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How to Pick an Instagram Giveaway Winner Fairly (Step by Step)

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A giveaway is one of the quickest ways to grow an Instagram account, but the part people worry about most is picking the winner. Your followers want to know the draw was fair, and you want a process that's quick and doesn't break any rules. This guide walks you through it from start to finish.

Before you post: write clear rules

Most giveaway complaints come from vague rules. Put these in your caption, or on a page you link to, before anyone enters:

  • How to enter, such as following your account and commenting on the post
  • Whether tagging friends counts, and the most entries one person can have
  • The start and end date and time, including the time zone
  • Who can enter, including the minimum age and which countries are eligible
  • What the prize is, and how and when the winner will be told
  • How the winner will be chosen, for example a random draw from eligible comments

Follow Instagram's promotion guidelines

Instagram allows giveaways, but its promotion guidelines make the person running the giveaway responsible for running it lawfully. That includes the official rules, the entry terms and eligibility requirements, and following any laws that apply to the promotion and the prize. Every promotion must also include:

  • A complete release of Instagram by each entrant
  • A statement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram

The guidelines also say you must not tag content inaccurately or encourage people to, so don't ask entrants to tag themselves in photos they aren't in. Prize draws are regulated differently from country to country, so if the prize is valuable or you're running the giveaway for a business, check the rules where you and your entrants live.

Step 1: Collect the entries

When the giveaway closes, gather the comments. Instagram doesn't have a simple button to export comments, so the easiest free way is to copy them from the post. On a computer, open the post in your browser, load all the comments, and copy them. One comment per line works best, starting with the username.

Step 2: Remove entries that don't qualify

Fairness means applying your rules the same way to everyone. Before the draw, take out:

  • Your own comments and replies
  • Extra entries beyond your stated limit
  • Comments that break the rules, such as missing a required tag
  • Accounts you said can't enter, such as staff or family

Our Instagram Comment Picker can do most of this for you. Paste the comments, then turn on one entry per person, a required hashtag, a minimum number of tagged friends, or a list of names to leave out.

Step 3: Pick the winner at random

Choose how many winners you need, plus a few reserves in case a winner doesn't reply. Then run the draw. A picker that uses cryptographic randomness gives every eligible entry exactly the same chance, and nobody, including you, can influence the result.

Open the Instagram Comment Picker

If you'd like the draw to be part of the show, paste the usernames into the spin wheel and spin it on a live stream or in a story. Watching the wheel slow down and land on a name is fun for your followers, and it's just as fair. For a prize-per-spin game, try the Prize Wheel Spinner.

Step 4: Record the draw

Proof is what makes a draw feel fair to your followers. Screen-record the whole thing: the list of entries, the settings you used, and the moment the winner appears. On an iPhone you can start a screen recording from Control Center, and most Android phones have a screen recorder in Quick Settings.

Step 5: Contact the winner and announce it

  • Message the winner from your official account and give them a deadline to reply, such as 48 hours.
  • If they don't reply in time, move to your first reserve and say so publicly.
  • Announce the winner in a story or post, and keep the draw video for anyone who asks.
  • Never ask the winner for passwords or payment. Scam accounts often copy giveaway hosts, so tell your followers you'll only contact winners from your real account.

Quick checklist

  1. Rules written and posted, including who can enter and the end date
  2. Instagram release and "not associated with Instagram" statement included
  3. Comments collected after the deadline
  4. Ineligible and extra entries removed
  5. Winner and reserves drawn at random, with the draw recorded
  6. Winner contacted from your real account, then announced

Running a giveaway on YouTube instead? The YouTube Comment Picker loads the comments for you from the video link.

Free tools for this