How to Design an Instagram Photo Challenge!

Have you ever seen or participated in an Instagram photo challenge? For anyone who loves photography or Instagram, these sorts of fun photo a day challenges can be an awesome way to connect with your community and grow your following at the same time. So, today, I wanted to explain the simple steps to take if you would like to host your own photo challenge on Instagram!

1. Pick a time frame: First things first, you are going to need to choose a time frame for your challenge. Many photo challenges are month long events, however, nothing stops you from choosing a longer or shorter time frame. You can use a photo challenge to lead up to an event for your business like the launch of a new product, in which case you may want to host a two week challenge. Or, you may want to use a photo challenge to celebrate an important event or milestone by hosting a week long event. Like I said, it’s up to you, but you are going to want to decide the time frame of the challenge so you can start planning it.

2. Choose a theme: Photo challenges usually revolve around a theme, for instance, in March I hosted my first photo challenge called CharmedGTD, which means Charmed Getting Things Done, and it was a productivity themed challenge. In June, I co-hosted another challenge with my buddy Paper & Glam and we called it Summer in the Glampire to celebrate the start of summer and our vacation to Aruba. Some challenges are themed around specific creative endeavors, others around seasonal events. Choose a theme that works for you and will help you attract the type of audience you are looking to gain!

3. Brainstorm prompts: Once you know the length of time and the theme for your challenge, you can start brainstorming prompts to go along with it. Photo challenges normally have one prompt for each day of the challenge and it’s up to the participants to get creative and interpret the prompts to suit their preferences. Again, let your theme guide you with this, but don’t be afraid to get creative yourself and think outside the box!

4. Create a hashtag: Every great photo challenge needs a great custom hashtag to go along with it to act as its name or title! Make sure your hashtag is descriptive of your challenge, is as succinct as possible and of course, unique! Make sure to check Instagram to see if anyone is already using your photo challenge hashtag, because you will want to find something that has little to no use so that you can appropriate it for your own brand!

5. Design your graphic: Using image editing software, design your photo challenge graphic to share with your community. Of course, when designing your graphic you will want to create a square image, at least 1,000 x 1,000 pixels, use your specific brand colors and imagery, and of course, simple fonts that are easy to read! Make sure to include in your graphic the title of the challenge/the custom hashtag that participants should use, your own Instagram handle so that people can tag you and know who to attribute the event to, the time frame for the challenge, and of course your daily prompts!  If you also have room, feel free to include your website URL as well!

6. Promote your challenge: A few days to a week before your challenge starts you will want to begin promoting it. Of course you will want to first post your custom graphic to your Instagram account and encourage your followers to participate by reposting the image to their own feeds. Ask your followers to tag friends that they believe would enjoy the event as well. You may also want to promote your challenge via your website, blog or other social media channels by creating a dedicated post and explaining the challenge to your followers. Don’t hesitate to post a few times in the days leading up to the event so that you get the word out to as many people as possible!

7. Have fun & interact with your community: Once your challenge begins, make sure you keep up to date posting and checking on your custom hashtag to interact with your community. Make sure you are having fun with the event and like a good host, checking in with your participants by liking and commenting on their photos! Photo challenges are supposed to be fun while also helping you to promote your own account, so make sure to enjoy yourself and make the most of your interactions with your community!

Now you are ready to design and host your own Instagram Photo Challenge! Make sure to let me know if you host a challenge so I can see the fruits of your work and how you put these tips into action!

xoxo,