This week I'm really happy to welcome a guest blog from Emma White, Jewellery Maker and Head Honcho at THE JEWELLERY MAKERS (https://www.thejewellerymakers.co.uk). THE JEWELLERY MAKERS sells Contemporary Handmade Jewellery from the best of British Independent Jewellery Designers; connecting them with discerning online shoppers who are looking for something a bit different.
Handbag and Strap from Meg and Bee
I have a friend, Rachel, who wins giveaways all the time, I mean constantly. She’s won: a gorgeous Meg and Bee handbag, vouchers for Sugarhill Brighton clothes, lovely cards from Echoes & Shadows Photography, a cool Tee from Sistoria, even tickets to Glastonbury Festival, (pre lockdown obvs). She hasn’t won a boat, holiday or car yet, but seriously it could be any day now. So how do you win an Instagram Giveaway? Here are Rachel's top tips, with a bit of insider knowledge from me to explain why her strategies quite literally deliver the goods.
Everyone likes a freebie, but, call me cynical if you like, a lot of the time we think these competitions are a scam, would you agree? We think that it is all a devious scheme to get our details and ultimately we have no chance of winning anything. But that is simply NOT the case, it’s not a scam, but it is a game and I’m going to give you 5 hot tips on improving your chances.
Tee from Sistoria
1. Follow #GIVEAWAY and enter lots of competitions!
This may seem pretty obvious but the best way to find giveaways is to follow the hashtag ‘GIVEAWAY, remember to look at the ‘RECENT’ tab as well as the ‘TOP’ tab, to find the ones that suit you best. Are you particularly interested in jewellery? Then follow #jewellerygiveaway too, this works for any product, have a little brainstorm and find someone new to follow and join in more giveaways and your chances of winning will blossom.
2. Follow Independent businesses
Yes, like THE JEWELLERY MAKERS! I am the Head Honcho of a jewellery collective, I showcase the gorgeous handmade jewellery collection of 15 Independent Jewellery Makers. So why would that increase your chances of winning a giveaway?
Instagram is a great place to shop, we all know this, but as a business it can be hard to be seen. Instagram is owned by Facebook and they make a lot of money from ADS, ads that business like mine pay to have their wares shown to Facebook and Instagram users. Facebook and Instagram want me to pay for this service, it is not in their interest for it to happen organically! It can therefore be quite challenging to reach significant numbers of people without a rather large advertising budget, which I’m advised you really need to be spending £300-£500 a month on, to be effective - EEK!
Independent businesses don’t often have this budget and so a way they try to reach more people is to run a GIVEAWAY, by asking people to tag a friend they are reaching more potential customers organically, side stepping the algorithm if you like! So you may be cynical that we would be giving away a beautiful piece of handmade jewellery but actually YES WE ARE! Because it is a hell of a lot cheaper than spending £300 a month on ads - so we as Independent businesses are happy to give something away in exchange for meeting lots of new potential future customers. It is REAL! I promise!
Bag and strap from Meg and Bee
3. Enter giveaways from those with smaller follower numbers
Some independents have huge amounts of followers. Some have a couple of hundred. Some businesses have been around a long time, some are better at posting regularly, some post more video content, some have had a huge endorsement from someone famous or maybe they just have a HUGE family! Who knows? But they are all selling great products, running exciting giveaways and are worthy of your attention and, if you like what they do, your support. So if you enter two giveaways and one business has 100,000 followers and the other has 500, which one are you more likely to win? It’s basic maths eh? Seek out the giveaways from those with fewer followers and your chances go up dramatically! You are also helping them grow so WIN/WIN.
4. Make sure you do what is asked of you to qualify!
This one sounds easy eh? But can you imagine if you won the giveaway of dreams for a bundle of prizes from several businesses and you’d not followed one of them? You’re OUT! End of. No gorgeous bundle of goodies heading your way. Urgh…so check and double check what you are being asked to do and make sure you follow it through, otherwise you just won’t win!
5. Go over and above - give a little more
If you’ve been asked to tag 2 friends, tag 4 (you just doubled your chances) tag 6 (you tripled them), this is something my friend always does, she tags loads and loads of people! Most businesses use a system where a computer generates a winner from the list of comments, so the more comments you have made the higher your chances are, easy peasy!
Cards from Echoes & Shadows Photography
Also...
Remember you are double gifting!
Have you heard the term ‘double gifting’? It refers to the fact that when you buy a gift from a small business, you are actually giving two gifts, the first is to your friend or family member or colleague or whoever you’ve sent a gift to, the second is the business owner from whom you have purchased. It really does feel like a gift you know. Every time the phone pings with a sale it is so much more than a sale, it’s a pat on the back, it’s a smile, it’s a warm glow that someone liked something I’ve made enough to actually part with their precious pennies in exchange for it. It really is a wonderful thing.
The term also applies to running a giveaway too! It is so exciting to see the entries roll in, to see the follower numbers rise on an hourly basis, it is full of the promise of reaching more people who ‘get it’, who value what I do and love the gorgeous things that I have made. Even though they are not purchasing today they are still putting their hand in the air and saying ‘I like what you do!’ ‘I’d love to own this!’ It’s validation and its exciting and when you enter you are not only possibly winning yourself, you are also giving the people that you tag in your entry the chance to enter AND you are giving me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, it’s just a giant love fest.
Clothes from Sugarhill Brighton
And finally; if you are lucky enough to win…
Remember to say THANK YOU and post a picture of you with the prize and please tag the business in it so they can see it, or send them a screen grab if you have a private account. This allows them to shout about our great prize a wee bit more and it means they can gain maximum exposure out of their ‘investment’.
Please...Stay engaged and show your support
We want to be friends and delight you with more wonderful things! Please don’t unfollow and toddle off after the giveaway finishes, it makes us sad!
Keep your eyes peeled on our Instagram account to take part in our latest giveaway to win one of our gorgeous Rainbow of Hope Necklaces and other goodies from other local Makers, a perfect giveaway to try out your new winning techniques!
Family tickets for Glastonbury Festival 2019