As people started to post more pictures across multiple social media channels, brands have started to find fresh and creative ways to reach their target audience.

Whether you’re a small business owner or a brand, you’d probably know that photo contests can increase engagement and bring traffic to your website.

With the recent decline in organic reach, photo contests are an excellent promotional strategy to spread awareness about your brand, product or service, get more likes on Instagram and other social media platforms and make your presence felt, all with just a minimal budget.

Here are some of the best ways to create a buzz with a photo contest,

Define a Clear Goal

In order to run a successful photo contest, it is essential to have a purpose – a goal that aligns with the behaviors and interests of your target audience.

So, before you start off with the competition, it is important to establish goals that are relevant, specific, achievable and measurable.

If the objective is to grow your brand’s presence or build a list of followers, it is crucial to set a specific goal that you’d want to achieve at the end of your photo contest.

You must also make sure to prioritize goals that help in achieving desired results and a good return on investment. Thereby, you’d know how successful you’re with the photo contest.

You must also make sure to prioritize goals that help in achieving desired results and a good return on investment. Thereby, you’d know how successful you’re with the photo contest.

So, before investing your valuable time and resources, shift your focus to the audience you’re trying to reach and the type of content or experience they’d like to share.

Create a Unique Theme

As a brand, it’s your job to create an exciting reason for people to participate and submit pictures to your competition.

Since a photo contest runs on User Generated Content (UGC), it is essential to pick a theme so that participants would know what kind of pictures to post.

Asking participants to feature your brand or strike a pose with your product or service is an excellent way to generate buzz around your competition.

Therefore, it is important to choose a theme that aligns with your target audience and doesn’t require too much in terms of resources.

Note: Make your photo contest theme appropriate to the audience you’re trying to reach.

Use a Hashtag

Hashtags are extremely useful to keep track of your submissions and entrants. Without it, there might be no connection between the content (UGC) and the photo contest being created.

So, the key to developing a successful photo contest is to create a relevant and catchy hashtag.

However, creating a perfect hashtag for your photo contest can be quite tricky as there are thousands of hashtags being created every day, making it difficult to create something unique and likable.

Over the course of a photo contest, participants usually submit their pictures manually or by including a branded hashtag. Therefore, it is essential to create an exclusive hashtag that goes along with your photo contest.

Note: If people can’t tag your brand, ask them to use a branded hashtag instead.

Giveaways

A photo contest would perform much better when there’s some sort of prize or incentive associated with it. Providing prizes can help in achieving your primary goals and encourages people to participate in the contest.

So, try to offer coupons, discounts, free product or an opportunity to be featured by your brand.

However, it is essential to give away prizes that are related to your brand or industry. In doing so, you can easily create brand awareness and give people a chance to try out your products or services.

The bigger the prize, the more the incentive.

Promote Extensively

Once you’ve created and launched a photo contest, don’t just stop there. After your photo contest goes live, it’s your responsibility to influence people’s interest through promotions.

You can try using different social media platforms to get the word out about the competition and push more people to participate.

Your brand’s presence on social media and advertising through paid campaigns are the best ways to reach a wider audience with minimal effort.

However, encouraging participants to help promote your photo contest is only possible if you have a decent following on multiple  social media platforms.

Like any marketing campaign, the key is to keep it simple!

Conclusion

Due to the rising popularity of photo contests, it is one of the best ways to achieve your business goals and develop connections with your target audience.

So, if your brand is focused around a specific product or service, running a photo contest helps to strengthen your brand’s identity and boost sales for your business.

You can simply ask people to post pictures related to your product or service and even share experiences about how it has enhanced their life.

Therefore, photo contests are an excellent source to collect user-generated content that showcases your product or service and its impact on people’s life.

Feel Free to Reach out Travel with Shama if you have any question about creating a Photo Contest

Top 5 Beaches for Diving in Vietnam

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Summer is a time for trips, and it always knows how to make us want to have a dip in the sea.

Under the cool fresh seawater, all the hotness and tiredness will be gone.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of beaches around the globe which makes it hard to decide where to go. However, don’t worry! Vietnam can be your destination this time!

If you see on the map, about half of Vietnam’s border is linked to the sea, which results in many beautiful tropical beaches in the country.

Nature has favored Vietnam with many beautiful bays and beaches. Besides, there are a variety of plants and animals in these areas, especially the beautiful coral reefs.

You can do a lot of water sports and activities in Vietnam. One of the must-try activities is scuba diving which provides you with a chance to discover the abundant marine life.

Vinh Hy Bay, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Nha Trang, and Cu Lao Cham are the most beautiful places for scuba diving in the country.

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Let’s discover now!

1. Vinh Hy Bay

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Anyone who comes to the Gulf of Hy is overwhelmed because when looking from above, the bay looks like a beautiful painting.

Vinh Hy has clear blue water and beautiful natural scenery. About 5 km away is a place not to be missed: Hang Rai – Nui Chua. Here houses the most ancient coral reefs.

