Drumming up engagement for your brand with social media contests is one of the most tried-and-true methods marketers have at their disposal.
Think of it this way: contests, the third most popular kind of social media post, combine your audience’s natural proclivity for competition with a compelling offer. The result? A more engaged audience.
Let’s look at everything you’ll need to know to run the most successful social media contest for your brand.
What are social media contests?
Social media contests are interactive campaigns on social platforms like Instagram and TikTok that typically ask participants to complete specific tasks or challenges to win prizes. These asks can be as simple as tagging a friend in the comments or as complex as designing a new brand mascot.
Social media contests incentivize users to interact with your brand in a fun way, fostering a sense of excitement and good old-fashioned competition among participants.
Brand marketers can use social media contests strategically – to boost user engagement and foster a sense of community around your brand.
Why social media contests drive engagement and conversions
Are social media contests an effective tool for brand marketing? Do the brand exposure and audience engagement gains justify the (sometimes enormous) monetary outlays?
Let’s look at a successful example: Nissan’s #improvisewithJUKE campaign shows how brands can use social media contests to generate impactful user-generated content (UGC).
Launched on TikTok, the campaign invited users to create creative voiceovers for Nissan JUKE’s TV ad and share their videos using the hashtag. The most innovative entries were featured in the official commercial, offering participants a unique opportunity for recognition.
Over two months, the contest campaign amassed more than 34,000 video submissions and 140.6 million views, resulting in a 92% increase in brand awareness for Nissan Australia. By leveraging TikTok’s interactive features and collaborating with influencers, Nissan successfully engaged a younger audience while turning them into co-creators of brand content.
Social media contests allow you to interact with and grow your audience. Moreover, people love to see brands give back to their loyal followers, so they tug at those heartstrings.
Here are some of the brand benefits of running social media contests:
- Increased engagement: Contests are a fun and interactive way to engage with your audience, encouraging them to comment, like, and share your content.
- Improved brand awareness: The popularity of social media contests helps your brand reach new audiences and increase its visibility. Participants often share contests with friends and their audiences, expanding your brand’s reach beyond its followers.
- More subscribers: Contests that require participants to follow or subscribe to your social media accounts can help you grow your online presence.
- Additional audience data: Contests require participants to provide their email address or other contact information, allowing you to collect valuable data for future marketing efforts and better understand your audience.
Social media contests grow your brand by encouraging organic engagement and sparking genuine interest in your products or services. They don’t have to be complex to be effective. In the next section, we’ll explore the types of social media contests you can run for your brand.
Types of social media contests and giveaways
There are various types of social media contests and giveaways you can run to engage your audience. Each type offers unique advantages and can be tailored to fit your brand’s objectives.
Here are a few common types of social media contests:
- Content creation contests: Encourage participants to submit content related to your product or theme, whether it’s photos, videos, or other media. This generates UGC and allows you to showcase your brand in a creative way.
- Caption contests: Ask followers to “caption this” on a post of an image. This type of contest is easy to participate in and tends to generate high engagement through comments and likes.
- Hashtag contests: Invite users to post content featuring a branded content hashtag. This method is excellent for brand visibility and tracking entries.
- Trivia quizzes: Test your audience’s knowledge with fun quizzes related to your industry or products. This format is engaging and can educate your followers about your brand.
- Sweepstakes: Simple and effective, sweepstakes require users to take a small action, such as filling out a form, in exchange for a chance to win a prize.
- Tag-a-friend contests: A tag-a-friend contest asks your followers to tag their friends in the comments to enter, driving engagement. Each customer’s Rolodex can increase your post’s visibility and attract new followers to your brand.
By selecting the right type of contest for your brand, you can maximize engagement and create a memorable experience for your audience.
How to run a social media contest
Now that you know what you can gain from running social media contests, let’s talk about how you can launch a successful one. Follow the steps below to run a great contest on any social media platform.
