New Year’s Eve is one of the most active and high-engagement periods on social media. For both brands and influencers, this special time of the year offers unique opportunities to build genuine connections with communities, boost visibility, and reach new audiences. When combined with users’ motivation to win gifts, Instagram holiday giveaways naturally become a powerful growth tool for your brand. So, how do you create a New Year giveaway that goes viral? Here is your step-by-step guide.
1. Define Your Giveaway Goal & Choose the Right Prize
The first step to an effective holiday giveaway is clarifying your objective. Increasing your Instagram followers, boosting engagement, promoting a new product, or driving traffic to your year-end campaign… Your purpose will shape your entire giveaway strategy.
Once the goal is clear, the most critical stage is choosing the prize. Looking at 2025 social media trends, the best-performing prizes have one thing in common: universal appeal.
Top New Year Giveaway Prize Ideas That Drive Engagement on Instagram
Popular, high-participation prizes include:
Tech Items: Earbuds, smartwatches, powerbanks
Gift Cards: Amazon, Netflix memberships, discount codes
Curated Boxes: Holiday gift boxes, planner sets, advent calendars
Beauty: Mini care sets, “favorites” boxes, PR-style bundles
Brands usually give away their own products or exclusive holiday discount codes to build awareness, while influencers often create “picked just for my followers” themed giveaways to strengthen their connection with their audience.
2. Keep Participation Requirements Simple
Clear and simple participation steps directly increase performance. The criteria that still work best are:
- Like and save the post
- Tag friends in the comments
- Follow the account
3. Reflect the Holiday Spirit Through Visual Design
Design plays a huge role in the success of New Year giveaways. Red, green, and gold tones, snowflakes, gift boxes — all instantly grab attention. Reels formats like “opening gift box animations” or snowfall effects increase your chances of reaching the Explore page.
If you don’t want to spend too much time designing, using ready-made templates is a life-saver.
Tip: With Simpliers’ New Year–themed ready-to-use giveaway templates, you can create professional visuals in seconds; no designer needed!
👉🏻 Create Your Giveaway Visual Instantly
4. Use a Reliable and Transparent Tool
After posting your giveaway, the technical phase begins. Manually counting comments or selecting winners by hand is time-consuming and increases the risk of mistakes which harms your credibility.
Providing transparency is the most important trust factor for your followers. This is where a professional giveaway tool becomes essential.
Simpliers simplifies the process with features like:
- Imports all comments from the giveaway post
- Selects winners based on your giveaway rules
- Offers “View Participants” for a fully transparent list
- Provides a results link, verification code, and certificate for complete trust.
During the busy holiday season, a professional tool maximizes the reliability of your giveaway.
5. Manage the Process & Keep Engagement Alive
Once your giveaway is posted, avoid the “post and forget” mistake.
State the Deadline Clearly: Add the closing date at the very top of the caption.
Share Reminders: Stories like “last hours” or “announcing tomorrow” boost participation significantly.
Announce Your Results: Share winners with a transparent results link via Story and feed posts.
Why Are New Year Giveaways So Effective?
In December, social media users are far more responsive to gift opportunities. Higher likes, comments, and saves help the algorithm push your profile forward. Starting the new year with a community-driven activity strengthens the relationship with your audience.
A well-planned Instagram giveaway allows you to step into 2026 with strong momentum. Start planning your New Year giveaway now and finalize it safely with Simpliers grow your community, enhance engagement, and capture the holiday spirit!
