Last updated on 31 July 2019 (new back to school contest ideas added, so don’t just take my word for it and check them yourself)
Summer’s coming to a close and big and small companies are in competition to get their brand into the back-to-school spotlight.
Parents and students everywhere are looking for new books, utensils, bags, clothes, sneakers, laptops or smartphones! What you might not know is that most of the consumers turn to social media first to make back-to-school shopping decisions. Given that it’s no wonder companies are heading to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to push their back-to-school campaigns as early as possible.
And while you will want to target parents and back-to-school shoppers who look for low prices, promotions, sales, customer reviews and coupons on social media, don’t forget to think about other ways to approach teens and students. They have quite a bit of influence on back-to-school buying decisions, and are very likely to take part in social media contests involving selfies, videos and etc.
Now is the perfect time to make the most out of this trend and start a contest. Contests are always a smart way to get buzz around your brands and products while also generating new leads and sales. That’s why holding a contest is something I absolutely recommend to get those valuable social clients.
We have prepared some ready-to-use contest ideas (with cool design templates) designed to grab your customers’ attention, boost engagement and rock your back-to-school social media promotions and offers. All you need to do is to decide on the prize, make some small changes, add your brand logo and post to the social platform you will run the contest on.
With our creative and engaging ideas and designs, it will take you less than 5 minutes to run your own contest. Just register for a free account on DigitalOcto or take a look at all back to school design templates.
Pick our beautiful and engaging design ideas for contests below.
1. Drive those sales with a Photo Contest
Whether it’s on Instagram (the ultimate photo-based social network) or Facebook, a photo contest is always a fun way of engaging your fans and inspiring user-generated content.
Post 20 pics contest (edit the design)
Post a pic contest (edit the design)
You can ask your fans pretty much everything you think is close to their minds or it will be fun. For instance, you can ask them to upload a photo holding a sign up with the funniest reason why they hate (or love) going back to school, or photo with their favorite item from you back-to-school collection (if you are a fashion retailer, or sell gadgets)
Encouraging their creativity will (most probably) result in viral activity and maximize the campaign outreach. Create a unique hashtag for the campaign, for example #BackToSchoolSelfie or combine the back to school theme with your brand’s name for a unique hashtag. In the end, reward the most successful entrant with a prize package or back to campus essentials.
Back-to-school selfie contest (edit the design)
2. Increase your Facebook page likes and reach more users
If you are a business that doesn’t offer things related to back-to-school season, there is nothing to worry about. You can jump on the back-to-school band wagon as well.
This contest idea is good for all kind of businesses and it aims at collecting new page likes, promote your products while reaching to new fans by asking the participants to tag their friends.
Like or share this special sale and win a voucher (edit the design)
Like and comment back-to-school contest to gain more reach and like (edit the design)
Back-to-school challenge to gain more likes (edit the design)
Back-to-school contest to gain more likes (edit the design)
Not only does the campaign help promote your products, but it also rewards brand advocates with gift cards/vouchers for their fall wardrobe, back-to-school essentials and etc.
I have seen many successful contests like this, so I recommend you giving it a try.
3. Video Competition
As videos have gained massive popularity recently and focus has moved to videos almost completely, hosting a back to school video contest sounds like a pretty great idea. Teen and students can upload their on videos using your contest hashtag. You can then have users vote for their favorite entry which will significantly increase the potential to reach out to a wider user base.
Back-to-school contest to gain more likes (edit the design)
A public vote, company jury, or both can select the winners. Reward the most successful participants with an appropriate prize, a gift card for example and raise that brand awareness. You may offer multiple prizes also, as that will encourage participants to enter the competition and win!
4. Sharing contest
Build excitement around your back-to-school sale on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media platforms. Encourage fans to share your offer for a chance to win a school supplies shopping extravaganza!
Back-to-school contest to gain more likes (edit the design)
And another very simple and quite effective design
Back-to-school contest to gain more likes (edit the design)
And some bonuses: create more buzz and brand awareness by creating a sense of curiosity:
Sneak peak of your products (edit the design)
Back-to-school coundown (edit the design)