1. Set clear, measurable goals for your social media contest
Before you start planning your social media contest, establish clear objectives. What do you want to achieve from this contest? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic, or gain new followers? Setting measurable goals will help you track the success of your contest and make adjustments if needed.
You can have more than one goal – but make each one Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound (or SMART). For example, instead of saying “gain more followers,” set a goal of gaining, say, 500 new followers by the end of the contest period. This will give you a concrete number to aim for and track progress towards.
Your objectives will determine your key performance indicators (KPIs). If your goal is to increase brand awareness, measure impressions, reach, and use of your contest hashtag. If you want to boost engagement with your existing audience, pay more attention to the number of entries, comments, shares, and likes.
Don’t try to measure too many things at once. Instead, choose a few key metrics that align with your overall objectives and track them consistently throughout the duration of your contest.
2. Select the right social media channels for your contest
The social media platform or platforms where your contest lives should depend on your audience’s social media preferences. Let’s say your goal is to increase brand awareness among Millennials or Gen Z. Your best option would probably be Instagram or TikTok.
But there are more ways to slice an audience than by generation. How exactly can you know your target audience’s social media preferences? This is where social listening comes in. In addition to monitoring your engagement rates and reach on each social media channel, track your brand mentions and hashtags related to your industry to determine the best social outlet to reach your customers. Also, consider the various strengths of each social media platform.
For instance, Instagram and TikTok are excellent for UGC collection because of their visual focus. If you’re running a contest encouraging your fans to post a picture with your product or doing a related activity, you’re likely to get the best quality photos and videos there. One perk of this approach is that you’ll have authentic customer content in your back pocket for future social media and brand visual marketing long after the contest ends.
A great example is Kimpton Hotels’ pet photo contest. The pet-friendly boutique hotel chain encouraged users to post photos of their pets on vacation for a chance to win a free stay with their four-legged companions. The contest was wildly popular and generated tons of UGC and goodwill for the brand.
3. Choose contest prizes that motivate your audience to participate on social media
Deciding on the prizes is important to the success of social media contests. The rewards have to be valuable enough for people to take the contest seriously, but not so expensive that you don’t see a return on your investment.
Make sure the prize is something related to your business. If you’re a pet store and you give away an iPad, you might only end up attracting people interested in iPads, not necessarily the people who will be interested in your pet products. If you’re a smaller brand or don’t have the resources to provide a prize, offer special discounts or free samples to promote participation.
Here are some social media contest prize ideas that are trending:
- Sustainable and eco-friendly products
- Personalized AI-generated artwork
- Virtual reality experiences
- Cryptocurrency or NFTs
- Exclusive access to online events or masterclasses
As digital experiences continue to evolve, offer:
- Digital gift cards for popular online platforms
- Exclusive digital content or downloads
- Virtual meet-and-greets with influencers or brand ambassadors
- Custom digital avatars or in-game items
When budgeting for contest prizes, consider the following:
- Set a budget of 10-20% of your expected revenue from the contest.
- Factor in the cost of promotion and administration.
- Calculate potential ROI based on estimated reach and engagement, lead generation value, and long-term customer value.
Remember, the perceived value of the prize to your audience is often more important than its monetary cost. Choose prizes that resonate with your brand and excite your target participants for the best results.
4. Create social media contest rules that promote your brand
Your contest rules should depend on your campaign objective. For example, if you want to grow the brand’s audience, ask participants to follow your account for a chance to win a prize.
If you want to increase community engagement while expanding your brand reach, ask customers to share their experiences with your product. This approach spreads the word about your brand to their followers, makes your fans feel heard and connected to your brand, and provides you with UGC for future social media campaigns.
The right analytics tool is a must to monitor contest submissions that use your brand’s unique contest hashtag and track mentions of your account. Automating this process will save you a lot of time once the contest is in motion.
5. Ensure your contest rules comply with social media platform requirements
Because each social platform has its own specific guidelines for running promotions and contests, do your research first. Read up on the guidelines of your chosen platform or platforms.
