Instagram Giveaway Rules are necessary for any brand that wants to host a legitimate and successful giveaway on the platform. 

Giveaway rules are essential to regulate cheating, spam, and disputes between your brand and giveaway entrants. A great set of rules can be just the thing that saves your brand from embarrassment and or issues that can tarnish your brand image. 

Setting up Instagram giveaway rules can be an intense endeavor with the potential to spoil the fun. Luckily, you have us here at VYPER! Our Instagram Giveaway Rules Guide is here to fast-track the process of setting giveaway rules. 

We hope you find this guide simple to work with and that it allows you to prepare your next campaign swiftly. Just follow the steps below to get started. 

#1 Entry Method: Rules for Entering the Instagram Giveaway

Entry method rules help keep your giveaway entrants organized while helping you achieve crucial goals. 

Yes, a giveaway can create brand exposure. However, you should take advantage of the opportunity to collect emails, grow your audience online, and boost website traffic. Specific rules regarding your giveaway entry method are necessary if you wish to find new leads and grow your business. 

Here are a few examples of giveaway entry method rules: 

• Fill out this form to enter – Let users fill out a simple form with their name and email to enter the giveaway. This is ideal for collecting email addresses and new account signups. 
• Tag friends to enter – Users can tag family and friends in the comments section of the giveaway post on social media. Great way to create engagement on your socials, find new followers, and get current fans to refer new leads. 
• Download our app or start a free trial to enter – This is an excellent way to use your giveaway to get users to try out your software or service. 
• Submit a selfie to enter – Selfie giveaways are a popular way of creating brand loyalty. Ask users to include your product in their selfies to create a UGC (user-generated content) contest. 

These are just a few ways to get people to enter your Instagram giveaway. Select an entry method that best suits your needs, then write it in your Instagram giveaway rules. 

For example, “You are required to submit your email address to enter. Failing to do so will not gain you entry to the giveaway.” 

Another example is “Users must create a new account to gain access to the contest.”

#2 Giveaway Prize Rules and Restrictions

Make the rules regarding your giveaway prize clear to avoid any issues that may occur after awarding the winner their prize. 

Your giveaway prize is the most critical factor for determining the success of your campaign. People enter your giveaway because they want to win the prize. 

For this reason, you must enforce rules for the prize to ensure that the winners receive their prizes with no issues at all. If a winner has a problem with their prize, they may hold you responsible. Prize rules can help clear up unwanted confusion. 

Here are a few crucial factors to include in your prize rules:

• Prize details – Include all information regarding your prize in the rules. This can be model no., size, color, etc. 
• Warranty information – The duration of the warranty. The date the warranty will be activated. You must state that your company will not honor the warranty. The winner must contact the manufacturer of the prize. 
• Prize delivery – This is crucial as it informs the user of the delivery method so they can arrange to receive their prize. Your company will not be liable for any issues that arise during the delivery period.

Brands only mention the prize on offer and leave out all of the specifics. This can cause confusion with entrants or winners. Having all of the information above in your giveaway rules is important. 

#3 Closing Date for Entries

The closing date for your giveaway significantly encourages users to participate in your campaign due to their fear of missing out (FOMO). 

Many brands forget to include the closing date for their giveaway. This leaves giveaway entrants and social media users no choice but to inquire directly with the brand about the closing date. Add the closing date into giveaway marketing images or include it at the top of your post descriptions so that it is easy to find. 

It is also essential to include the exact time (along with the time zone) the giveaway ends along with the date. People may leave it for the last minute to enter. Include a timer in your giveaway that counts down to the moment the campaign ends. 

If displaying the closing date and time on your marketing material may look odd, ensure they are displayed in the Instagram giveaway post description. Also include the closing date, time, and time zone in your complete list of giveaway rules. 

#4 How Winners Will Be Selected

A fair and concise winner selection process is essential when hosting a giveaway. If it is complicated, giveaway entrants can quickly become discouraged by your selection process. 

Here at VYPER, we offer a “random picker” built into our giveaway management system. VYPER allows your brand to collect email addresses and select a winning one at random. 

You can state these facts in your Instagram giveaway rules and make it clear to entrants that there will be no discrimination or favoritism in the selection process. 

Here are a few reasons why it is crucial to have proper Instagram giveaway winner selection rules: 

• Sometimes, people will try to convince brands to select them as winners. Especially if there aren’t strict rules in place for picking winners. 
• You open up gamification when you ask people to perform tasks like tagging friends, following, or liking. So, a person who completes many tasks will expect to be rewarded. If this isn’t the case, you should make it known in your rules. 
• Some entrants may feel like the giveaway was rigged if they are not happy with the winner or if they find some clue to convince themselves that the giveaway was unfair. 

#5 Claiming the Prize

A prize-claiming process is necessary to ensure the winner is identified correctly and eligible to receive their prize. 

