2.1. Publish the sweepstakes on Instagram.
2.2. Create the sweepstakes in Cool Tabs.
2.4. Winners page and certificate of validity.
2.6. How to contact the winners.
1. Introduction.
Instagram Sweepstakes app allows you to select winner/s among users who comment on a post, mention other people and/or use a certain hashtag. You can run actions like: "To participate, leave a comment and mention a friend". You can require any or all of these actions.
The use of this application is included in all our plans. You can also use it within the trial days, which allows you to try for 7 days free of any of our plans.
Keep in mind that, due to changes made by Instagram's API, in April 2018, it is no longer possible to check in an automated way that users have liked or followed your profile/s. You will be able to ask for it in your sweepstakes because these are not actions that it prohibits, but you will have to check it manually, by accessing the winner's profile.
It is important not to confuse this type of sweepstakes, in which the participant has to interact with a publication, with the mechanics of an Instagram contest, in which a landing page and a participation form are configured to collect data.
2. Step by step.
2.1. Publish the sweepstakes on Instagram.
You must have created the sweepstakes on your Instagram profile before using the Instagram Sweepstakes app.
If you want to run an Instagram Sweepstake between several accounts, check this tutorial: How to Create an Instagram Sweepstake With Posts That Belong to Different Profiles>>
2.2. Create a sweepstake in Cool Tabs.
Access Cool Tabs, create a new campaign and choose the Instagram Sweepstakes app.


The next step is to choose the type of sweepstakes on Instagram: organic or promoted.
- Organic sweepstakes: select this option if you have not promoted your sweepstakes post or if you have promoted it on Instagram after publishing it.
- Promoted sweepstakes: select this option if you have run ads and managed them directly from Facebook Business Manager.

Access to the data of an Instagram account is done through Facebook. Therefore, it is necessary to associate a Facebook account and accept permissions. Otherwise, we can't collect users' participations. Click on the 'Connect' button to associate your Facebook account.
Once the Facebook profile is associated, select the Instagram user on which you are going to run the sweepstakes.
If the profile 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.
If you are having problems, it could be due to two reasons:
1) Instagram doesn't allow sweepstakes in personal profiles.
2) Instagram requires business profiles to be associated with a Facebook fanpage. In addition, you will have to check the permissions of the profile where you want to run the sweepstakes on Facebook Business. How to add an Instagram account in Facebook Business for your sweepstakes.
After selecting the Instagram profile of the sweepstakes, you must complete certain information related to your sweepstakes:
- Campaign name: this is a name to identify your sweepstake.
- Time zone.
- Start and end date when the app will start and stop collecting data.
- Publication or publications on which you want to run the sweepstake. By default, your last 200 posts will be displayed.
The Instagram Sweepstake app also allows you to edit your sweepstake and include new posts. This way, all the comments made on the new posts will be collected as well.
To add the new posts, just edit the campaign by clicking on the edit icon. Choose, from the list of your publications, the ones you want to add and save the changes made.
2.3. Select winners.
To select winners, it is mandatory to have an active plan on the platform, either paid or trial. The trial period allows you to try any of the platform's plans for free (and, with it, to use the Instagram Sweepstakes app), for 7 days and without any usage limit.
Read more about the Free Trial>>
To start the selection process, click on the 'Winners' section. You can access it from the main list of your campaigns by clicking on the icon with three horizontal stripes. If you want to access the list of participants, click on the icon with the three stripes and then on 'Leads'.

2.3.1. How to apply filters.
- Unique users. Each user will have only one opportunity in the raffle, regardless of the number of comments made.
- One opportunity per comment. Each comment will count as a new opportunity in the draw for the user.
- Participants who have mentioned one or more friends (up to 10 mentions). Currently, it is not possible to filter comments by people mentioned and avoid repeated mentions. For example, in a sweepstake where you have to mention 3 friends and each comment counts as additional participation. If a person leaves 10 comments and always mentions the same 3 friends if you check the option 'One opportunity per comment', that user will have 10 participations.
- Participants who have included the hashtag, word/s or mention required in their comments. You can write various words separated by spaces, so the comments which include any of them are filtered.

Once you have completed the filter fields that apply to your sweepstakes, click on 'Step 1: Filter'. A filtering will be performed among the participants who have fulfilled all the requirements you have marked.
Finally, indicate the number of winners you want to draw and the number of alternates. Lastly, click on 'Step 2: Launch Sweepstake'.
2.4. Winners page and certificate of validity.
You will get a link to the public winners' page, so you can share the results with all your followers.
The winners' page includes the certificate of validity, which certifies that the process has been carried out in a random and transparent way.
In order for the participants to see the winners page, don't forget to set it to public mode (as shown in the image).
You can also customize your winner's page with a custom header.
2.5. Winners video.
You also have the possibility to generate a video with the result of your sweepstakes, showing the title of the sweepstakes, the prizes and the winners/substitutes.
This video can be published via URL or downloaded in different formats, to be published in the feed or in Stories.
2.6. How to contact the winners.
Next to the winner's username, you will find the Instagram icon. If you click on it, it will take you directly to their profile. This way, you will be able to send them a private message.
3. Other specifications.
- Remember that, due to Instagram API limitations, since April 2018, it is no longer possible to check in an automated way that users have liked or become followers of your profile/s. You can ask for it because these are not actions that Instagram prohibits, but they must be checked manually.
- You can only make direct Instagram Sweepstakes among those users who comment on a post, always in public profiles.
- Furthermore, you can also make a contest with a promoted post or among posts that belong to different profiles (very useful to make campaigns with influencers).
If you have any questions during the process, do not hesitate to contact us through our web chat or our support email help@cool-tabs.com
4. Related content.
Start creating your campaign>>
How to Create a Sweepstake Among Users Who Comment on a Promoted Post on Instagram >>
How to Create a Hashtag Sweepstake on Twitter and Instagram >>
How to Create a Direct Sweepstake on Twitter >>
Why my Instagram sweepstake doesn't show all the comments >>
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