I started a #TipTuesday segment on my IG stories and have gotten a ton of positive feedback from you guys (thank you so much, I love hearing from you all). I wanted to transition what I was sharing to the blog as well, so you IG loving babes have a hub to resort to with all my little tidbits of advice.

Giveaways on Instagram (or really any platform) is a great way to get noticed, get your community excited, give back and potentially even grow your audience. However I see people making critical mistakes on the gram that for me are a huge turn off, and essentially ruin a good thing you *could* have had going for you.

So, with that said below are the 5 mistakes you should avoid at all costs when hosting a giveaway.

1). Too Many Rules

Make it easy for your followers to enter! Obviously you want your community to engage, so brainstorm something fun and creative but don't drag them through the mud to do so. I know for me, once I hit step 5 of someone's giveaway I've completely lost interest and am done at that point. Keep it simple!

2). Picking Your Friends As The Winner

This is not only tacky but completely defeats the purpose of doing a giveaway. You should be using this opportunity to grow your audience and give back to the people supporting you. Picking a friend comes off an unauthentic and will most likely rub people the wrong way. Plus, don't ask your audience to do something for you if you know going into it you're not going to give them a fair chance.

I've also seen this done with business acquaintances and that is just as bad. If you want to gift something to a friend or business partner, then do it! But do it separately and don't waste this opportunity on it.

3). Excessively Long Loop Giveaways

In my opinion, I hate loop giveaways and my recommendation would be not to even do them. But, if you are going to do them then make sure it's a reasonably sized group. If you're asking people to follow over 10 accounts (which is still too long if you ask me), they're going to lose interest. It all goes back to the first mistake I mentioned and keeping it easy.

4). Asking Your Followers To Repost An Image To Their Page

Guys, lets be real. No one wants to clutter their own page with your content, it's just the truth and is a huge turn off for so many people. So please don't do it.

5). Having Too Many Platforms Involved

I totally get wanting to get more exposure on your other channels. However when you're asking people to leave the platform they're already on, and take even more steps, a less number of people are going to enter. Again, it goes back to making it easy for your followers!