2.1. Publish the sweepstakes post.
2.2. Create the sweepstakes in Cool Tabs.
2.3. Add the rest of the posts.
2.4. Choose winners and filter by conditions.
2.5. Winners page and certificate of validity.
1. Introduction.
The Instagram Sweepstakes app from Cool Tabs allows you to hold giveaways among posts from different Instagram profiles simultaneously. This is a very common option in collaborations between brands, between a brand and one or several influencers, or directly between influencers.
Before you start, keep in mind several important limitations of the Instagram API:
- It is not possible to automatically verify if a user has liked or followed a profile. You can require this as a condition, but you will have to check it manually once you know the winner.
- Giveaways can only be done on public business profiles. If your profile is personal, here we explain how to convert it.
The business profiles must be linked to a Facebook fan page. Also, you will need to review the permissions of the profile where you want to hold the giveaway on Facebook Business. How to add an Instagram account to Facebook Business to run my giveaway/monitoring.
2.1. Publish the sweepstakes post.
The first thing you must do is publish the giveaway post on Instagram. Once done, go to Cool Tabs.
2.2. Create the sweepstakes in Cool Tabs.
1. Log in to your Cool Tabs account. If you are not registered yet, check the tutorial: How to create an account on Cool Tabs.
2. Click the 'Create campaign' button. If this is your first time using the platform, you will not see the button but will go directly to the app catalog.
3. Select the Instagram Sweepstakes app.
4. Choose the type of giveaway:
Organic: select this option if the post has no advertising or if you promoted it after publishing.
Sponsored: select this option if you managed the advertising through Facebook Business Manager. In that case, check this tutorial.
5. Click 'Connect' to link your Facebook account.
Why do you have to link a Facebook profile to run a giveaway on Instagram? Access to the Instagram account data is done through Facebook. Therefore, it is necessary to link the Facebook account and accept permissions. Once done, Facebook will allow us to collect the entries on your Instagram giveaway post.
6. Select the main Instagram profile for the giveaway.
If the profile you want to run the sweepstakes does not appear, click on 'I can't find my Instagram account' to link your profile. You can also check our tutorial: How to link an Instagram or Facebook profile.
7. Fill in the giveaway details:
Campaign name: enter a name to identify your giveaway internally (it will not be public). This is the name that will appear in your campaigns list.
Giveaway time zone.
Start and end dates of the giveaway during which entries will be collected.
Post or posts on which you want to run the giveaway. By default, your last 200 posts are shown.
8. Click 'Save'. The giveaway will be registered and entries will start being collected.
If you want to access the participants list, click on the Leads section (users icon).
Keep in mind that sometimes when creating a giveaway on Instagram, not all comments may appear. This happens for two reasons. On one hand, because there is a promoted post associated with that post. On the other hand, there is a nested reply in the comments. This tutorial explains it in more detail: Why does my Instagram sweepstake not show all the comments?
2.3. Add the rest of the posts
This is the point where the process varies depending on your situation. Identify which case applies to you:
Case A. Multi-profile giveaway: you manage all profiles participating
If you are a brand or agency with admin access to all Instagram accounts in the giveaway, you can add the rest of the posts directly from Cool Tabs.
Go to the giveaway editing from the campaigns list and add the posts from the other profiles.
They will appear organized in tabs by account. When you have added them all, save the changes.
Case B. Multi-account giveaway: each profile posted its own post independently
This is the most common case in collaborations between a brand and influencers, or between influencers, when each posts their own post on their profile. Here you will use Cool Tabs’ collaborators system, which allows inviting other users to add their posts to the giveaway. Collaborators only need to register on Cool Tabs; they do not have to purchase any plan.
What the giveaway administrator does:
1. In the campaigns list, open the dropdown menu of the giveaway and click on 'Collaborators'.
2. Enter the collaborator’s name and assign them read, moderation, and write permissions. This way, they will be able to edit the campaign to add their post.
3. Copy the generated link and send it to them.
What the collaborator does:
1. Access the received link and accept the invitation.
2. Register on Cool Tabs (no need to purchase a plan).
3. Enter the campaign editing, link their Facebook account, and add their post.
IMPORTANT: For the collaborator’s posts to appear, they must have accepted the permissions on Facebook, be logged into Instagram, and have a business profile linked to Facebook Business Manager.
