Several businesses are searching for ways to increase engagement on their social media pages. Running social media contests might just be a viable way out. Social media contests will help you drive traffic to your site and social media pages, in exchange for giveaways such as discounts and shopping vouchers. So, invariably, the benefits are limitless.
My focus in this article will be on Instagram, as many businesses have ‘IG shops’ these days, and want to drive traffic to their space. Instagram is typically a visual social media platform. Users are most times, impatient to read long posts or give attention to seemingly unattractive pictures/graphic images. Hence, the need to put this into consideration while running a contest. Here are some creative ideas that can help you scale an IG contest.
Set your contest goals and rules
Technically, your contest rules will be determined by the goals you want to achieve through the contest. It might be to have more engagement, more sales, more followers, more tags, etc. Whatever your goals are, you must be clear on them, as they will guide you in setting the rules you want your participants to play by.
Publicize the contest
What is a contest without participants? The only way you can get people to participate is to let them know that such a contest exists. An easy way out will be to run an ad, in addition to posting it on your feed and stories. If you have a website, you can also publicize it there, so that even a random visitor to the website will get to see it.
Make use of hashtags
The use of hashtags on Instagram cannot be overemphasized. It is a vital part of IG posts. Create a unique hashtag for your contest and let your participants also make use of it. This will pool more participants to your contest and make it more visible.Depending on what your business is all about and what you intend to achieve with your contest, you can have a contest option like asking for tags. Here, you ask your participants to tag friends, and the participant with the highest tags gets to win. You can also run photo contests. If you are modelling, fashion or beauty brand, this will be a good fit. Ask your participants to take pictures of themselves or others, and the finest takes home the prize.
Another contest idea that could be implemented is asking them to purchase your product and do something creative with it. You can also ask them to share their stories with you, where the most inspiring (depending on your contest goals) wins the prize. I believe these few ideas can help you kickstart that social media contest you’ve always wanted to run. However, don’t forget to thank me later. Cheers!
Featured Image Source: Recycle Florida TodayGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
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