08 Sep 4 Twitter Contest Ideas + 9 Examples to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing Jane V | How to run a Twitter contest, Shortstack, Twitter contest ideas | Social Media Marketing, Twitter | 0 ShareTweetSharePinBufferWhatsAppEmail0 SharesShareTweetSharePinBufferWhatsAppEmail0 Shares Twitter is an amazing tool for brands to quickly and effectively communicate with their customers. The ease with which brands can start a conversation with their followers, engage people and other businesses through @mentions and #hashtags, and build brand identity is thanks, in part, to the 280-character Tweet limit. The quick-fire style of Twitter encourages active engagement and two-way communication. Twitter’s strengths allow brands to run contests that are simple, engaging and far-reaching. But where to start? First, you need to choose a goal. Below you’ll learn about four types of Twitter contests to meet different kinds of goals. Plus, you’ll be inspired by examples of each type of contest from big brands. Goal: Increase brand awareness, Solution: A hashtag contest Hashtag contests on Twitter are pretty simple. All you need to do is figure out a prize and choose a hashtag that fits your brand. Then, just post a Tweet that includes the contest information and some rules. Voilà! To enter, participants simply post to Twitter with your hashtag(s) of choice. By tweeting from their own profiles, entrants’ followers will see the Tweets, which exposes them to your contest and your brand. TIP: Before you launch your contest, be sure you know how you will be collecting Tweets and choosing a winner. ShortStack.com offers a Twitter hashtag tool for pulling in entries and picking winners. T-Mobile Tuesdays hashtag contest We’re drawing 5 winners to celebrate 5 years of #TMobileTuesdays 🥳 Tweet what you’d do with $5g using #Thankiversary #contest and we just might help make your wish come true. Enter now for a chance to win! 📲: https://t.co/QQkykNVEbi pic.twitter.com/ACJjQtRWGe — T-Mobile (@TMobile) June 1, 2021 Every Tuesday, T-Mobile shares free stuff and corresponds with customers through the T-Mobile Tuesdays promotion. T-Mobile Tuesdays turns five in 2021, an anniversary they’re celebrating by giving away $5K to some lucky winners. For the week of June 1, T-Mobile asked folks to “Tweet what you’d do with $5g using #Thankiversary #contest and we just might help make your wish come true” to enter. By celebrating their “anniversary” with customers via a Twitter hashtag contest, T-Mobile gets their T-Mobile Tuesdays offers in front of people who might not be in the know. Bagel Bites Total Eclipse of the Bite hashtag contest it takes 14 minutes to cook the perfect bb (the exact same time as today's lunar eclipse). tweet #bbsweepstakes til 11:59PM CST for your chance to win an acre of the moon - yeah, that moon. See rules https://t.co/XJRjSmFRct pic.twitter.com/B9WyEMftql — Bagel Bites (@BagelBites) May 26, 2021 To coincide with the total lunar eclipse on May 26, 2021, Bagel Bites held a one-day contest where they gave away an acre of the moon (and some free Bagel Bites) to 100 lucky winners. According to the Bagel Bites Tweet announcing the giveaway, the lunar eclipse lasted 14 minutes, which is the same time it takes to make Bagel Bites. To enter the contest, folks had to Tweet #bbsweepstakes on May 26 before 11:59 Central Time. Spotify USA #SafeBeforeShows sweepstakes Got the shot*? Tell us why you’re excited for the safe return of live music using #SafeBeforeShows + #Sweepstakes and you could win tickets to a select independent regional concert venue 🎫 Rules: https://t.co/kY4ONl9Lh2 pic.twitter.com/HWZgZFxbj6 — Spotify USA (@SpotifyUSA) June 2, 2021 To celebrate the return to “normal” after Covid, Spotify held a contest giving away $100 vouchers for concert tickets to 500 lucky winners during June 2021. To enter, Spotify required a Tweet where folks stated why they are excited for the safe return of live music and included the hashtags #SafeBeforeShows and #Sweepstakes. Goal: Spread your message , Solution: A Retweet contest Like the idea of a Twitter contest, but want to control the message that participants’ followers see? Then a Retweet contest might be for you! Simply craft a Tweet that you want people to Retweet (share). Make sure the Tweet includes a branded image and hashtag to increase brand recognition. TIP: You’ll need a way to collect contest Retweets. To ensure that only Retweets are collected, use a tool like ShortStack to pull in qualifying entries. Dairy Queen Sweetest Season Pass sweepstakes Enter for a chance to win $5K in BLIZZARD Treats! Retweet this post w/ #DQSweetestSeasonPass + #DQSweepstakes & your favorite 2021 Summer BLIZZARD Treat Menu flavor. No Purch. Nec. Ends 5/24/21. 