No doubt, we’d all agree that contests being held on Instagram are a great way to promote your business, gather new followers, make sales, traffic and send people to your website, turning them into your customers.

“Unlike Facebook or other social media platforms, Instagram doesn’t have any rules with regards to how you should run a contest in your account,” said Issa Asad, best-selling author of Instant Profits with Instagram and the CEO of Florida-based Q Link Wireless, a subsidiary of Quadrant Holdings.

Here are the 3 different Instagram contests any business can do.

Idea #1: Photo Contest of a Specific Content

You could run photo contests on your website, and this would instantly drive traffic to your site, resulting in more profits. Likewise, if you have an online store this could really be a useful tactic, because your Instagram followers could become your customers. So, whenever you host a photo contest on your website, it’s always ideal to promote it through Instagram and other social sites.

You could host a photo contest wherein you’re going to ask your followers to post pictures related to a specific content, such as the product you’re trying to win. They must tell why they deserve to win and in order to identify their entry, they must use a certain #hashtag to label the picture.

Idea #2: Play a Guessing Game or a Scavenger Hunt

A lot of business and shop owners use this technique, and it is often done once a month or as regularly as you want it to be. The mechanics are, you should take a picture of you or your product in a familiar location, or something that some people could guess, but also tricky at the same time. Your followers should guess the location or the activity you’re doing and the winner would be picked randomly from those who have guessed correctly.

Likewise, you could also organize a scavenger hunt contest. Here’s how: post a list of 3 or more items and your followers must take pictures and snapshots related to it, together with your hashtag in order to be entered. It could be very simple or crazy. This would depend on you and your business.

Idea #3: Seasonal/Holiday Photo Contest

There are a lot of holidays that we enjoy celebrating and they could be your inspiration on your next Instagram contest. You could ask your followers to decorate their room or dress up for a specific holiday. Also, they must post something specific in the caption, and they must include your unique hashtag. It’s up to you if you’re going to choose randomly or you’re ready to judge and pick up who among the contestants is the best. The key is, make sure that your followers would enjoy this contest and that they post content that is as creative as possible.

These are just some of the Instagram contest ideas that you can consider. For more ideas, or to read a full chapter about creating Instagram contests and promotions, read Instant Profits with Instagram, by Issa Asad, today.

4 comments

  1. Anwar Sadi

    yes I agree with Issa ASad and organizing a contest is one of the best way to promote anything and it is also a business trick so far!!! a well businessman can run this contest in this social media to attract people and products will get the popularity as well as people also can know about that product.

  2. habib16

    This sounds like a digital book I requirement for my new business. I have put off getting an Instagram account on the grounds that I thought it was just something utilized by teenagers! I’ve been searching for an one spot stop for finding out about promoting and all the more essentially utilizing online networking to system and bring supporters to my business. This is exceptionally energizing and having an Instagram record will make my 19 year old grin. I can hardly wait to begin! Much obliged to you!

  3. Jake Dell

    Just started using Instagram for our business. We will definitely be implementing all three of these contest ideas to generate more customers and more sales! Thank you Issa Asad for the info!

  4. Mike

    I liked this article

Comments are closed.