7 examples of Instagram contests (and how to organize them)

How to organize an Instagram contest? 7 examples of Instagram contests. How to run a contest on Instagram.

7 examples of Instagram contests (and how to organize them)
Emeric
Senior Content Writer @ BoostFluence
Social Media
January 16, 2022

How to organize an Instagram sweepstakes?"

7 examples of Instagram sweepstakes. How to organize an Instagram contest.

You too want to organize an Instagram contest and don't know how to go about it?

We'll explain it all in this article. By the end of it, you'll know how to launch your Instagram giveaway. But you'll also have discovered 7 examples of instagram contests.

Organizing an Instagram contest is a great way to attract the attention of new users.

Contests and giveaways help build your community. But they also have the effect of boosting your engagement.

However, before you run an Instagram giveaway, there are a few things you need to know. Whether it's to make sure you stay in compliance or to create the best Instagram sweepstakes.

To know: the boostfluence app lets you create and above all publish your Instagram sweepstakes easily by scheduling your posts in advance. But also by boosting your visibility.

How to make an Instagram sweepstakes:

  • 7 examples of Instagram sweepstakes.
  • How to organize the best Instagram sweepstakes?
  • Rules for an Instagram sweepstakes.

7 examples of Instagram sweepstakes

Before embarking on the publication of your Instagram sweepstakes. You need to think about which type of contest best suits your brand and goals for this Instagram promotion.

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1. Like and/or comment to win.

This'is one of the most common practices of Instagram contests.

It's also one of the easiest to set up (especially if a "Like" is enough).

This usually involves asking people to like the photo, follow their account as well as comment on something related to the photo.

The ease of participation in this kind of contest can actually be a challenge for marketers.

If you use a contest as a lead generation strategy, you can bring in a lot of them. However, they may not be of very high quality, especially if you only ask for a like.

By asking for a comment directly linked to the photo. You ensure that people are genuinely interested in your brand. And you can weed out people who are simply looking to enter the Instagram contest.

This will also have the effect of boosting your engagement.

2. Photo caption contest.

It's human nature to want to show your wit and humor.

A photo caption contest allows fans to participate while showing their loyalty to your brand. It will also have the effect of boosting your engagement.

All you need is'an interesting or unusual photo. Post it on Instagram and ask fans to post their captions in the comments.

The Sudbury Wolves (OHL) field hockey team used this strategy to get fans excited about their first game of the season.

How? By offering a chance to win two tickets to the opening game to the person who came up with the best caption for this photo.

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3. Instagram contest identify a friend.

An Instagram contest " Identify a friend " can be a great way to get your brand in front of people. Particularly to people who may never have heard of you before or who may not yet follow you on Instagram.

The concept is simple: ask users to tag their friends in the comments of your post for a chance to win.

Each person who is tagged will receive a notification and will probably click on your post to see it. S'they like what they see, you may end up with a new follower, or even a new participant.

This type of Instagram contest has the advantage of promoting itself exponentially. Largely thanks to identification.

4. Skills quiz or contest.

An Instagram contest can be an opportunity to get the word out about your company or brand. Particularly through an instagram Quiz

People who don't yet know your brand very well may end up looking for the answers and gradually get to know you.

Asking fans to show off their talents related to your product or brand is another interesting option. Especially if you offer products or resources that help people learn or develop those same skills. Entries can thus serve as a social challenge for your products.

BeatJunkies.TV regularly publishes challenges on its Instagram account, encouraging followers to show off their DJ skills for a chance to win a month'subscription to their service.

Rather than picking a winner at random, they choose the person who showed the best skills. When they announce the winner, they always say what made them stand out.

jeu concours instagram beatjunkies

The videos are regularly viewed by thousands.

Discover here how to get known as a DJ.

5. User-generated content contest.

Organizing an Instagram contest is a great way to collect fan content that you can share on your social networks. Make sure your instagram contest terms and conditions clearly state that you can share the photos and texts people submit.

To do this, you can ask users to:

  • show themselves using your product,
  • tell how your product or service has improved their lives,
  • or simply post photos related to your product or service (such as photos of their run for an athletic apparel company, or photos of their travels for a travel brand).

Freelance platform Upwork asked its subscribers to share their freelance success stories using the hashtag #UpworkSuccess, with the prize being a $1,000 gift card.

Contest participants gave Upwork a great source of user-generated content, talking about how well their service works and the positive effect it can have on people's lives.

That's the best publicity you could hope for.

6. Instagram contest via stories.

Don't overlook Instagram stories when thinking about how to'run an Instagram contest.

You can run a 24-hour contest from your story. This is a great way to promote yourself quickly.

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You can also run a contest that lasts longer than 24 hours using the story on the front page.

7. Treasure hunt contest.

A treasure hunt can be a fun way to engage your Instagram community with your brand.

You can use your Instagram feed to provide clues. Your followers can then follow them to find a prize.

You can also give people a template to fill in and post on their own Instagram feed or Instagram Story.

Coding training center DevMountain Dallas took a neat approach to an Instagram treasure hunt by asking people to take screenshots of toys hidden in their campus's Google Street View.

They asked people to send in their answers via Instagram DM, but you could also ask people to post directly on Instagram or in Stories.

This was a clever way to get people exploring the DevMountain campus.

Would you like to find out how to select your winners? Find out here how to run an Instagram giveaway.

How to run an Instagram contest?

Set clear goals.

Knowing what you want to achieve with your contest is the first step.

