perfect Instagram Giveaway to Grow Your Email List

Every successful Instagram giveaway requires good planning. We’ve gathered the most effective ways to plan a flawless giveaway campaign and get those precious email recipients on your list.

1. Use Diverse Approaches to Capture Email Addresses

Instagram giveaways are a powerful strategy for expanding your list. By enticing followers with attractive prizes, brands can integrate different email collection tactics. Of course, transparency and user-friendliness are an absolute must-have, no matter how you choose to capture email addresses. With that in mind, let’s check the most effective methods to do so during an Instagram giveaway:

• Engaging entry forms. Design engaging entry forms and ask participants to fill in their email addresses as part of the entry requirements. Make your form user-friendly and simple to ensure a seamless experience. 
• Direct message participation. Encourage followers to enter your giveaway by sending you a direct message expressing their interest and giving you their email addresses. Make sure your response times are fast to build trust.
• Exclusive bonus entries. In addition to your standard entry requirements, offer entrants an additional chance to win by signing up for your newsletter. Communicate clearly the benefits of joining your list to give them an extra nudge.
• Link sticker feature in Stories. If you promote your giveaway with Instagram Stories, leverage the link sticker feature to add an external link and direct users to a dedicated landing page. There, they’ll have to submit their email addresses to participate.
• Collaborative giveaways. Partner with influencers or other brands related to your industry and ensure that one of the entry methods is email collection. Joint giveaways are the most effective way to promote your brand. Here’s why: 

2. Pick a Great and Relevant Prize

Many businesses incorporate high-value prizes to lure participants in when planning an Instagram giveaway. While an expensive product like a tablet will draw thousands of participants, the question arises: Are they the right kind? Probably not, especially if you want to turn those participants into email subscribers and, eventually, returning customers. 

Before hosting a giveaway, it’s important to understand your audience and tailor the prize to attract the right people and increase the chances of converting them.

Just like Proclaim did in their International Women’s Day giveaway, ensuring their campaign reaches their ideal customer profile. Building a list of quality subscribers genuinely interested in the brand’s offering and vision is the cornerstone of laser-focused fashion email marketing. 

How did they achieve that? They offered a $100 gift card, promoting their products while partnering with other eco-conscious and women-led brands. Not only did they give more incentives, but they also raised awareness of a social issue: creating sustainable products. They leveraged their collaborators’ audiences to gain visibility. These are most likely qualified leads who will become loyal customers since they share the same needs and values.

Whether you choose to give away products, services, or gift cards, make sure your prize aligns with the interests of your buyer personas. By offering a prize that appeals to your specific target market, you are more likely to attract potential customers. Generating higher-quality leads directly impacts your marketing efforts, as opposed to bringing in a broader but less interested audience with generic prizes.

3. Simplify the Entry Process

Entry requirements are the actions users take in return for participating. Defining your giveaway’s entry criteria ensures that everyone gets a fair chance at winning. Especially when aiming for email sign-ups, a simplified entry process plays a critical role in driving widespread participation. To maximize 

engagement and ensure transparency, here are the guidelines you should follow:

Keep things simple: 

• A simple and straightforward approach is key to any effective entry process. Involve a limited number of steps to remove barriers to participation. Just like Urban Decay did in this opt-in form on their website, asking participants just to fill in their email address to enter the giveaway: 

• Set crystal-clear rules: Your giveaway rules should be clearly stated, using precise copy without fluff. Ensure readers understand that providing their email address is a necessary part of the process–or a chance to win bonus entries.
• Visibility matters: Your email sign-up entry requirement should stand out from the rest of the content. Make sure you use straightforward copy and clear call-to-actions to emphasize the importance of this step.

Your choice of entry criteria depends on your marketing goals. When you focus on generating more email subscribers, taking advantage of the opportunity to highlight the benefits of joining your list is crucial. To do so, consider implementing the following methods:

• Encourage participants to sign up for your newsletter to stay updated on the latest news, industry tips, and exciting content.
• Highlight that your email followers enjoy exclusive access to fun sneak peeks, early announcements, and special deals.
• Convey that by joining your email list, they’ll receive personalized content tailored to their interests and preferences, such as informative blog posts or product recommendations.