18+, US only (excl. TX). Rules: https://t.co/unkhghMJsu. pic.twitter.com/j0ylKxXZ7O — Dairy Queen (@DairyQueen) May 18, 2021 To celebrate the release of their new Summer Blizzard Treat menu, Dairy Queen created an all-access pass with $5,000 toward DQ treats, which they deemed the Sweetest Season Pass. To win this exclusive pass, folks had to Retweet a Dairy Queen’s Tweet and include their favorite 2021 Summer Blizzard Treat Menu flavor (they could also enter via Facebook). Bud Light Crispy Giveaways ☀️Giveaway Alert☀️ Retweet & make sure you're following Bud Light for a chance to win the ultimate summer starter pack. #Sweepstakes pic.twitter.com/2cOBhCzODA — Bud Light (@budlight) May 28, 2021 As part of their Crispy Giveaways series held over a 20-week period, Bud Light posted weekly Tweets that prompted followers to Retweet to enter. For example, on May 26th folks could Retweet a post to win the ultimate summer starter pack with a Bud Light branded grill, cooler and more, while on June 4th, the prize was a hockey playoffs jersey. This simple contest for smaller prizes helps get the word out about the fun over on the Bud Light Twitter account. Goal: Collect user-generated content (UGC) and raise brand awareness , Solution: A hashtag contest with photo submission Hashtag contests are not only a simple way to spread the word about your brand, they can also be a fun way to collect UGC. Encouraging people to take pictures, shoot videos or create other forms of media, like memes and artwork, gets them involved with your brand at a whole new level. Plus, entrants can show off their hard work with their followers, which raises brand awareness. Pepsi and Little Caesars Ultimate Hockey Hangout sweepstakes Drop a 💙 if you’re hockey’s biggest fan! Post a photo/video showing your hockey fandom using #UltimateHockeyHangout and #Sweepstakes & tag @Pepsi and @LittleCaesars for the chance to win the ultimate in-home hockey hang out! #StanleyCup Playoffs Rules: https://t.co/tJfHSkYcLR pic.twitter.com/0lZyt7Q6VW — Pepsi (@pepsi) May 17, 2021 The road to the Stanley Cup is THE premier event in hockey. The playoffs are followed by both hardcore hockey fans and those with just a passive interest in the sport. To celebrate those who follow every game, Pepsi and Little Caesars invited followers to prove they’re hockey’s biggest fan for a chance to win a decked-out in-home hockey hangout of their very own. Participants had to post a photo or video showing off their hockey fandom and include the hashtags #UltimateHockeyHangout and #Sweepstakes and mention @Pepsi and @LittleCaesars in the posts. TripAdvisor #VacationsMissYou sweepstakes We could use some cheering up. Where are you and your bag going for your first trip back? Share your sad bag pics with #VacationsMissYou and you could win a full year of Tripadvisor Plus for you and a friend. T&C's: https://t.co/Fr2y48EvL5 pic.twitter.com/hYG2Dltv8p — Tripadvisor (@Tripadvisor) May 29, 2021 Over the last year, many folks have put their vacations on hold. This makes for some very lonely unused suitcases! Bags are getting dusted off now that folks are planning trips and getting back out in the world. TripAdvisor asked followers to share their sad bag pics and include #VacationsMissYou in their posts for a chance to win a full year of Tripadvisor Plus for themselves and a friend. TIP: Your fans worked hard on that UGC! Use ShortStack to collect all of the entries in one place, then display them in a gallery on your website. Goal: Encourage engagement , Solution: A Tweet engagement contest (Follow/Like/Tag/Comment) Social media allow brands to have a two-way conversation with customers. But what if your followers just aren’t that talkative? Try loosening them up with some giveaways that promote engagement. Ask them to comment or Like a Tweet, follow your account or tag friends in order to participate. Turning social media gawkers into participants can help them form a lasting relationship with your brand. NYX Professional Makeup Summertime Essentials sweepstakes #GIVEAWAY ALERT 🚨 We're treating 1 lucky beauty to our fave summertime essentials 😎 Here's how to enter: ☀️ FOLLOW @nyxcosmetics ☀️ LIKE this post ☀️ TAG a friend + #Sweepstakes US Only. See below for Official Rules. pic.twitter.com/o3oiB1cvUt — NYX Pro Makeup US (@NYXCosmetics) May 20, 2021 Short-term, 24-hour sweepstakes reward active followers for their participation and encourage checking out your account often. NYX Cosmetics hosts many of these types of contests on their Twitter account. For a recent sweepstakes, they gave away summertime makeup must-haves to one lucky person who followed their account, Liked the post and tagged a friend and included the hashtag #sweepstakes in a reply. Engagement achieved! DiGiornoNational Donut Day sweepstakes Want to be one of the lucky few to try a DiGiornut? Reply with #Sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win! No Purchase Nec., Entrant must be 18+ in US and DC, ends 11:59 PM EST 6/4/2021. Limit 1 entry. Rules: https://t.co/TgEYzitTAP pic.twitter.com/3IF4pqp01Q — DiGiorno (@DiGiorno) June 4, 2021 National days are popular topics for online contests. You might not think a pizza company like DiGiorno would celebrate #NationalDonutDay, but the brand made it happen by inventing DiGiornuts, a pizza-donut mashup. To celebrate #NationalDonutDay, they gave away six DiGiornuts to 10 lucky winners. To enter, folks simply had to reply to DiGiorno’s Tweet and include #sweepstakes in their reply. Now that you’ve learned about four types of contests you can run on Twitter, it’s time for you to give it a go! Check out Shortstack, to learn how to run your Twitter contests with ease. Still need a bit of inspiration? Try searching Twitter for #sweepstakes, #contest or #giveaway. These hashtags will yield current contests brands are running on Twitter. About The Author Jane V Jane is ShortStack’s Marketing Director. She holds a Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to working on the marketing team, Jane has worn many hats at ShortStack over the years, including leading our customer support and success team ShareTweetSharePinBufferWhatsAppEmail0 Shares
