How to run an Instagram giveaway: rules, caption and winner
Instagram lets anyone run a giveaway, but it puts all of the legal responsibility on the host and asks for two specific statements in every promotion. This guide covers what Instagram's Promotion Guidelines actually say, which entry rules you can set and check, a caption template you can copy, and how to pick and announce the winner.
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Key takeaways
- Instagram allows giveaways, and its Promotion Guidelines make the host responsible for the official rules, the eligibility terms and compliance with the law.
- Every Instagram giveaway must include a complete release of Instagram by each entrant and an acknowledgement that the promotion is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
- Instagram's guidelines forbid inaccurate tagging, such as asking people to tag themselves in a photo they are not in, but they do not forbid a tag a friend comment rule.
- Of the usual entry rules, only the ones visible in a comment can be checked by a tool: a keyword or hashtag, a number of tagged accounts, and one entry per account.
- If entrants must post about your brand to enter, the FTC says a hashtag like #BrandName_Contest or #BrandName_Sweepstakes is clear enough, and #sweeps probably is not.
- To pick the winner, paste the post link into a comment picker, apply your published rules, draw your winner and backups in one recorded draw, and announce with the recording.
- Picking the winner now? Use the Instagram comment picker to draw from a public post or Reel without logging in.
Draw the winner here
Are Instagram giveaways allowed?
Yes. Instagram's Promotion Guidelines cover contests and sweepstakes directly, and they do not ban them. What they do is make the person running the giveaway responsible for running it lawfully, including the official rules, the offer terms and eligibility requirements, and any registration or approval the law requires for the prizes.
Instagram also says it will not help you run the promotion and that you run it at your own risk. In other words, a giveaway is allowed, and everything about it is your responsibility.
The guidelines open with one country-specific note: if you run a commercial promotion on Instagram in Brazil, it must comply with the regulation of free prize distribution supervised by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) at the Ministry of Finance.
- Instagram Help Center: Promotion Guidelines"If you use Instagram to communicate or administer a promotion (example: a contest or sweepstakes, among others), you are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion."
What does Instagram require in a giveaway?
Two statements are required in every Instagram promotion, and most giveaway captions leave them out. Put them in the caption or in rules linked from your bio.
| Requirement | What Instagram says | What to put in your rules |
|---|---|---|
| Release | A complete release of Instagram by each entrant or participant | "By entering, you release Instagram from any liability related to this giveaway." |
| Acknowledgement | The promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram | "This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram." |
| Official rules | You are responsible for the official rules | Prize, dates, how to enter, how the winner is chosen |
| Eligibility | Offer terms and eligibility requirements, such as age and residency | Minimum age and the countries entrants must live in |
| Tagging | Do not inaccurately tag content or encourage inaccurate tagging | Ask people to tag friends in a comment, never to tag themselves in a photo they are not in |
Which entry rules can you set and actually check?
Follow, like, comment and tag a friend is the classic Instagram formula, but only part of it can be verified. Instagram does not expose who liked a post or who follows an account in a way a third-party tool can check for every entrant, so those rules end up checked by hand for the winner only, if at all.
If a rule matters to you, make it one a tool can check. A keyword in the comment is the strongest choice: it is verifiable, it is allowed on every platform, and it filters out bots that leave generic comments.
| Entry rule | Allowed by Instagram's guidelines | Can a comment picker check it? |
|---|---|---|
| Comment on the post | Yes | Yes, this is the entry list |
| Include a keyword or hashtag | Yes | Yes, with a keyword rule |
| Tag one or more friends | Yes, if the tags are accurate | Yes, with a minimum tag count |
| One entry per account | Yes | Yes, with a dedupe rule |
| Follow the account | Not addressed | No, check the winner by hand |
| Like the post | Not addressed | No, check the winner by hand |
| Share to your Story | Not addressed | No, and Stories expire |
Instagram giveaway caption template
Replace everything in square brackets. Keep the last two sentences, they are the release and acknowledgement Instagram requires. If your full rules do not fit, put the essentials in the caption and link the rest from your bio.
