Social photo contests are promotional events that take place on social media platforms. Their main objective is to encourage participants to share a photo on their own account using a specific hashtag. This hashtag allows the brand to automatically identify and collect submitted photos, then select winners through a judging process or a random draw. After verification and in accordance with the contest rules, the images can be reused on the organizing brand’s social media channels, as well as on other media.

Organizing a social photo contest aims to energize the brand’s existing social media community, increase its visibility by reaching the participants’ audience, and generate engagement. This visibility is particularly beneficial when the contest directly incorporates the brand’s product or service into the submitted photos. A concrete example would be a photo contest running simultaneously on various social media platforms.