Tutorial on Organizing a Viral Social Media User-Generated Content Hashtag Contest

As a company owner, you’re always on the lookout for new ways to expand your customer base. You rely heavily on marketers and keep up with the latest in social media trends to help you grow.

It’s true that social media might feel like getting caught in a spider’s web (excuse the pun), but once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll be a pro in no time.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably familiar with user generated content, which is the collected content produced by consumers using your branded hashtag or handle.

Promotional activities include holding a user-generated content (UGC) hashtag contest. 

Just what is a User-Generated-Content Hashtag Competition?

In order to boost both the popularity of a brand and the number of people who follow it, giveaways have long been a standard tactic. You may also think of a user-generated-content contest as a freebie. In addition, brands frequently solicit content from their social media followers that includes the company-created or related hashtag.

As compensation, they’ll give away something to the person who wins the contest. Images and videos alike are acceptable forms of user-generated content. Every time a user submits content with the branded hashtag, the UGC tool captures it and enters them into the sweepstakes.
Winners may be selected at random or according to other factors established by the company, such as the amount of votes or likes a submission received or how closely it adhered to the rules.

It’s a chance to work together as well. Hashtag contests are frequently organised in collaboration between two or more businesses to promote their respective audiences to one another. You might make it a rule that participants in the contest must be fans of both companies to increase the likelihood that they will really follow either one.

The Best Ways to Promote a User-Generated Content Hashtag Contest.

Develop A Trending Hashtag To Increase Brand Awareness

Since there are so many hashtags in use, it’s smart to do some research on each one before putting it into play in the hashtag game. If you want to avoid trademark issues, your hashtag needs to be different from everyone else’s. Making use of a branded hashtag is something we would recommend doing to make your campaign stand out.
The hashtag should also be simple and easy to recall. Customers won’t make any spelling mistakes if they find it appealing to utilise. User-generated content platforms will only index posts that use the proper hashtag.

Regulations That Are Clearly Outlined Prior To The Competition

A lack of clear instructions is probably the single largest cause of a contest’s failure, user-generated material or otherwise. Too frequently, brands hold contests without providing clear guidelines for participants.

The rules of the competition should always be made public before it begins. The competitors will have advance notice and an opportunity to be ready for the challenges ahead. They will be more likely to enter your contest if they realise that they can win awesome prizes with less effort. That’s why there are so many more people taking part.

Choose Something Worthwhile to Reward You

You have established the competition’s parameters and decided on a creative hashtag. What about the reward, though? For what good reason should they follow your lead? Because they are focused on winning, and the reward must be substantial for them to work so hard during the competition.

Choose something that will really stand out and is currently in demand as a prize. If you’re a service-based company, it may be one of your offerings; if you sell physical goods, you could provide discounts or team up with another brand. But, it should be something that you, yourself, would like to win. There would be no use in conducting the competition otherwise.

Spread the word about the user-generated content contest

You still could not know if you will obtain the Return as predicted, even if you take all the measures we suggested above. Making ensuring the UGC hashtag is widely publicised beforehand is essential.
If you want more people to hear about your hashtag contest, you may use marketing strategies like influencer marketing and social media marketing. One technique is to find influencers whose followers have comparable demographics to your ideal customers.

What Your Business Can Get From a User-Generated Content Hashtag Competition?

Boost Your Your Profile’s Exposure

More people will join your hashtag contest if you choose a catchy or relevant hashtag and offer an incentive for them to compete for the prize.
A larger number of individuals talking about your business on social media will boost your profile and spread the word about it. As a result, it will serve as a magnet for potential customers.

Boost Consumer Devotion to Your Brand

Brands may gauge client loyalty through contests like hashtag challenges and other marketing efforts. In addition, customers view hashtag competitions and freebies as recognition of their loyalty.

Customers are more likely to engage with and share content from your brand if they have a chance to win valuable rewards in a hashtag contest. Offering a glimpse into future campaigns or contests is a great way to keep customers engaged, even if they don’t win this time. Positive user-generated content (UGC) from the e-commerce platform can be used to demonstrate client happiness. The results would be more satisfied customers who are committed to your brand.

A Lighthearted Method of Starting Talks

You may use a trending hashtag or one that speaks to your target audience, like in the example we gave before. Let your consumers to put their own spin on your exclusive hashtag by providing them with a clean slate.

To make the contest more enjoyable, encourage participants to provide their own unique perspectives by encouraging them to use the contest’s designated hashtag in their posts.

Material Intended For Future Ad Campaigns

You have concluded the competition by announcing a victor. So what? We want to know what plans you have for all the user-generated content you’ve amassed. These will be useful for advertising in the future.