Read each social media platform’s specific regulations for running contests here:
6. Ensure your contest follows the law
Laws about contests, including those on social media, vary from one country to another and even across states.
In the United States, for example, private entities are banned from running a lottery. According to US Legal, a lottery has three elements: payment, chance, and prizes. If you require a person to purchase something from you (payment) in exchange for the opportunity (chance) to win a trip to Hawaii (prize), you might be held liable for running an illegal lottery.
If you’re running a social media contest that includes U.S. participants, look into the following to ensure you’re not violating any regulations or laws:
- International laws: This is especially important if you allow participants from abroad.
- Federal laws: The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, for example, are some agencies that regulate sweepstakes and contests in the United States.
- State and local laws: For example, in Michigan, you’re not allowed to run sweepstakes related to tobacco products.
- Data privacy rules: Ensure your contest complies with the data privacy laws in the jurisdictions where contestants submit. Comply with GDPR, for example, by including a consent checkbox in entry forms.
7. Include these sections in your social media contest rules
Consider including the following sections in your contest rules and regulations:
- Eligibility: In this section, explain who is allowed to participate in your contest and who isn’t. You can include a clause that says “Void where prohibited by law” to avoid legal issues.
- Sponsorship: If you have a sponsor other than your own brand, include it here. Otherwise, include your company here.
- Agreement: Include a clause that says those who participate in your contest agree to abide by its official rules and regulations.
- Entry period: This is the period you plan to run your contest. Include your time zone so the entry period won’t be subject to other interpretations.
- How to enter: Describe how each person can join your contest. Include how many entries are allowed for each person.
- Prizes: Specify exactly what participants can win. Include here if the prize is transferable or not.
- Odds: This should be a statement that says the odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
- Selection and notification of the winner: Define how the winner will be determined and how that person will be notified. Give a period within which the winner can claim the prize.
- Rights granted by the contest participant: Specify here the rights a contest participant grants you. For example, when an applicant submits an entry into a UGC contest, they automatically grant you the right to publicize their submitted post, provided it is properly credited.
- Terms and conditions: Enumerate the things you reserve the right to modify, cancel, or suspend in the event of causes beyond your control.
- Limitation of liability: Explain here that you can’t be held liable should an illness, death, etc., result from participation in the contest.
- Disputes: Explain how you will handle disputes.
- Privacy policy: Any information participants provide is subject to your privacy policy. Your privacy policy should comply with your jurisdiction’s privacy laws.
- Winners list: Explain how participants can see the winners.
- Social media platform regulations: Explain what you can and can’t do on the chosen social media platform.
- Affirmation: This section should clearly state that by checking a box, the participant agrees to follow all contest rules.
- AI use: If applicable, specify whether or not there are restrictions on AI-generated content for contest entries.
It’s best to be as comprehensive as possible when writing your rules to account for the unexpected and reduce your legal liability.
Post your contest rules on your website. Make it a requirement for all participants to read the rules before joining your contest.
8. Promote your social media contest
Promote your social media contest on the platform where you plan to host it. Use relevant hashtags to increase the chances of people finding you, and create your own to track submissions. You can also promote the campaign across multiple platforms, even if you’re taking submissions on a single one.
KFC Singapore ran a campaign called #UnboringMorning to promote its breakfast offerings. The contest encouraged users to share their unique morning routines on Instagram and Facebook for a chance to win prizes. By leveraging multiple platforms, KFC increased engagement and reached a broader audience. They also partnered with local influencers to amplify the campaign, creating buzz across channels.
- Use each platform’s strengths: For example, Instagram for visuals, Facebook for community engagement, and email for direct outreach.
- Partner with influencers: Collaborations can help amplify your contest across multiple platforms.
- Create consistent branding: Use unified hashtags or themes to tie your contest together across channels.
- Encourage UGC: Ask participants to share content on different platforms to increase reach and engagement.
