8 Easy Social Media Contests for Tour Operators
Get your followers more excited about your content by running a social media contest! Pick out your platform and decide on a goal and you will be ready to get started!
Possible Platforms:
- Youtube
- Or promote all of the above with a link to your website!
To choose a platform, consider who your target demographic is. For instance, if you are looking to entice Gen-Z, use TikTok, but if your audience is Gen X, use Facebook.
Possible Goals:
- Gain more followers
- Increase engagement
- Heighten brand exposure
- Acquire email signups
- Collect user-generated content (UGC)
Note that your contests can have more than one goal, and can even go beyond this list! There are many simple contest ideas that can help you reach your social media goals. Here are 8 ideas to get you started!
8 Fun Contest Ideas:
Follow to Win
Goal: Gain followers
A “Follow Us and Win” contest is a straightforward way to gain new followers. Run this through email, on your website, or both! This will help you gain followers who already know (and hopefully love) your company.
Submit a Photo
Goal: Gain user-generated content (UGC)
This type of contest is a great way to collect UGC that can be used for future advertisements, social posts, and more. It also is fun for your followers and customers to be a part of! You can collect photos through messages, a hashtag, or on your website with a program like JotForm.
Please note that you need to make it clear that when a person enters a photo in your contest, they are releasing the right for your company to use this for future assets. Simply add a note in the rules disclosing this.
Tag a Friend
Goal: Gain Followers
Simply ask your followers to tag their friends or family to capture more people in a similar demographic to that of your target audience. Have your followers tag one or more of their friends in a post for their chance to win.
Please note, it is prohibited on Facebook to ask followers to tag a friend in a post, however, on Instagram and Twitter you can.
Hashtag Contest
Goal: Increase Engagement
This contest is undemanding to set up and just as easy for people to enter. Decide on a unique hashtag to use that as an entry. Followers will have to share a photo (more UGC!) with the hashtag that will get them engaged with your company.
Share our Post
Goal: Increase Exposure
Ask entrants to share a story or retweet one of your posts to show your company’s offerings to a large audience. Be sure to make the post exciting for maximum entries and effect!
Please note, it is also prohibited on Facebook to ask followers to share on their personal timelines.
Comment or Like a Post
Goal: Increase Engagement
In this contest a person can enter by solely commenting or liking your photo. Easy to track and easy to enter.
Tip! Mix and match contest ideas! You can have followers comment/like a post, share a post, hashtag, and/or tag a friend in order to enter your contest. Get creative and tackle more than one social media goal at once.
Photo Caption Contest
Caption Contest
Goal: Increase Engagement / Establish Inclusivity
You can make a “Comment on a Post” contest a lot more interesting by making it a caption contest. Put up a silly (but relevant to your business) photo and ask your followers to enter by coming up with the best caption for the photo.
Sweepstakes
Goal: Increase Email Subscribers
Your overall goal for a social media contest may be to increase your email subscribers. Run a sweepstakes where a follower enters their email address for a chance to win. You can use a tool such as Facebook’s Instant Forms feature.
Social media contests can be exciting for your business and your following as well as a great way to increase sales. Try out a few of these ideas and track your progress to see which contests work best for your followers. For added exposure, you can also boost a post to reach new potential customers and optimize your contests!