As one of the four most beautiful bays in Vietnam, just over an hour’s drive from Phan Rang – Thap Cham city center, Vinh Hy Bay is an excellent destination for those who love the unique natural beauty.

In addition to visiting and taking photos, tourist can take part in other interesting activities such as diving and watching coral reefs, floating on the sea, walking on the smooth sandy beach, soulfully following the sea breeze, enjoying seafood with the taste of the sea.

The sea in Vinh Hy is green all year round with more than 300 species of coral. This place is an ideal destination for discovering the beauty of the ocean.

Visitors are expected to follow the native scuba diving guides to be fully immersed in the sea and watch the beautiful flora and fauna here.

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If visitors don’t want to participate in scuba diving, they can observe the coral reefs through naked eyes with the help of the glass floors on boats.

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2. Phu Quoc

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The island is often known as the pearl island of Vietnam or the paradise on the sea. Not only is it well-known for stunning beaches, but Phu Quoc also attracts tourists for the beauty of the peaceful ocean, colorful coral reefs, and a variety of fishes.

Tourists will have an exciting experience when participating in diving tours here.

There are many places to dive in Phu Quoc such as An Thoi, Hon Thom, Ganh Dau, Cua Can, and May May islands. And, coral diving tours are offered by hotels and resorts in Phu Quoc at the price of 350,000 – 500,000 VND / person.

In addition to scuba diving, fishing and wild island discovery can be attractive alternatives for tourists. These tours will take you to an island or a coast with many fish species such as grouper, cajuput, snakehead, and cobia.

While fishing, a tourist group can organize camps, picnics and discover the surrounding areas. Some favorite places are Ong Doi Cape, Hon Dam, and Hon Thom.

When it gets dark, tourists can try to have a night squid fishing session. When the night falls, it’s time to experience the excitement of catching the squids with fishermen.

Or tourists can choose to visit famous fish sauce factories where deliver one of the most delicious cooking ingredients in Vietnam.

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3. Con Dao

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Before becoming one of the most attractive tourist spots, Con Dao has been a historical monument which honored the sacrifice of Vietnamese soldiers.

And now, mother nature has gifted the place with pristine beaches, fresh seafood, and picturesque landscape to the sincere local people.

Con Dao is considered the most stunning coral diving and snorkeling spot in Vietnam.

With 16 islands of all size and unique ecosystems, tourists will have beautiful moments exploring the ocean and admiring the beautiful marine plants, especially the coral reefs.

Besides, there are rare marine animals like sea turtles and dugongs

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The best diving sites in Con Dao are Bay Canh, Vinh Con Son, Hon Tai, Hon Cau. The best time to dive is from March to September.

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4. Nha Trang

Khanh Hoa is a small province, not important in economics and politics, but Nha Trang city is blessed with breathtaking and poetic beauty.

Therefore, this place welcomes thousands of visitors to travel to, relax, and visit exciting sites every year. Visitors coming to Nha Trang include domestic and international tourists

Many tourists commented that if you travel to Nha Trang without participating in a diving tour, it seems like you haven’t discovered all of Nha Trang.

Indeed nature has been too preferential for this land with beautiful coral reefs along with hundreds of diverse and beautiful flora and fauna species.

The most stunning diving spot in Nha Trang is Hon Mun, which is the first marine reserve in Vietnam.

Also, there are many attractive diving spots such as Hon Tam and Monkey Island.

Nha Trang always “changes new clothes” every day in hope of bringing visitors the most relaxing moments.

If you want to find a quiet place to get a peace of mind, relieve the stress, then Nha Trang will be the ideal “paradise on the ground” for you. Come and experience the best in the coastal city of Nha Trang.

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5. Cu Lao Cham (Cham Island)

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This place belongs to Tan Hiep island commune, Hoi An city. It is located about 25 nautical miles (10 km) from Hoi An.

Coming to Cu Lao Cham, tourist will have a chance to discover wild and poetic nature at Hon Lao, Hon Long, Hon Chong, Hang Yen.

With outstanding values characterized by abundant natural and human resources, Cu Lao Cham was recognized by UNESCOas a world biosphere reserve on 26/5/2009.

The marine reserve at Cu Lao Cham has 5000 ha of seawater, which includes 500 ha of seagrass beds, 165 ha of coral reefs, and many types of marine species.

There are also over 200 species of fish, many of which are 20in the Vietnam’s Red Data Book.

The numbers speak volumes about the wealth of marine resources of Cu Lao Cham, which makes this place a famous diving spot attracting the participation of domestic and foreign tourists.

At Cu Lao Cham, there are three renowned diving spots: Hon Tai, Hon Mo, and Hon Dai. Visitors can dive deep from 5 to 7m to discover the beauty of the ocean here.

Author Bio:
I’m Anthony Ngo, Travel Expert from Vietnamtour.in – A local Vietnam based travel company specializing in Vietnam travel packages for Indian customers.