12 Holiday Giveaway Ideas for Instagram to Spread Cheer All Season Long (with Examples!)

Holiday Instagram giveaways are an easy way to promote your business, expand your following, and get new customers. Deals and freebies are always appealing to shoppers but are even more appealing during the holiday season when spending is heavy and giftable purchases are needed. Plus, who doesn’t love a good giveaway?

So to help you capture this excitement and get in the giving spirit, we’re sharing holiday giveaway ideas for Instagram that will help you reach a range of marketing goals (while spreading cheer and getting engagement!).

But, first: Need a crash course in how to run Instagram giveaways? We’ve got you covered.

Holiday giveaway ideas for Instagram (with examples)

Use these examples of holiday and Christmas giveaway ideas to add cheer to your social media marketing this season.

Related: Want even more holiday marketing ideas for channels beyond social media? Check out our ultimate holiday marketing guide!

Charitable giveaway

This giveaway by OneHopeWine offers a Celebration Pack that provides meals for children in need. You can’t see them in this screenshot, but hashtags used include #giftsthatgiveback #12daysofchristmas #gifts #serve #celebrate #dogood #winenot #feedkids #providemeals #whyhunger.

Related: Get more holiday hashtag ideas here!

Every tag as an entry

This giveaway is run by a husband and wife small business called Wayfaren. People enter by liking the post, sharing what type of tree they have in a comment, following a specified user, and tagging a friend. Whew, that’s a lot! However, each friend tagged counts as an entry. It is also clear this is a partner-up giveaway, as the user you are instructed to follow also has the same post on their account, with instructions to follow @wayfarenco.

Daily prompt bonus entry

This Christmas giveaway Instagram post is 24 days as opposed to 12 to follow an Advent theme. Two influencers in the bookworm niche have teamed up to give away various book accessories and reader’s treats. To enter, you must follow both influencers, share the giveaway in a story, tag those influencers and tag three or more friends to join the community.

They also allow for a bonus entry if you follow the daily prompt. This contest offers high-quality prizes to bookworms and helps these influencers to gain followers, increase engagement, and grow their audience.

Related: Get more Christmas social media ideas here.

Basic product promotion

Not all “12 Days of Christmas” campaigns have to be giveaways. This influencer in the fashion and lifestyle niche uses a 12 days theme to promote different products each day. Note that she uses the #12daysofchristmas and #christmas2017 holiday hashtags.

This idea can be a great alternative to a holiday giveaway if you don’t have the marketing budget to afford to give out freebies. However, promoting products daily throughout the season can be just as effective since it provides you with consistent holiday content.

Follow, tag, and like giveaway

This small business does, in fact, give away something different for each of the 12 days of Christmas. In addition to following the user and tagging three friends, you must also like the photo to enter. The user closes with a friendly holiday wish and shows a hashtag best practice: placing the hashtags in the comment instead of the post.

Custom hashtag bonus entry

This holiday giveaway isn’t a “12 days of Christmas” giveaway like the other examples you’ve seen. It’s a basic Instagram giveaway with a holiday theme. This user in the beauty product niche uses the caption to express thanks to her audience and customers, then explains the contest prizes in detail.

Contest entry instructions are similar to those we’ve seen above, where a user has to follow two accounts, like the photo, tag three friends, and make a comment with something specific (in this case, your location). She offers a bonus entry for users who repost and include a custom hashtag.

She also makes sure to include a delivery fee disclaimer and state adherence to Instagram’s terms of use.

Pro tip: Use Instagram polls to find out what prizes would get people excited!

Promote your giveaway

This isn’t exactly a specific holiday giveaway example, but it is a good example of promoting your social media contest before you start running it. Building anticipation and excitement for a day or two beforehand can help enhance engagement.

Fitness challenge giveaway

This holiday giveaway idea is unique from the rest of the examples, as users don’t enter by liking, tagging, or engaging in any way with the post or account. Instead, the holiday/12 days theme is incorporated by offering an unlimited month at a discount, for anyone who works out at the gym for 12 consecutive days–a great fitness marketing strategy around the holidays.