4. Promote Your Giveaway

Creating an exciting giveaway and posting it on your Instagram account won’t be enough to build hype around it. Instead, promote your giveaway on your existing marketing channels to get it in front of more people. This is a key step for generating maximum participation and increasing email sign-ups. Here’s what you should do:

• Create posts on all your social media accounts. Also, consider promoting your giveaway using Instagram stories and Reels to take advantage of every avenue. Your social media profiles are ideal for spreading the word about your giveaway, especially if you’ve optimized your posts with the most effective hashtags. 
• Partner with a relevant influencer from your industry who will repost your giveaway content and increase its visibility, which, in turn, will boost your entry numbers. This is one of the most common tactics eCommerce brands use to ensure their giveaway’s success. 
• Reach out to your current subscribers to tell them about your giveaway, highlight your prizes, and explain how they can participate. Ensure that you add a prominent and straightforward CTA to direct recipients to your giveaway page. 

Just like Snif, a luxury brand in the scent industry, did in its email campaign announcing its Instagram giveaway, the email is simple and consists of the necessary elements to urge readers to join the giveaway fun: appealing photos of the prizes, clear instructions on how to enter, and an actionable email CTA linking to the dedicated page.

Another way to promote your giveaway is on your website and important web pages. At the same time, you can also write a dedicated blog post–especially if it’s linked to a special occasion like Mother’s Day. If your budget allows, consider displaying paid ads on your social media to expand your reach.

5. Share Your Giveaway with Existing Subscribers

Instagram giveaways are a great way to grow your email list. But it works the other way round, too. You can promote your giveaway to existing subscribers and boost participation. And re-engage your audience. 

Here are a few strategies to make the most of your email campaigns during an Instagram giveaway:

• Announce your giveaway. Craft an outstanding email announcing the giveaway. Write an eye-catching subject line to urge recipients to open your email. Remember to include key giveaway details like entry criteria, the prize, and the deadline.
• Communicate the benefits. Regardless of the prize you pick, highlight the benefits of entering the giveaway. Perhaps they can grab the opportunity to showcase UGC instead of just winning the prize. So, ensure that you emphasize why it’s worth their time.
• Add attention-grabbing visuals. Incorporating high-quality visuals such as images and videos related to your giveaway increases engagement. Plus, they give a preview of what your recipients should expect once they visit your Instagram account.
• Mind your CTA. Use a bold and clear CTA to direct subscribers to your giveaway post or your Instagram profile. The CTA copy must be precise, with compelling language, to encourage immediate action.
• Incorporate a countdown timer. Countdown timers are a great way to build excitement and create a sense of urgency. Highlight the remaining time to enter your giveaway to motivate users to act on your message as quickly as possible.

• Leverage email automation. Use your email marketing automation software to schedule a series of reminder emails leading to the giveaway deadline. That way, you save time and effort while giving recipients who might have missed the first email the chance to participate.
• Encourage sharing. Ask your subscribers to share your giveaway details with their social media friends to increase your contest’s visibility. Remember to always include social media icons in your emails to easily direct readers to the relevant accounts with just one click.

Bored Cow Giveaway Announcement on Email

This giveaway announcement email from Bored Cow ticks all the boxes. The brand incorporates eye-catching visuals, a prominent, bold-colored CTA, and clear and actionable language. Also, key details like the number of winners or the word “Free” are capitalized so subscribers can spot the most important information instantly. Cleverly enough, they’ve added CTA for recipients to visit a nearby store in case they aren’t into giveaways.

6. Use Your Emails to Follow Up

Now that you’ve successfully run your giveaway selected the winners, and gained new subscribers, it’s crucial to continue the conversation. Merely sending a congratulatory email to the winners is a missed opportunity. Each participant invested their time and effort, showing interest in your brand. It’s time to reciprocate that interest and start building a lasting relationship.

Giveaway follow-up emails have increased open rates because users expect them. So, they serve as a great opportunity to introduce newcomers to your brand, products, or services. Use a welcome series to help them learn more about your business and its mission. Remember to include personalization elements, such as their name, to make them feel special.

It would help if you also thanked everyone for participating: 

You might even include a small incentive like a discount or a downloadable guide to show them your appreciation. Such initiatives go a long way toward building brand loyalty. 

Now that you’ve got those recipients on your list, encourage them to keep engaging with your brand in future emails. For instance, you could invite them to upcoming events, share exciting promotions, request feedback, and more.

7. Measure Your Giveaway Results

The value of hosting an Instagram giveaway to grow your email list continues after doesn’t the contest itself. Measuring your giveaway performance is important, and checking It is where there’s room for improvement. Here are some of the key metrics to understand how you did:

• How many people participated?
• How many followers and email subscribers did you gain?
• Did your subscriber number increase as anticipated?
• Did users take certain actions, like sharing, commenting, etc.?
• How did your emails perform in terms of open and click-through rates?

This kind of information allows you to refine your giveaway strategy and get the most out of it over time. But don’t limit yourself to monitoring your giveaway performance. 