Brands usually announce their Instagram giveaway winners by tagging them in the giveaway post (or creating a new post). You can also notify users that the giveaway is closed and the winners have been selected.

Edit the original giveaway post so new users who discover the post will realize it’s too late to enter (like in the giveaway below).

After winners are announced, it’s recommended that you give those winners a couple of days to claim their prize. 

Here are a few crucial factors to consider when drafting your Instagram giveaway prize-claiming rules: 

• A prize-claiming process is crucial to verify the winner. You could land a spam account or a disqualified user as the winner. 
• 24 to 48 hours is enough time for the winner to claim their prize. If they miss the window, you should then select a new winner. This should be clearly stated in the rules, as the original winner may insist on their prize long after the claim window has expired. 
• Some winners may not want to be mentioned. It is up to the giveaway host to allow this. However, some brands want to host photo opportunities with their winners or prize giveaway ceremonies. You must specify that winners cannot collect their prize anonymously, and if they refuse to reveal their identity, they will be disqualified. 
• Winners will have to submit their shipping address and contact number to receive their prize. Failing to do so can result in disqualification, as there is nowhere to ship the prize. 
• You will provide an estimated delivery date and tracking number so the winner will make themself available. 

Having Anonymous Winners

Anonymously receiving a prize should be fine in most circumstances. Some Lottery winners prefer to keep their identity private. 

However, there can be implications if a winner refuses to reveal their identity:

• Entrants will believe that the giveaway was rigged as the winner is anonymous. This can impact negatively on your brand. 
• Lose out on an opportunity to promote the brand during a prize giveaway ceremony, which can generate content and a positive buzz around your brand. 
• Allowing anonymous winners will increase the likelihood of more spam entries or people who are not eligible to enter (e.g., people under the age of 21). Requesting people to verify themselves will help ensure your giveaway runs smoother. 

We have another post with an in-depth look at the law around giveaways and contests.

Click here to learn more about the Law Around Giveaways and Contests.

#6 Terms and Conditions

Ah, yes, the Ts and Cs that most people seem to overlook. All that writing and legal jargon is simply a waste of time for giveaway entrants. Regardless, you must display your Instagram giveaway rules and terms and conditions in a place where entrants can easily find them. 

In your Ts & Cs, you can include information about everything we discussed above. It is also essential to have the official Instagram Promotional Guidelines. This will allow entrants to understand Meta’s involvement in your Instagram giveaway. 

Including every bit of the Ts & Cs in your Instagram giveaway post may not work out for you, as Instagram has a 2200-character limit. Your best bet is to feature all the Ts & Cs on your website or in a Google Doc or PDF. Make it an easy process to redirect users to your Ts & Cs when hosting it elsewhere. 

VYPER can fast-track the terms and conditions write-up process in their giveaway landing page editor. Select the ‘Form’ editor, then ‘GDPR & TERMS.’ Click the ‘Write Terms and Conditions’ button to go to the Ts & Cs editor (see below).

On the page above, you can generate a list of Ts & Cs, which you can copy into the text editor. You can edit the content to include information relevant to your giveaway or contest.

#7 Break Rules and Get Disqualified

Having disqualification on the table makes the threat of losing out real, keeping giveaway entrants in line. 

It may seem harsh to have to enforce disqualification in your giveaway. However, there are strong reasons why disqualifications are needed in giveaways, such as: 

• A means to regulate spam accounts or users that spam unverified referrals. 
• Some users may enter using multiple identities, which increases their chance of winning. The chance of being disqualified will keep these users from making such a choice. 
• People who cheat, break your rules, or interfere with other entrants must face inevitable consequences, such as disqualification. 

It’s advisable to have anti-cheating systems in place to regulate the quality of entrants. Users should confirm their emails upon entry to prove their legitimacy. VYPER again allows you to set up an email confirmation process for your giveaway.

You can also set up ‘Automatic Disqualification’ with VYPER. This feature allows you to automate disqualification by removing entrants who continuously spam fake emails or cheat during the campaign.

Want to learn more about Contest and Giveaway Rules?

Click here for our 10-step guide on creating contest and giveaway rules.

Q&A Session: Instagram Giveaway Rules

TL:DR: Instagram Giveaway Rules

Instagram giveaways are an excellent means of growing your brand online and on social media. To host successful giveaways, you should plan accordingly and set proper Instagram giveaway rules. 

It’s essential to consider the following when setting rules for your Instagram Giveaway:

• Entry Method: Rules for Entering the Instagram Giveaway
• Giveaway Prize Rules and Restrictions
• Closing Date for Entries
• How Winners Will Be Selected
• Claiming the Prize
• Terms and Conditions
• Disqualification

It is also crucial that you emphasize entrants make themselves aware of the rules and that the onus of reading and understanding the rules is on them. 

We hope you found this guide enjoyable and informative. Please do let us know if we need to include anything else here. Leave a comment if you need help regarding your giveaway.