You can even look for groups that allow you to promote social media contests. Facebook, for instance, has public groups dedicated to these. If you have an existing mailing list, send an email to your subscribers announcing your social media contest.
Promote the contest on social media as part of your regular content strategy, mixing the posts with less-promotional content. But remember that followers are generally happy to see posts from brands they like – nearly half of frequent social media users want to see brand posts at least once per day.
You can also consider partnering with influencers to promote your contest, or running paid ads. The spend could be well worth the increase in contest engagement and new followers.
9. Monitor engagement with your social media contest
As soon as your contest is up and running, start monitoring engagement. You can use the insights you’ve gained from monitoring your contest to promote the event as well.
For example, you can run retargeting campaigns for people who viewed the landing page of your contest. Or, you could use the insights you gained about customer demographics to run a paid advertising campaign.
Once you have a winner, announce it on the platform where you administered the contest. You can also send an email to your mailing subscribers who joined the contest. Don’t forget to take the opportunity to thank them for joining the competition, and follow through on sharing content about the contest winner’s prize, especially if it’s an experiential part of your brand, like a trip or free product.
10. Measure the ROI of your social media contest
Your contest generated buzz, but did it deliver real business value? Start by tracking direct ROI through sales conversions, sign-ups, and lead generation using UTM parameters and your analytics tools.
Look beyond immediate metrics to gauge long-term impact. Track brand awareness using social listening tools and measure changes in sentiment among your target audience. And be sure to nurture new followers – studies show that
34% of new followers come from contests.
11. Use the UGC from your contests in other social media campaigns
Make your contest content work harder by turning user submissions into marketing gold. Create galleries of winning entries on your website, feature standout submissions in email campaigns, or use participant content in paid advertising.
Don’t forget platform-specific metrics. Instagram’s April 2025 updates changed how content distribution is measured, so focus on the new “Views” metric alongside traditional engagement rates. Set up a monthly review cycle to assess which contest formats drive the most valuable user content and adjust your strategy accordingly.
How to choose the right prize for your social media contest
The choice of prize can make or break your social media contest. A well-thought-out prize will not only grab attention but also align with your brand messaging and goals.
Here are some contest prizes to consider:
- Gift cards: Gift cards are versatile, easy to distribute, and universally appealing. They allow winners to choose what they truly want, making them a crowd-pleaser. Offering a gift card for your own store is even better since it encourages winners to explore and engage with your product range.
- Exclusive product bundles: Product bundles are a great way to showcase your brand’s offerings while giving winners a special experience. These bundles can include your bestsellers, limited-edition products, or even early access to unreleased items. The latter allows you to use the contest as a teaser for a new product launch.
- VIP experiences: These prizes provide winners with exclusive experiences that make them feel special and help to establish a deeper emotional connection with your brand. VIP prizes range from behind-the-scenes tours and premium subscriptions to one-on-one consultations or exclusive event invitations. For example, a subscription-based coffee company could offer winners an exclusive coffee-tasting session with its master roasters.
- All-inclusive getaways: Trips or getaways are dream prizes that can drive massive engagement. While these are higher-budget awards, they generate significant excitement and buzz. The key is to align the travel experience with your brand and feature postable brand experiences along the way, so the trip itself becomes a promotion.
Whether it’s a simple gift card or a once-in-a-lifetime experience, each prize type has the potential to drive impactful results.
Final thoughts on social media contests
Social media contests are more than a passing trend – they’re a gateway to deeper connections with your audience.
The social media landscape is always shifting, and staying still isn’t an option. As platforms update, user behavior evolves, and new features emerge, adjust your social media contest strategy accordingly.
Some approaches, however, never go out of style. Keep an eye on trends, but don’t be afraid to carve your own path. When you think outside the box with creative prizes that truly resonate with your audience, the possibilities are endless. Take the first step today and start planning a social media contest that will inspire and engage like never before.
