Sometimes social media in Vancouver can feel like being screamed at by a million different voices, all trying to get your attention.
Wanna have some fun, and stand out from other brands? Run an Instagram contest.
But how? Here are three of our fave ideas.
3 perfect Instagram contest ideas to take your Vancouver social media to the next level
1. Most comments wins
This one is common with large brands.
To start, you pick a topic – let’s say, “unicorn hair”! Then you announce the competition to your followers, telling them to take their best unicorn hair picture and send it to you.
Don’t forget to set a deadline for the photos!
As soon as the deadline passes, go through the pictures, picking your top five. Repost those five on your Instagram feed – and let the photographers know that whoever gets the most comments on their picture wins a prize!
You’ll get two major benefits here:
- Your Instagram engagement will improve, since the finalists will ask all their friends to comment on their picture, in hopes of winning. More comments on your account = you look better in Instagram’s robo-eyes = your posts show up more in people’s feeds.
- This builds bigtime cred with your community. People love having their pictures reposted by others! It’s a great way to show some love back to your followers (in addition to giving out a prize).
2. Hashtag party
Hashtags are the lifeblood of social media in Vancouver… making this competition the perfect way to get some Insta engagement!
All you have to do is announce the contest – and the hashtag you’re using for it. You tell your followers to take a picture, using your contest hashtag when they post it. Then, after the contest deadline, you look through the hashtag, seeing all the entries and picking the winner. Simple and awesome, right?
Pro tip: Make sure the contest hashtag isn’t a common hashtag! You want something unique so that it’s easy to identify which photos are part of your contest.
3. Follow to win
This is the younger, hipper cousin of #FollowFriday!
Instead of just telling people who to follow, you create a fun contest – with a killer prize. So how do you make this competition happen?
First, you team up with another brand or an influencer (micro-influencers work well too). Together, you decide on a great prize that both your sets of followers will be into. When you’re ready, you announce the contest with a photo you both share. Anyone who wants to enter has to follow you both, then comment on the contest photo.
Once they do that, they’re entered to win the prize!
Our #1 Instagram contest tip
This may seem obvious; but, a lot of people overlook it when running contests on their social media in Vancouver… You have to pick an awesome prize! If people don’t care about the prize, they’re not going to jump on the competition. Pick the right prize though, and – bingo! – everyone will be rushing to enter!
Looking for other ways to raise the profile of your social media in Vancouver? Drop us a line. We’re know just how to build your following – and get you the engagement you’re looking for!
