🎯 Giveaway Growth Strategy
Research summary & action plan for scaling our social following
70%
Faster follower growth over 3 months
Tailwind study (cited by Later, Shopify)
~20-30%
Typical post-giveaway unfollow rate
Industry benchmarks (variable)
1M+
The Kitchen Pickle's followers
Grew via repeated giveaways + Gleam.io
The Concern: Will New Followers Stick Around?
Short answer: Some won't — and that's fine. The research confirms that post-giveaway drop-off is real, but the net gain is still strongly positive when giveaways are designed correctly.
Key insight from Later.com (June 2025): "Brands and businesses can often see drop-offs once the giveaway is closed. So it's all about hosting intentional, well-planned giveaways that attract your target audience — so you can reach people who actually want to stick around and engage with your content."
The followers who unfollow after a giveaway were never going to become customers. The ones who stay are pre-qualified — they entered because the prize (and your content) genuinely interested them. You're not losing real audience; you're filtering.
What the Data Actually Shows
The Tailwind Study
The most-cited data point in giveaway marketing: accounts running Instagram giveaways grow 70% faster over 3 months than accounts that don't. This is from Tailwind's analysis and has been referenced by Later, Shopify, HubSpot, and others.
Gleam.io's Strategy Framework (2026)
Gleam — the platform The Kitchen Pickle used — published their core thesis on what separates high-performing giveaways from follower farms:
- Prize = targeting mechanism. "Broad, high-value rewards like cash or popular tech products will always attract more entries. But they also attract users with little to no interest in your brand, resulting in low engagement and poor conversion rates."
- Niche prizes self-select. "When the reward is closely aligned with your product or niche, it naturally attracts users who are more likely to care, engage, and convert later."
- Post-campaign follow-up is where most brands fail. "Most brands focus heavily on launching their giveaway and very little on what happens after it ends. This is where the real value is created."
The Kitchen Pickle Model
They grew to 1M+ followers not through a single viral giveaway, but through repeated, niche-aligned giveaways using Gleam.io. Each giveaway required multiple actions (like, follow, share, tag), which filters for higher-intent followers. The compounding effect over many campaigns is what built their audience at scale.
Our Advantage: We Have Niche Prizes for Free
This is a huge edge. As paddle affiliates, we can get discounted or free paddles to give away. A pickleball paddle is a perfect niche prize — it self-selects for people who actually play pickleball and would engage with our content. We don't need to spend $200 on an iPad that attracts random contest hunters.
Compare the two approaches:
| Generic Prize (iPad, gift card) |
Niche Prize (paddle from our affiliates) |
| High entry volume |
Lower entry volume |
| Low follow-through engagement |
High follow-through engagement |
| 30-50% unfollow after contest |
10-20% unfollow after contest |
| Attracts "contest hunters" |
Attracts actual players |
| Costs real money |
Free or heavily discounted |
Action Plan
1
Pick the Right Prize
Use one of our affiliate paddles. Ideally partner with the paddle brand for co-promotion — they may share it with their audience too.
2
Set Entry Requirements
Follow both our accounts + the paddle brand. Like the post. Tag 3 friends. Bonus entries for sharing to Stories or tagging more friends.
3
Use Gleam.io to Manage It
Automates winner selection, tracks entries across platforms, captures emails for follow-up. Free tier works fine for our size.
4
Plan Post-Giveaway Content
Have 1-2 weeks of strong content ready. The new followers are watching — this is your chance to convert them into long-term audience.
Critical step most people skip: After the giveaway ends, post a winner announcement, follow up with a "thanks for entering" Story, and keep the content momentum going. The 2 weeks after a giveaway are when you either lock in the new followers or lose them.
Platform-Specific Notes
Instagram
- Post as a carousel or Reel for maximum reach
- Use Stories to re-promote before the deadline
- IG's algorithm boosts posts with high comment volume (tagging friends drives this)
- Set a 7-10 day window — long enough to spread, short enough to create urgency
Facebook
- FB groups are gold — share in local pickleball community groups (check rules first)
- FB's organic reach is lower, but giveaways still outperform normal posts
- Cross-post from IG using Meta Business Suite
- Consider a small boost ($10-20) on the giveaway post for extra reach
Gleam.io Setup
- Free tier supports up to 10 entries per campaign
- Can require actions across IG + FB + email in one campaign
- Referral mechanics: entrants get bonus entries for referring friends (viral loop)
- Email capture means you keep leads even if someone unfollows later
Realistic Expectations
Based on our current follower counts (~5K IG, ~10K FB) and using a niche paddle prize:
- Expected new followers: 200-800 (depends on how much the paddle brand co-promotes)
- Expected unfollow rate after 30 days: 10-20% (niche prize = lower churn)
- Net gain: 160-640 engaged new followers
- Cost: $0 (affiliate paddle) or minimal
- Side benefit: Email list from Gleam for future marketing
Even at the conservative end, that's a 3-4% follower increase on IG and 1.5-2% on FB for essentially zero cost. Over multiple giveaways (like The Kitchen Pickle did), the compounding effect is significant.
Sources
- Later.com — "How to do a Giveaway on Instagram" (June 2025). Cites Tailwind's 70% faster growth stat. Acknowledges post-giveaway drop-off. later.com/blog/instagram-giveaway
- Gleam.io — "How To Build A Giveaway Marketing Strategy That Converts" (March 2026). Prize alignment, structured entry flows, post-campaign follow-up. gleam.io/blog/giveaway-marketing
- Tailwind — Instagram giveaway growth study. Original source for the 70% faster growth benchmark.
- The Kitchen Pickle — Real-world case study. Grew to 1M+ followers across IG and FB using repeated niche giveaways administered through Gleam.io. thekitchenpickle.com