Case C. The giveaway is published in a shared post (collab post)
It is increasingly common for brands and influencers to publish the giveaway in a shared Instagram post (collab post), which appears simultaneously on both profiles. In this case, there is an important particularity: in Cool Tabs, the shared post is only visible to the original publisher. If the influencer published it, the brand will not see it in their post list when creating the giveaway. The process is as follows:
What the giveaway administrator (the brand or user who published it) does:
1. When creating the giveaway, select any old post from their profile as a placeholder. No real entries will be collected from this post; it simply allows completing the creation process.
2. Once the giveaway is created, invite the influencer as a collaborator following the same steps as Case B.
What the collaborator (the influencer or collaborator) does:
1. Accept the invitation to collaborate and register on Cool Tabs (no need to purchase any plan).
2. Enter the campaign editing and add the shared post from their profile (just as explained in Case B).
Since comments on a collab post are shared in a single post, Cool Tabs will collect all comments correctly as soon as the influencer or collaborator adds the post.
2.4. Select winners.
To select winners, you need to have an active plan, either paid or in a 7-day free trial period. Read more about the Free Trial.
Start selecting winners by clicking on the Winners section (trophy icon). Before conducting the giveaway, you can apply the following filters:
2.4.1. How to apply filters
2.4.1. How to filter by conditions.
You can select winner(s) among participants who meet your giveaway conditions. To do this, you have a series of filters you can apply that will exclude users who do not meet those requirements from the giveaway.
IMPORTANT: It is only possible to filter those actions allowed by Instagram’s usage and promotion policies. Conditions that cannot be automated (following an account and liking) must be checked manually once you have the winner’s name.
Some filters may not apply to your giveaway (depending on your participation requirements). Leave blank those you do not want to use.
| Filter | Purpose |
|---|---|
| One chance per user | Counts only one entry per person, even if they commented multiple times |
| One chance per comment | Each comment counts as an additional entry |
| Number of mentions* | Filters by minimum number of friends mentioned in the comment. The maximum number of mentions per comment is 10. |
| The comment contains | Filters by specific word, phrase, or hashtag |
| Start and end date | Limits the valid participation period |
| Extra tickets for actions | Rewards additional entries for certain actions (available from the Gold Plan) |
| By post | If there are several, choose whether to count all or just one |
| Exclude previous winners | Prevents previous campaign winners from repeating |
| Exclude blacklist | Excludes previously blocked users |
* Currently, it is not possible to filter comments by mentioned people and avoid repeated mentions. For example, in a giveaway where you must mention 3 friends and each comment counts as an additional entry. If a person leaves 10 comments always mentioning the same 3 friends, if you filter by selecting 'One chance per comment', that user will have 10 entries.
If you detect participants repeating mentions in different comments in your giveaway, you can control it by selecting the 'One chance per user' option.
Another option, to avoid penalizing participants who are meeting the conditions, is to review and manually remove entries from the participants list. This way, you can remove entries with the same mentions. Participants are ordered by username, making the review easier.
Click on 'Step 1: filter' and, after reviewing the valid participants, indicate the number of winners and alternates.
Finally, click on 'Step 2: conduct the giveaway'.
2.5. Winners page and certificate of validity.
You will get a link to a public page with the winners and the certificate of validity, which certifies that the process was random and transparent.
Remember to set it to public mode so participants can see it once you publish it.
2.6. Winners video.
You can also generate a video with the results, including the giveaway title, prizes, and winners.
It can be shared via URL or downloaded to post on the feed or Stories.
Winners video: how to show the result of your sweepstakes.
2.7. Contact the winners.
Next to the winner's name, you will find the Instagram icon. Clicking it will take you directly to their profile to send a private message. We also recommend mentioning the winner in the original giveaway post.
3. Other specifications.
The use of this app is included in all our plans. You can also use it during the trial days, which allow you to try any plan for free for 7 days.
If you have any questions, write to us at help@cool-tabs.com.
4. Related Content.
How to create a Multiplatform Sweepstake.
How to add an Instagram account on Facebook Business to run your sweepstakes.
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