Direct mail entry

For this giveaway, users enter by sending a greeting card to a physical location. The mailing address is obtained via an Instagram direct message and the winner is chosen and announced via live broadcast. Offline marketing methods still work!

Holiday giveaway to announce a product launch

If you’re launching something new at your business during this time of year, use a holiday giveaway as an opportunity to create buzz around it! The giveaway doesn’t have to directly connect to the launch, but it can be a fun way to remind your followers of what’s to come.

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Holiday giveaway for events

If you’re hosting or participating in an event this season, try doing a giveaway that offers free tickets or VIP treatment to two lucky winners. This holiday giveaway idea not only grows your business’s social media presence, but it also can increase your event’s attendance rate.

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Holiday Instagram giveaway for service-based businesses

If your business offers services rather than products, it can feel tricky to hold an Instagram giveaway for the holidays since you don’t necessarily have a concrete prize to offer. However, there are still plenty of options. For example, you could give away a specific service package or partner with another local business to offer a product to go along with your service-based prize.

In the example below, this photography business offers a free session to local followers, but broadens its appeal by also partnering with another business to ship a free product to non-local followers.

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What to put as your holiday Instagram giveaway caption

Ready to run with these holiday and Christmas Instagram giveaway ideas, but unsure of what to put as your caption? Check out these ideas below for giveaway caption inspiration:

Holiday giveaway caption ideas

• Our annual #holidaygiveaway is finally here! Be sure to follow us, like this post, and tag someone you want a gift from in the comments below to be considered for our ultimate seasonal present extravaganza 🎊
• #happyholidays giveaway alert 🚨 reshare this post to your story to be entered into our best holiday giveaway yet complete with exclusive seasonal goodies! One lucky winner will be picked at random and DM’d. May the odds be ever in your favor😉
• ‘Tis the season for a holiday giveaway! We just dropped our seasonal offerings and we’re picking THREE lucky winners to get an offer of their choice for free. Tag two friends in the comments and we’ll randomly select our winners via DM before the new year🍾
• Happy holidays from Small’s Neighborhood Shop! To celebrate the season, we’re sharing gifts to our followers with a fun #holidaygiveaway. Share how you’re celebrating this time of year in a post or story and tag us for a chance to win a special gift from us to you!

Christmas giveaway caption ideas

• Naughty or nice? 🤔 Tag in the comments someone on your nice list who deserves to win a prize from our #holidaygiveaway! We’ll announce the winner on our story December 23🎁
• With our latest giveaway, you’ll be #hohoho hopping all the way to the bank! That’s because you’ll have a chance to win a prize from our business valued at $100 😲 To enter, follow us, tag a friend in the comments, and repost this post to your story. Winner will be announced on our Instagram Live next week! Good luck🤑
• 🎅 #santaclauseiscomingtotown ..and to our business! We’ve got a special present under our tree for one lucky winner. To enter this #holidaygiveaway, share a picture or video on your story of why you love Christmas, and we’ll repost the best entry to our page and DM you to claim your prize.
• ‘Tis the season for #12daysofgiveaways! For the 12 days leading up to Christmas, we’ll select one lucky follower via DM each day to win a product from our newest collection. Be sure you’re following us and check back on our page to stay updated on the #contest 👀
• What’s under your tree this year? We’ve got free gifts under ours for five lucky winners! That’s right, we’re giving you a chance to win a freebie from us in our latest #holidaygiveaway 🎄 Like this post and comment below what’s on your wish list this year and we’ll reply back if you’re a winner in the next 24 hours Ready. Set. Go!

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Get giving with holiday Instagram giveaways that spread cheer

Be creative with your holiday giveaways. Think of how you can adapt one of these examples for a deal or offer that will fit your business’s needs and engage your audience to take your holiday marketing strategy to the next level.

Kristen McCormick

Kristen is the Senior Managing Editor at WordStream where she helps businesses make sense of online marketing and advertising. She specializes in local SEO, copywriting, and conversion optimization, and finds life to be exponentially more delightful on a bicycle.

Other posts by Kristen McCormick