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Monica Grohne, founder of menstrual wellness brand Marea, discovered this the hard way after her brand launched an Instagram giveaway. 

A playbook losing its luster

Much like the Kardashians’ infamous giveaways — which always involve Scott Disick? — Marea’s giveaway asked users to:

• Follow 10 brand accounts on Instagram
• Like the announcement post
• Tag friends in the comment
  

The prize? A $500 bundle of menstrual care products. 

“It’s flopping,” Grohne tweeted.

The giveaway catch-22 

Giveaways come with a tangle of pros and cons — so they’re not easy to pull off or give up.  

• PRO: They boost organic follower count. That “builds trust and is important for a [brand’s] validation” Grohne noted — though some view followers as a vanity metric. 
• CON: They hurt engagement. They attract deal-seekers unlikely to engage with future posts (or buy). 
• CON: Instagram’s algorithm penalizes them. Or so it seems — though it didn’t always. 

Our takeaway?

Instagram giveaways can still do some good if you target existing customers, but they’re losing relevance to collab posts and Reels, Grohne said.