Hi Y'all! Today I'm writing to let you in on my experience with participating in and hosting loop or collaborative style giveaways on Instagram for handmade or creative businesses. It's no secret, if you know me, that Instagram is my ultimately favorite social media platform. I guess that vibes with my artsy visual side. Through the small businesses we've run together, I've learned a lot through trial and error of what works and what doesn't and how to use certain tools to your advantage.
A few fun facts...
According to Instagram's own statistics it has over 500 million active accounts, with over 300 million users checking in daily and almost 100 million photos and videos posted per day as of today. You can check that link anytime to check out their press kit which includes up to the minute statistics if you like your data fresh - like me. I kind of really heart data - but alas another blog another day.
Back to the point - with all those users it's no doubt an excellent place to market your beautiful handmade business. But with all those posts - woo - it's a sea of content. So, as we progress here on this little blog, we'll talk about the many ways to harness Instagram as a tool for your business. Today we'll specifically fill you in on the beauty of our experiences with collaborative give aways! On to the deets! What the heck is a loop giveaway?
Well, if you've never entered or seen a loop giveaway, the first thing I suggest you do - after reading this of course - is search the hashtag #loopgiveaway on Instagram and pick one that's open and try it. Explaining it is one thing, but I'm a very hands on learner, so entering one was my aha! moment. There's only about 44K posts for that hashtag so you should be able to find something you want to win.
If you've left and came back after entering one, I like you, you little rebel! And - I'm glad your back, this will make perfect sense. If you didn't leave, hey I like you too- you listen to me. On to the explanation: A loop giveaway is a contest that one or more shops/brands participate in together to give something away to those who enter in exchange for gaining followers. I've seen the numbers over 40 in one loop, but I don't recommend them that large. Personally, if your loop is that big, I give up about halfway through which means half your hosts won't gain the same following. I think you'd find your sweet spot around 20 or less. But, please note everything I say here is solely my opinion/experience. So if you participate in one, you'll either be pitching in money to have one large prize, pitching in a gift card or store credit for your store, or my favorite an actual product from your store. In exchange, everyone in the group will feed everyone else's followers in turn more followers for everyone! Yay! Why should I give my stuff away for free?
This is the question that Mr. Silver Fox inevitably asks every time. He hates doing freebies. He's like the grinch of marketing - which is also why I love him, because if it was up to me I'd be all -
and then all...
But that's me I love *endless women screaming* and giving people things...to a fault...
So if your not like me - this section is for you. Loop giveaways are helpful to small businesses and new small business especially because it allows you to work with other brands with different followings and in some cases larger accounts which then you'll gain following from. In addition to gaining following -
That's why I recommend gifting a product or gift card. You can join loops that pitch in to giveaway one big prize, and they do have higher success rates in large amounts of followers (no stats on this yet, just guestimating) - but the thing is - if you don't sell iPad's in your store - those followers you gained by giving away the latest model aren't going to bring you the followers you want. Heck, you'll probably even loose some after because they just don't dig your product. Maybe if you make iPad accessories they might stay - but chances are they wanted that big prize, not what you make. Now, it's not that you won't get people that just want the freebs and will peace out when they did or didn't win, you'll still get those. But, from what I've seen, you'll gain followers with better engagement and staying power if they want to win something from your store. How to Harness Your New Followers
We're going to skip around a little bit because this kind of flows with our last statement. Picture this - your in the thick of your loop giveaway and everyone is looped (we'll get to how they work in the next section) and the followers are coming in hot - at least hopefully - a medium slow trickle is good too, followers are followers when your an up and coming small biz. What now?
The biggest thing I see with small businesses on Instagram is expecting people to just like you. That's it. So let me ask you - if I just sat near you in real life, would you like me? I mean literally just sat there, not smiling, not frowning, not talking - and in a bland outfit. Maybe, maybe you would cause you just like everyone and everything or because I'm just that awesome. And if you do, you're awesome! But you're probably not the majority. If you want engagement you have to put the effort in. Engage! Engage, engage, engage! I'll save some for another blog where we'll talk about how to build your following, but for loop giveaways engagement is an integral piece to keeping those followers. Pick some of your new followers, check them out and if you think their interesting or your target market - maybe follow them back, more importantly like and comment on some of their photos. Back to me sitting next to you, if I sat next to you, was smiling and possibly gave you a compliment - there's a better chance you might think I was kind of cool or at least nice and interesting. See what I mean here? Another way to maintain that following - try to find other products or things they'd be interested in to keep their attention. They keep liking what your doing, they keep following you and you stay in their feed. I'll give you an example of this one, I started a new funny t-shirt store, I wanted to use the larger following that Silver Fox Fabrics has to build my new Instagram account. We did a giveaway together giving away some Halloween fabrics and a Halloween tote bag. Majorly, the followers are coming for the fabric since people follow Silver Fox Fabrics because they like to buy fabric - or at least drool over it - I mean look at it. So, to keep those new fabric loving hobbyists I gained, I created funny t-shirts about DIY type things, sewing jokes, knitting jokes, ect. and I've been incorporating them into my posts ever since. And lastly - during your loop giveaway or shortly there after, run a flash sale, give free shipping or offer 20% off for your new Instagram followers. Something to thank them for following you, keep their attention and entice them to stay and maybe even do some shopping. So, how does it work?
So here's what to expect step by step in a nice little concise list:
So that's it, in my experience. You can have some really great gains in following from loop giveaways, but it's all about what you do with them. ​Ready to host your own? Click here. Have you done a loop giveaway? Are you hosting one soon? Did I miss anything? Comment below!
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Mr. & Mrs. Silver FoxThe Silver Fox family was started long before the fabric business. Mr. & Mrs. Silver Fox have been together for almost ten years and have two totally rad baby foxes. Together they've embarked on small business ownership, creative projects, and lots and lots of fabric. ArchivesCategories |