Contest Ideas for Photography
Contests on social networks are the best way to avoid boredom and retain contact with subscribers. A properly organised competition will not only give you an eye-catching corporate page but also much more coverage for your subsequent posts as well as new followers. Below, we present some excellent photo contest ideas that will help your business grow. Furthermore, these ideas were voiced by some of the most experienced owners of photography businesses around the world.
About the photography industry
The photo industry and photography itself deal with the production of materials for creating images. It is important to note how fast these trends have developed in the most highly technological countries, including the U.S., France (the birthplace of photography), the United Kingdom, and Asia. Here, the stratification of the target audience is the most obvious: photography is particularly developed for the fashion industry, the artistic elite, and the bourgeoisie. They are interested in photography because they want a simpler and faster way to create an image.
Challenges of the photography industry
One of the greatest challenges in the sphere of photography is knowing how to research and determine how to hold a contest on Instagram that will attract the most subscribers. Understanding why Facebook repost contests work well and knowing how to make them will help you to engage the most sophisticated audience, while understanding when it’s better to arrange a Like & Share contest is also key. You must know when to give creative tasks as well as how to choose a winner on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to best achieve your objective. We believe that expert Facebook photo contest ideas will help you overcome your challenges successfully.
The choice of the target audience
Based on the unique qualities of the industry and its main challenges, you should define your target audience, whether you are a photography manufacturer, service provider, or just a photography-related businessperson. Your audience may be fashion retailers, fashion bloggers, photographers, agencies, art representatives, or even fashion-related celebrities and cultural organisations, etc. Depending on your segment, pick the best photo contest ideas and the best marketing platforms for their organisation.
Running a contest for the photography industry: process and practices
The main thing here is to choose prizes that have value for your audience. For example, it may be something from your range of products or services if you’re a seller or manufacturer. Alternatively, offer the opportunity to try a novelty that is not yet on sale since many people will be attracted to such an exclusive offer. If you’re not tied to specific goods or services, you can give tickets to an event that your audience is excited about (concert, cinema, etc.). The details are up to you, but remember that a gift will always be better than even the biggest discount.
Types of contests
Depending on the channels you use to attract your audience, you can divide the contest you run into the following ideas:
- Facebook competition ideas
- Contests on Twitter
- Instagram photo contest ideas
- Photo contest theme ideas
- Other ideas
After you analyse your target audience, establish your contest objectives, and set up the budget, you will be able to choose the best practice for your specific case and get the most use out of the audience engagement.
Most social media photo contest ideas will work just as well on Twitter, but there are still options that resonate best on this particular network, where speed, novelty, and hashtags are very important. These are contests for the fastest correct answer as well as creative tweet contests with a given hashtag (e.g., tweets about why users love your product plus the themed hashtag).
Contest requirements
Don’t forget to come up with clear contest requirements to provide to your participants. Your instructions should be something like this:
The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files must be 20 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or .jpg format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image).
(2015 National Geographic Photo Contest-Rules | National Geographic)
Also carefully plan your contest options and requirements if your photography competition is only open to professional photographers. Every entrant needs to provide a valid document that proves their current position.
Best photography contest ideas
Below are some of the most popular photography business contest ideas for social networks that you may not know about.
Ask a question
This is one of the easiest contests to host. Ask an open-ended question (e.g., one to which you cannot simply answer yes or no but instead need to express your opinion), and choose the best answer. You can ask a question about how people use your product in an unusual way, ask them to share a recipe, or come up with a name for something. This will provide you with a stream of comments and raise awareness of your publication.
Come up with a caption for the photo
Do you have a great Instagram photo? Invite your followers to come up with an original signature for it. You can choose the winner randomly through the use of a randomizer or simply name the winner that you think is best. The main thing is deciding how you will choose the winner on Instagram; inform subscribers in advance so no one is dissatisfied.
Crowdsourcing (ideas and tips)
People love to feel meaningful and necessary, so subscribers are always an inspiring source for thoughts, opinions, and ideas. You can ask what they think about your new logo or ask what they want to read in your next post. Let them share their thoughts on a specific occasion, and then choose one or two winners. These types of good photo contest ideas are ideally held on Facebook or Instagram.
Suggest they be a paparazzi
As mentioned in the rules above, you can ask users to publish photos of your employees “caught” while working with your product in their hands, etc., and then link your page in the photo caption and use a specific hashtag.
Prize ideas
Once you make your way through your photography contest ideas, make sure you pick up some worthy prizes for your winners. Here are some great ideas to consider:
A family photo shoot built around the season
A change in the seasons means that it’s time to see the new fall family photos!
Free photo editing with a paid shoot
When it comes to free photo editors, GIMP is an excellent option, but there are others. No matter what your participants choose, the main thing is to provide the greatest final photo edit.
A sexy/boudoir shoot around Valentine’s Day
If you still haven’t decided on your Valentine’s Day gift, you should consider a boudoir photoshoot. An ultra-hot album full of intimate photographs of you is the best gift for that special day.
A photo shoot for Friend’s Day (with costumes)
Want to wear a costume, take pics, and write about it to get a prize? What could be funnier? Stand outside in a beautiful outfit looking at the sunset or anything else that will engage your intended audience.
Free framing of photos from a paid photo shoot
Small touches can make your photographs look like analog shots, which is a good option for showing off your creative side in a reasonable time frame. Free framing will add to the overall concept.
How to identify your contest idea and then run with it
Simply put, run a contest while asking for suggestions about a new product. Then give a prize to the person who comes up with the best idea. This is a great way to crowdsource your photo contest prize ideas and identify group photo contest ideas worthy of running with.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for great ideas for a photography business contest for clients, Judgify can help with that! With us, you’ll be able to research the industry, organise and conduct contests of any type, monitor success and distribute surveys, etc. At the end of any competition, you should not only congratulate the winners but also praise the rest of the participants so they will gladly take part in your next contest.
Feel free to leave your own contest ideas for a photography business in the comments below.