Below we have provided a few ideas that showcase audience photos and images through the use of a Hashtag Gallery, which enable you to import the tweets, photos and videos from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that use a specific hashtag and present them in a public gallery. The hashtag gallery can live in a tab on your Facebook page, on your website embedded with a widget or as a microsite with its own link.
Participants generate content for your brand which can not only build and strengthen the loyalty of your followers through hands-on participation, but also drive sales.
Launch an Instagram Photo/Video Contest with hashtag gallery
One of the best features of Instagram is that photos are easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare, or even by email, making it an ideal platform to host a photo or video contest where your audience can vote on their favorite entry. Ask participants to take photos with a Memorial Day or summer theme, such as “What Memorial day means to me”. Ask them to post their entry on Instagram or Twitter using an assigned hashtag which you have chosen for the contest. All the photos will be uploaded automatically to your gallery, where they can be viewed, shared and voted on. Pick a prize such as a discount or give-away to incentivize greater sharing and participation.
Use Social Networks to Create A Memorial Day Tribute Page
Invite your audience to upload photos, videos and tweets paying tribute to those who died while serving in the United States’ armed forces, whether it be personal like family, friends or even general. Photos might include pictures of loved ones from the past or present, events or special moments uploaded in real-time using Facebook or Instagram. Twitter is also effective for classifying information by means of a hashtag, and offers the option of adding photos to tweets.
To increase engagement, tie in a sweepstakes offering participants the chance to win a prize, and use the sweepstakes tool to pick a winner. You could also offer an “instant win” to everyone who participates by offering a coupon or a promotional code to participants.
Solve the Memorial Day mystery…
Organize a writing-based contest by using a hashtag to give clues to the riddle, for example “What’s the name of [INSERT TOWN]’s first soldier to die while serving?”. For Facebook, users would give their answer when they access the contest site. In the case of Twitter users, they can enter by sending a tweet containing the hashtag and their answer. The application will automatically import all the text that comes tagged with the hashtag of the contest. It is up to you to select which social networks may be used to enter the contest when you set up the promotion. However, since this is text-based, participants would not be able to enter this contest via Instagram. Similarly, you can increase engagement by offering an instant win or promotional code for all who participate with a grand prize for the winner.
Thinks to Consider:
1. The power of the hashtag. The hashtag should be chosen carefully because in many cases it will be the common thread and connection between Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It will allow contestants to enter the contest with their texts, photos and videos and enable you to organize and classify the information in a way that is simple and engaging.
2. Multi-format contest gallery. Use the mosaic template to present photos, texts and/or videos sent by participants in the hashtag gallery. This format enables you to display all the entries as tiles in the gallery. This means that the gallery is constantly changing as it’s updated with the new entries sent by users. You can also embed into a webpage with a widget.
3. Embed the photo, text or video contest into your webpage. In order to get more visibility for the contest gallery, you can embed the gallery as a widget onto your webpage, blog or microsite, and you can also customize the size of the gallery to fit it into the space available.
Are you ready to get your Memorial Day contest going? Start setting up here.