It’s also a great idea to gather participant feedback to gain insight into what worked and what didn’t. You could dispatch email surveys or use surveys on your social media posts to understand everything regarding your entrants’ giveaway experience.

Why Create an Instagram Giveaway?

Statistics show that Instagram accounts that run contests grow faster than those that don’t:

The main reason behind the effectiveness of Instagram giveaways is that they create a sense of reciprocity. A brand offers something valuable (aka a prize) in exchange for specific user actions—in our case, subscribing to an email list.  Here are a few more reasons why they are a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal: 

• Lead generation: Giveaways are excellent opportunities for lead generation. You capture contact information from participants and add them to your email list. Then, you can use your emails to nurture them over time and convert them into loyal customers.
• Increased engagement: Giveaways boost Instagram engagement since users interact with your post by liking, commenting, or sharing it. This type of engagement boosts your giveaway visibility while increasing the chances of other users subscribing to your content.
• Brand awareness: Entrants will share your giveaway post with their followers or tag a friend to join the fun, thus expanding your reach. This increased exposure introduces your products or services to new audiences who might not discover your content otherwise. 
• Valuable insights: You get to access valuable user data, starting with their email addresses. Additionally, you can use the comments during the contest to gain insights into your audience’s preferences. Then, you only need to tailor your content to meet their needs.

Best Tactics for Creating an Engaging Instagram Giveaway

Now that you know all about using your Instagram giveaways to expand your email list, it’s time to go through a list of the key elements to draw attention to any Instagram giveaway. Let’s check them out:

• Use precise and actionable language, and highlight that it’s a giveaway, either by using bold letters or by putting the word between emojis. 
• Captivate your audience with high-quality photos of the prize and vibrant colors in your Instagram giveaway posts. Remember, Instagram is a visual platform, and by using attractive visuals, you’re ensuring they’re engaged and excited about the giveaway. Set a clear start and end date for your giveaway. Also, consider evoking urgency to motivate users to take immediate action.
• Adding the right hashtag is among the most effective social media marketing tactics, as it affects your giveaway’s visibility. Hashtags like #giveaway or #giveawaycontest work fine, but you can get as creative as you like.
• Consider creating your own branded and memorable hashtag so your followers can connect the giveaway with your business. 
• Mention how and when you’ll announce the winner. Whether it’s through a dedicated post, email, or even a Story, your followers should have a clear understanding of what to expect.

Chipotle is a restaurant chain known for its engaging marketing campaigns. Using clear and straightforward copy, they hosted a giveaway to celebrate their new restaurant in Canada. The word giveaway is capitalized, while the entry criteria are short and numbered so users do not miss key information. 

Notice how they’ve put an alternative entry method for users who want an additional entry by asking them to repost on their stories. It doesn’t get more effective than that! 

Q&A: How to Grow Your Email List With Instagram Giveaways

Grow Your Email List With Instagram Giveaways

Instagram giveaways are a surefire way to populate your email lists and boost brand awareness. Unlike popular belief, even small businesses can benefit from giveaways to generate subscribers. 

That’s because all you need is an Instagram business profile, a clear plan and goal, and deep understanding of your audience. Once you have everything in place, you can pick a compelling prize and design your giveaway campaign using all your creativity.

Remember to take advantage of all your marketing channels to announce and promote your giveaways. Leverage your email campaigns to follow up with new subscribers and get them to know your brand and offering. Lastly, measure and analyze your performance to optimize your strategy for future giveaways.

TL;DR: Grow Your Email List With Instagram Giveaways

• Integrate Instagram Giveaways with Email Marketing: Boosts engagement and grows your email list by capturing participants’ emails.
• Select Appropriate Prizes: Choose relevant and desirable prizes that resonate with your target audience to attract quality leads.
• Capture Email Addresses Effectively: Utilize engaging forms, direct messages, exclusive bonus entries, link stickers in Stories, and collaborative giveaways.
• Promote Giveaways Broadly: Use all social media channels, collaborate with influencers, and highlight the giveaway in email campaigns.
• Follow Up Post-Giveaway: Send thank-you emails, offer consolation prizes, and introduce your brand through a welcome email series.
• Measure Giveaway Success: Track participation rates, follower and subscriber growth, and email engagement metrics. Solicit participant feedback to improve future giveaways.
• Leverage for Long-Term Engagement: Use giveaways not only for immediate gains but to build lasting relationships with new followers and email subscribers.

Author Bio

Maria Fintanidou works as a copywriter for email marketing automation software Moosend, having created the Help Articles (FAQs) and overseen the platform’s translations in Greek and Spanish. She loves exploring new cultures and ways of thinking through traveling, reading, and language learning.