Do you want to expose your account to potential new fans? Get more Instagram followers? Build up a library of user-generated content to publish later? Or simply learn more about how your customers use your products?

The answer to this question will help you determine the type of Instagram contest to run, and allow you to measure your results.

Find out how to define your Instagram marketing goal here.

Prepare the details.

Once you have clear, measurable goals, you can create a plan to achieve them. Here are some key questions to consider

  • What do you want participants to do?Once you know the answer to this question, write a simple statement to explain how people can get involved. For example, if you want users to share a photo with a specific hashtag, say so.
  • What are the rules and parameters? Put the full contest rules online.
  • How long will your contest last? Set a start date and an end date. Make sure these dates are clearly marked.
  • Will you be using a campaign hashtag? A hashtag will make it easier to track entries to your Instagram contest. If you plan to use one, include it on every piece of promotional content. Triple-check your spelling. And do an Instagram search to make sure the hashtag isn't already being used by another brand.
  • How will you inform the winner? You may decide to publish the results or simply announce that a winner has been chosen. In either case, clearly indicate how you will announce the winner. For example, via a direct message or a publication (stories or feed).

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Ease participation.

Don't forget that Instagram is first and foremost a mobile social network. This means that people type on cell phone screens rather than computer keyboards.

Your contest entry procedure should therefore be simple.

Reduce the number of steps required to a minimum to maximize the number of entrants.

Choose an appropriate prize.

Your prize should be valuable enough to motivate people to enter your Instagram contest. But not to the point of encouraging entries from people who have no real interest in your brand. That's the whole point of your Instagram contest.

A product sample or a trial of your service could be a great Instagram giveaway. This will ensure that you touch people who might be interested in purchasing your products in the future.

The independent TV series EastSiders offered the chance to be an extra in one of the series'episodes as prize for an Instagram contest and not in just any scene, but in the wedding scene eagerly awaited by fans of the series.

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This prize doesn't have much monetary value, but it would be of great value to fans of the series.

Cross-promotion on other social networks.

Make sure fans know about your contest, even if they don't follow you on Instagram yet.

Promote your contest on your other social channels to reach the widest possible audience and maximize the number of participants.

This is also a great way to make sure that people who already follow you on other social networks know about your Instagram account.

When you publish the contest on other channels, be sure to provide a link so people can find it easily.

Even if your handle is the same, providing a link greatly increases the likelihood that people will click through and participate in your Instagram contest.

Reach more potential participants with Instagram ads.

Promoting your contest with Instagram ads allows you to reach the exact target market you're aiming for with your contest. Think about it.

Measure your results.

Decide on your key metrics and how often to track them.

For example, you might consider monitoring:

  • Number of participants and comments.
  • Levels of engagement
  • Your number of subscribers
  • Traffic to the website or home page.
  • Trials or product purchases.
  • Positive and negative sentiment.

If you run an annual Instagram contest, don't forget to look at year-on-year comparisons.

You can also analyze the type of comments and questions you received.

For example:

  • Did people understand how to sign up?
  • What was the quality of the content you received?
  • Did you learn anything about your potential customers?

This type of information can tell you how to improve your contest for next time.

Use custom audiences for follow-up after your contest.

You'll probably see more interactions with your Instagram account than usual during the duration of the contest.

You can use all these extra interactions to create a personalized audience for Instagram ads once your contest is over.

This will ensure that you remain visible to people who may have liked or commented on your contest post, but haven't followed your brand account.

Instagram contest rules

Learning the rules for running Instagram contests isn't the most exciting part. But it is, however, essential if you want to offer insta contests that don't turn into a fiasco.

Here are the rules to follow when organizing an Instagram contest.

Respecting the law.

This is obvious. Few accounts intend to break the law when running an Instagram giveaway.

But the laws and regulations governing contests and giveaways are complex. Especially if your contest is featured on an account where it can be seen by people from all over the world.

Make sure you understand the laws and regulations in your region.

If you plan to allow entries from people outside your region, and especially outside your country, you're venturing into complex legal territory. You might want to ask a lawyer to help you draft your Instagram contest rules for added security.

If you're working with influencers on an Instagram contest (for example, giving them a sample of your product to give away as a prize), be sure to follow the appropriate disclosure rules.

Create a clear set of official rules.

These rules are paramount to ensuring the good run of your Instagram contest.

If your contest is only open to people from a specific geographic area, you can include this information in your post. This will eliminate a large number of unqualified entries.

For example, you can post your Instagram contest rules on your website. Or publish it as the first comment on your insta publication.

In any case, make sure you tell people where to find the full rules. This should be easy to find.

Your Instagram contest game rules, must also include a statement that releases Instagram from any liability regarding the contest.

Make it clear that'Instagram is not involved in the contest.

In accordance with Instagram's promotional guidelines. You must inform potential participants that your contest "is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Instagram"

Don't encourage inaccurate tagging.

It's normal to ask people to tag themselves or identify a friend in the comments of'an IG post. Especially during a contest. But you can't ask them to add inaccurate identifications.

For example, you can't ask someone to identify your brand in a photo that doesn't include your products or services.

You also can't ask them to tag a friend in a photo if they don't appear in it. (Again, tagging friends in comments is fine).

Don't ask Instagram for help.

Instagram is pretty clear on this point: If you choose to use their platform for a contest, you're on your own.

They expressly say that "they won't help you manage your promotion and can't advise you on whether you need consent to use user content or how to obtain any necessary consent".

You're also on the hook if anything goes wrong: "If you use our service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk".

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