GIVEAWAY: win [prize]! To enter: 1. Comment [keyword] below 2. Tag [number] friend(s) in the same comment 3. One entry per account Closes [date] at [time] [time zone]. Open to [country or countries], [minimum age]+. No purchase necessary. The winner and [number] backup(s) will be drawn at random from eligible comments with a cryptographic random draw, recorded and posted to our Stories. We will contact the winner only from @[your handle]. The winner has [48/72] hours to reply before we contact the first backup. By entering, you release Instagram from any liability related to this giveaway. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
Do Instagram giveaways need an FTC disclosure?
Two different disclosures get confused here. If you are giving away something a brand gave you, or the giveaway is a paid collaboration, the post itself is advertising and needs the usual paid partnership disclosure.
Separately, if your rules ask entrants to post about a brand to enter, the FTC's guidance is that their posts should make clear they are contest entries. A hashtag that includes the word contest or sweepstakes, such as #BrandName_Contest, is enough. A hashtag like #BrandName_Rocks is not, and the FTC says #sweeps probably is not either, because many people do not know what it means.
- FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides, What People Are Asking"Making the word “contest” or “sweepstakes” part of the hashtag (e,g., #XZY_Contest or #XYZ_Sweepstakes) should be enough."
How do you pick the winner of an Instagram giveaway?
Draw from the comments, not from the likes or the follower list. Comments are the only part of an entry that can be read in full and checked against your rules.
- Wait until the closing time in your caption.
- Copy the link to the post or Reel. It must be public.
- Paste it into the Instagram comment picker and confirm the preview shows your post.
- Turn on the rules you published: keyword, minimum tags, one entry per account, and exclude past winners if your rules say so.
- Set the number of winners to include your backups, and start a screen recording.
- Draw, then check the winner's comment against your rules before you message them.
- Message the winner from your main account and post the recording to your Stories.
Why does the draw find fewer entries than the comment count?
The number under an Instagram post counts replies as well as top-level comments. An entry that collected twenty replies adds twenty to the counter and still enters once. A dedupe rule removes people who commented more than once, and a keyword rule removes comments that did not follow the rules, so the eligible pool is normally well below the counter.
Say in your rules how entries are counted, so that a gap between the two numbers is never read as entries going missing.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to do a giveaway on Instagram?
Instagram allows giveaways and its Promotion Guidelines make the host responsible for complying with the law. In most countries a giveaway with free entry and a randomly drawn winner is lawful, while one that requires a purchase to enter can be treated as a lottery. Rules vary by country, and Instagram singles out Brazil, where commercial promotions are supervised by the Ministry of Finance.
Can I ask people to tag friends in an Instagram giveaway?
Yes. Instagram's Promotion Guidelines only forbid inaccurate tagging, such as encouraging people to tag themselves in photos they are not in. Tagging friends in a comment is a different thing. This is not true on Facebook, where Meta's policy says a promotion must not require or incentivise tagging others.
Do I have to say the giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram?
Yes. Instagram requires every promotion to include an acknowledgement that it is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, and a complete release of Instagram by each entrant.
How do I pick a winner on Instagram for free?
Paste the public post or Reel link into a free Instagram comment picker such as freecommentpicker.com/instagram. It reads the comments without a login, applies your keyword, tag and one-entry-per-account rules, and draws the winner with a cryptographically secure random generator in your browser.
Can I run a giveaway from a private Instagram account?
You can, but no third-party tool can read the comments, because they are not public. You would have to collect and draw the entries by hand. Switching the account to public for the giveaway is the usual answer.
How do I announce the winner of an Instagram giveaway?
Post the draw recording to your Stories, tag the winner if they agree to it, and repeat the prize and the reply deadline. The giveaway winner announcement guide on this site has copy-paste templates for the post, the Story and the direct message.