Launch your New Product with a Photo Contest
The launch of a new product is a big deal for any business. Depending on how well the company builds anticipation and promotes the perks of the newly developed solution, the results can be completely different. If you encourage people to interact with the new product, you can make an effective introduction of the product to the target market. Let’s explore how photo contests can help you drum up interest for the new product.
What is a photo contest and how does it work?
With the development of the lavish smartphone landscape, the popularity of photo contests has gone sky-high. Social media has become the home of millions of online competitions which aim to uncover user-generated contents and drive business traffic.
A photo contest is a competition focused on engaging a target audience through the submission of photos online. Photo contests can be created either on social media or on a web page catering to submission and judging requirements.
Why is launching a product with the photo contest is a good idea?
Launching products with a photo contest is the right way for you to get a massive bonus. Here’s why you should go for this idea:
- Visuals draw crowds. According to Hubspot, organic engagement on Facebook is highest for those posts that include images. This demonstrates that visuals play a huge role in digital space and definitely attract the attention of users. Think how many times you check your Instagram account during the day or how many photos you share on Snapchat. See? Visuals matter.
- Easy submission. Photo contests offer one of the easiest participation scenarios ever. All people have to do is make a photo and upload it in few clicks.
- Capturing the interests of your target audience. Running a photo contest is the best way to launch a new product because it informs you about the preferences of clients. Let’s say, you are the owner of a coffee shop, and you have developed a new possibility for your menu. Encourage your clients to share photos with their favorite coffee ingredients, and state that you’ll reward the winner who’s the closest to unveiling the new recipe. This way you hit two targets: promote the new, tasty coffee and explore the appetites of your customers.
- Encourage contributions. The best products are client-centered because they resonate with the expectations and needs of those who use them. Why not launch products in cooperation with clients? In the frames of a photo contest, you can set tasks that ask people to envision new solutions, take photos of the assets they would like to add to your product or capture the difficulties they might face.
How to launch your product with the photo contest.
First, let’s be clear here: launching a photo contest doesn’t mean launching a product. Even the brightest new product launch advertising won’t bring you long-term profits if the product itself doesn’t meet the needs of a target population. Based on this, start your product launch by actually developing a high-quality solution that will solve the problems of your customers in the future. At the next stage, determine the key features of the new product that you’d like to highlight. Then, develop the concept for the photo contest and create the rules. Advertise your contest and make it clear that the contest aims to showcase the new product. Lastly, finish it right by announcing the results of the photo contest and encouraging people to test your new product.
Launching and advertising a photo contest
Your photo contest will be successful under one crucial condition: It must be discovered by potential clients. Check out two essential steps for launching your advertising for a product-centered contest:
#1. Choose the platform. If you want to attract as many random users as possible, social media is a perfect choice. For more targeted promotion, you should launch a dedicated contest page. Whatever platform you choose, make sure that your contest description is engaging, clearly explains the conditions of participation’s, and communicates your product’s message.
#2. Select the channels for advertising. If you have a large client database, you can capitalize on it by promoting the photo contest through social media. Further options include Facebook advertising, listings, and website promotion. If you can go for several methods of advertising, don’t miss the chance! The more new product launch promotion ideas you have, the larger the audience you can reach.
How to choose the right gifts for photo contest winners.
Once your photo contest idea is ready to go, think of the gifts that can reward the winning participants. The idea is to make the gifts align with the new product. This will help you capitalize on awareness. To fuel your inspiration, we’ve collected several tips on successful gift choices:
- Gift cards. This is a good way to make people test the product you’re promoting. Offer gift cards to the photo contest winners and increase sales – a win-win in your pocket.
- Branded products. T-shirts, cups, bags These have to be something that everyone can use every day. The must-have element: logo, tagline, or some other aspect of branding.
- Event invitation. In case your organization is going to invest in the event or participate in the awarding campaign, present the winners with exclusive invitations. Let them enjoy the personal attention!
Successful photo contest product launch examples
The idea isn’t new. Several high-profile companies leverage photo contests to spice up their product launches. Feast your eyes on some successful examples:
#1. Eggo Waffle Off
A great example of client-centric product launch. Eggo Waffle Offsets up contest in which people have to submit their photos with recipes for waffles. This helps the company introduce new flavors based on the preferences of clients.
#2. Starbucks
Red cups photos! This is how Starbucks promotes the launch of new branded cups on Instagram.
#3. Dove
Photo contests encourage people to test your new products. Dove has a great campaign that shows the perks of client-directed contests.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to launch a product, but making the launch successful takes a bit of creativity and effort. Empower your target audience with engaging photo contests and your product can turn into the star of the show.
To test the power of automated Photo Contest management, opt for Judgify!