Instagram is a social network that no longer needs an introduction and represents an absolute gold mine for your brand. Hundreds or even thousands of competitions are published daily on the social network, following different mechanics. Creating a competition on Instagram allows you to increase your visibility, engage your community and convert your leads into customers.
Why create a competition on Instagram
Instagram, the leader in social networks
According to Instagram Ads Audience, Instagram had over 1 billion monthly active users in 2020.
In France, according to a study carried out by Harris Interactive, in 2020, there would be 21 million French people using Instagram each month, or 39% of users. This places France 12th in the world in number of Instagram subscribers. The United States, India and Brazil hold the top of the ranking. https://comprarseguidoresreaisportugal.com/
So, with such a panel of users, your target is indeed on Instagram.
A high engagement rate
The average engagement rate on Instagram is 2.84%, which correlates to the number of followers. Indeed, if we relate the rate of likes and comments to the number of followers, we understand that the larger a user’s community, the more engagement decreases.
According to a study by the Tailwind application, Instagram accounts that organize regular competitions increase their audience 70% faster than those that do not. This study also tells us that contests and giveaways on Instagram receive 3.5 times more likes and 64 more comments than the average post.
So you understand if you are looking to increase your engagement rate, creating a competition on Instagram is the ideal solution!
Competition game mechanics
There are several ways to launch competitions on Instagram, and you will find one that suits you.
The classic “Follow, Like, Comment.”
You have probably already been identified by your friend, colleague or aunt to win a weekend in Sweden or a Thermomix… Don’t worry, and those around us also spam us. Who is responsible for all these notifications? The famous “Follow + Like + Comment” sequence is essential for competitions on Instagram.
The “follow” allows you to grow your community, the “like” allows you to create a peak of engagement on a publication and the “comment” has a dual function because it allows you to increase your reach and also contribute to your engagement rate.
The brand “Boho Green”, in partnership with “Prêt à push”, launched a competition to win a connected garden and a selection of beauty products. Players had to follow both accounts, like the publication, and comment on it to participate.
Encourage sharing
Stories are another channel for posting content on Instagram; their visibility is more excellent than posts.
Here are two possibilities. Some competitions based on the “follow + like + comment” mechanism will allow participants to share the post in their story to increase the chances of winning. Others will only rely on a “follow + like + share” mechanism.
In both cases, this mechanism is entirely beneficial regarding the new Instagram algorithm. Before, comments and likes had the highest added value, but today, things have changed. You are saving to collection and sharing predominate. Saving is significant because it means your content is interesting enough to want to revisit later. Sharing also has its weight because if your content is shared, Instagram understands it is relevant enough, and your account can be highlighted.
Here, the hotel “Les Bords de Mer” offered to win two nights in their establishment and to play. They asked to follow, like and identify two people in comments. And to double the participants’ chances, they could share this post as a story.
Challenge your community
Another type of competition on Instagram is the photo competition. Here, the brand is launching a challenge to its community and asking Internet users to publish a post or a Story featuring its products. Many brands offer this competition all year round and select one winner per month.
- Members of your community become ambassadors
- You generate strong engagement with your community
- You benefit from branded content for free
- You increase your visibility and, therefore, your reach
The approach will be different depending on the selected profile. A nano-influencer has “only” 10K subscribers and will give you less visibility than a micro-influencer. However, its engagement rate is significantly higher. Furthermore, in the majority of cases, it is optional to pay them. Sending free products is enough.
On the other hand, if you choose a mega-influencer, your brand will benefit from unparalleled visibility, and you will benefit from high-quality content. We are talking about thousands of euros for one or two sponsored posts here. Also, you have to pay attention to the engagement rate of these mega-influencers, which is only sometimes optimal.
Deliver a mobile-first experience.
The idea is to create a microsite using a competition platform and offer an immersive experience designed for mobile.
You can invite your community to play a mini-game – a quiz, a racing game, a throwing game, a memory, a blind test, etc., and then answer a few questions in a conversational bot to validate their participation in the game and qualify them better.
This campaign was produced on Fastory for the Accor Hotel Arena. They offered participants the chance to win tickets to the DJ Snake concert. The experience consisted of a video quiz and a chatbot. This competition made it possible to engage their community and collect opt-ins. If you would like to see other examples, you can visit our gallery. https://hindinewsongs.com/
This experience can be integrated with a link in your bio and shared by swiping up your stories.
How to properly organize a competition
Organizing a competition can be time-consuming if you need to learn how to proceed. But don’t worry, we’re here to give you our best advice.
- Define your objectives and your target.
- Determine the prize(s) to be won.
- Define the means to designate the winner(s): a draw? A voting system in your community?
- Choose the duration of your competition.
- Write your game rules. (Psst, we have already done the work for you. Click here to download our template.)
- Create a unique hashtag for your campaign.
- Relay your competition on your other social networks to generate traffic.
- After the campaign ends, measure and analyze the results.