Instagram Guide

Instagram Setup Guide

Run comment-based contests on Instagram — no Facebook account required.

What You Need

Instagram Business or Creator account

A personal account won't work — switch to Business or Creator in Instagram settings for free.

Free Meta developer account

Sign up at developers.facebook.com. This is only for creating an app — you do not need a Facebook Page or personal Facebook profile.

1 Create a Meta App

  1. a
    Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and click Create App.
  2. b
    Select the "Business" app type.
  3. c
    On the app dashboard, find the Instagram product and click Set Up.
  4. d
    Go to Instagram > API setup with Instagram Login. Under Valid OAuth Redirect URIs, add: https://pickawinner.pro/auth/instagram/callback
  5. e
    Go to App Settings > Basic and copy your App ID and App Secret.

2 Add Instagram Testers (Development Mode)

While your Meta App is in development mode, only invited test users can log in. You need to add yourself as a tester.

  1. a
    In your Meta App, go to App Roles > Roles.
  2. b
    Click Add Instagram Testers and enter your Instagram username.
  3. c
    On Instagram, go to Settings > Website Permissions > Tester Invites and accept the invitation.

Going to production?

Submit your app for App Review through the Meta developer dashboard to get the instagram_business_basic and instagram_business_manage_comments permissions approved. Once approved, any Instagram user can connect.

3 Save Your App Credentials

  1. a
    Go to your Profile page.
  2. b
    In the Meta App Credentials section, enter your App ID and App Secret.
  3. c
    Click Save Credentials.
Go to Profile

4 Connect Your Instagram Account

  1. a
    On your Profile page, find the Instagram Connection card.
  2. b
    Click Connect Instagram. You will be redirected to Instagram.
  3. c
    Log in with your Instagram credentials and click Allow to grant access.
  4. d
    You will be redirected back. Your Instagram account now appears under My Pages & Accounts.

5 Create a Contest

First, publish a post or reel on Instagram. In the caption, instruct your followers to comment with their email address to enter the contest. Then:

  1. a
    Go to My Contests and click New Contest.
  2. b
    Select your Instagram account (shown as @username) from the "Page / Account" dropdown.
  3. c
    Paste the Instagram post URL. Supported formats:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/XYZ789/
  4. d
    Fill in the contest period, number of winners, and prize descriptions.
  5. e
    Optionally add entry requirements: keyword in comment, minimum @mentions, custom rules.
  6. f
    Click Create Contest.

6 Draw Winners

Manual draw

Open the contest and click "Draw Winners". Comments are fetched, filtered by your rules, and winners randomly selected.

Automatic draw

Set a Scheduled draw time or let the draw trigger automatically when the contest end date passes (checked every 5 minutes).

After the draw, review winners, re-draw if needed, export CSV, or share the public results URL. Click Notify Winners to email the winners who included an email in their comment.

Important Notes for Instagram

Filters that work automatically

  • Contest period — only comments within start/end dates
  • Keyword/hashtag — comment must contain a specific phrase
  • Minimum @mentions — must tag a certain number of people
  • Exclude specific users — by Instagram username
  • Exclude previous winners — from contests on the same account

Filters that require manual verification

The Instagram API does not provide this data. You can still set these as stated contest rules, but winners should be manually checked.

  • Must like the post — Instagram does not expose liker identities
  • Must follow the account — follower list is not accessible
  • Must share the post and Exclude page admins — not applicable on Instagram (silently skipped)

Other things to know

  • Each commenter is entered once, even if they comment multiple times
  • Your competition post must be among your last 1,000 Instagram posts. The Instagram API does not allow direct lookup by URL, so the system searches your recent posts to find a match. Posts older than your most recent 1,000 cannot be found.
  • Your Instagram token lasts ~60 days. The app refreshes it automatically. If that fails, reconnect from your profile.
  • Instagram API rate limits apply. Very large contests may take longer to process.
Sign up

Also running Facebook contests? See the Facebook Guide, or go back to all guides.