7 Summer Contest Ideas to Sharpen Your Marketing

It’s heating up and summer is approaching faster than you know it. Before stepping outside to enjoy the nice weather, start building your brand’s next marketing campaign. Realtime Media can help you design your ideal contest offering a full-service, in-house team, designated to your project.

We’ve curated a list of summer contest idea’s to help build your brand’s image and marketing list, meanwhile simultaneously, boosting your social media engagement.

1. Photo/Video Contest

Drive UGC content for your brand with a photo or video contest; where users submit their own photos or videos. It not only will engage contest entrants but their friends/family as well. How? Entrants ask their friends and family to vote for their submission (to win the big grand prize), then their friends may share or enter the contest and the continuous cycle carries on.

Budget did a contest called #RoadTripsForeverContest where they received 2,737 UGC submissions over Instagram and Twitter. The Grand Prizes (5) included a 5-day budget car rental and $500 Visa Gift Card, with 10 finalist prizes- all receiving a 3-day Budget car rentals and a $100 Visa Gift Card. The contest was a success and allowed Budget to acquire over 2,000 UGC photos for future marketing efforts and drive awareness to their brand. Budget utilized Realtime Media’s UGC platform to easily track the daily metrics and content from their campaign.

J.G. Wentworth did a “Dog Days of Summer Contest,” where people submitted videos of their pet’s singing, dancing or performing to JGW’s iconic “877 Cash Now” jingle via hashtag on Instagram or Twitter or upload on the site. JG Wentworth utilized Realtime Media to assist with contest rules, judging and prize fulfillment.

2. Co-Branded Giveaway

A partnered giveaway is a great way to drive cross-pollination and data acquisition for your brand. Multiple brands can be promoted at once and each brand’s customer lists will receive the promotional information, boosting your brand’s reach.

An example where cross-pollination is effective is Garnier & Maybelline’s Prom Squad Giveaway. This giveaway is with Garnier, Maybelline and Lulu’s to promote prom season with an instant win game and sweepstakes. Users engage daily with a fun tumbler style game and a chance to instantly win Maybelline makeup, Garnier Style product and Lulu gift cards, with a shot at winning the VIP Prom grand prize.

3. Summer Countdown In-App Promotion

An interactive countdown in-app, with a promotion running every few days counting down to summer could increase your company’s sales, engagement and email marketing leads.

4. Summer Matching Game

An instant win game is a great way to get consumers engaged and in touch with your website, as well as, looking at your products or services. For summer, think of doing a beach-themed matching game. If you want to make the matching game incentivized, look to give out discount codes for playing the game or sharing the game with friends, via social or email.

(Muscle Milk Summer Instant Win Game Example here?) – good example idea!

For a clothing brand, a summer clothing item matching game would be a fun way to get consumers engaged and to look at your summertime clothes/items.

5. 4th of July Campaigns

When people think of the fourth of July, they think fireworks, American Flags and celebrations. Why not invite consumers to play a fun firework game or take an Independence quiz offering fun facts about the holiday? Offer incentives for playing or taking the quiz and allow consumers to come back each day to play with the idea to ultimately win the gift card, giveaway or grand prize.

6. Summertime recipes

Incentivize using a UGC recipe campaign. Inspire users to share their favorite summertime BBQ recipe. Offer some type of reward for users when they upload an image for the contest, such as a coupon or free shipping for your products/services. A UGC campaign, like this one, will help your brand establish a deeper relationship with the consumer.

7. Caption this Contest

Use a photo, it can be funny or interesting regarding your brand or a topical element, such as summer and allow users to submit captions and/or hashtags via text entry. This drives interest and attention to your brand and will encourage people to tag their friends or share the image. Then, people can vote on the captions once a day, allowing users to come back and vote or tell their friends to vote. This type of campaign is engaging, fun and allows the brand to assess their target market.

Need some Prize Inspiration?

Prize Ideas

• Getaway to a warm destination
• Your product/service
• Event tickets
• Shopping spree
• Gift card
• A night out in…. a vibrant city
• Summer Activity- rafting, ziplining, surfing, amusement park