Professional Practice - Instagram Giveaways

Serena Toovey
Jun 9, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Jun 13, 2020

I am/have hosted 4 Instagram giveaways. Two of these giveaways are still active and two included an illustration from me as a prize. I have also been approached by other people asking if I would like to offer discounts to include in their giveaway.

For the first one, a group of us got together and decided to host a giveaway. We messaged a lot of companies and managed to get some amazing donations. This giveaway ran for two weeks and ended on the 10th June. This was hosted by @lg.para.equine , @sg.farm , @cerys_eq , @balian_eventing , @the_inked_eq , @tayla_greve and myself. Between us we had an audience of over 60,00 followers.

The rules of this giveaway meant that anyone entering had to follow all of the hosts, myself included, as well as all of the companies that have donated products. They then had to tag people in the comments and share to their stories. This was a great way to gain new followers and interact with them as well.

Prizes for this giveaway were worth over £250 and included:

-@velicea_saddlery Flash bridle with reins available in cob or full - black or brown (shipping EU)

- UHLAN beenie and 25% discount voucher from @uhlanequestrian

- £25 voucher from @persewnalise

- £10 voucher from @dvrequestriansport

- Calming Cookies from @premierperformancecz

- £10 voucher from @emmas_equine_kreations

- Summer set from @hawkinsorganic to include hoof gel, wash, shampoo and fly spray

The second giveaway was one I organised myself. I wanted to do a giveaway to celebrate reaching 2500 followers as a thank you to everyone. I also wanted to give my younger audience a chance to win a drawing as some parents don't allow them to spend so much money on digital art online. I mentioned it in a group chat and continued to ask for their advice as this was not something I have done before. I had lots of helpful comments about rules and deadlines and hosts etc. It was recommended that I try and find 5-6 hosts to post my giveaway on their page, each with over 20,000 followers each. I was quite overwhelmed with this as I wasn't sure who would want to host my giveaway when at this point I only had 2500 followers. One lovely girl, @es_equestriann messaged me personally and offered to be a host. I was so touched!

I messaged about 10 people in total, some did not read the messages, probably as they have so many, some did not reply and a few said they would love to host next time! In the end, my hosts included myself, @es_equestriann (who has 51,500 followers), @balian_eventing (who has 21,100 followers), @megan_devonport (who has 24,900 followers), @lanazavada (who has 11,800 followers and who I had donated a drawing to previously), @tayla_greve (who has 20,700 followers) and her sister @claudia.greve.dressage (who has 22,100 followers). Between us, we have over 155,000 followers! This was so amazing and I'm so thankful to everyone who has joined in for giving me this opportunity!

I was originally only going to pick one winner, however, I might select three due to how popular it has been. The giveaway ends on the 17th of June, my birthday. I will announce the winners the next day.

Below is the photo I designed for the hosts to post on their feed. This keeps with my style of drawings with a white border, whilst the background is smart, stands out and compliments the drawings. I included enough drawings for viewers to ger a taste of what artwork I do. The font also matches the font in my story highlights etc. I feel like this is quite striking and recognisable. I also added my name so that it is extra clear who is hosting the giveaway.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvaur7nHat/