In episode 113 of "The Social Circus," host Sarah Thomson delves into the intricacies of running successful Instagram competitions. Understanding the challenges business owners face with engagement and follower growth, Sarah provides a practical guide for leveraging Instagram contests to drive attention, engagement, and new followers.

Launching into the topic, Sarah emphasizes the versatility of Instagram compared to other platforms like Facebook, highlighting the fewer restrictions and easier management of competitions on Instagram. She gives a step-by-step strategy for setting up Instagram competitions, including the necessary tracking and analysis to evaluate success. Sarah also addresses the importance of offering meaningful prizes and ensuring the process of entering the competition is straightforward to maximize participation. By the end of the episode, listeners are equipped with actionable tips and strategies to effectively run Instagram contests and integrate them into broader business objectives.

Instagram’s Flexibility: Running competitions on Instagram is more straightforward compared to Facebook, with fewer restrictions from Meta.

Choosing the Right Prize: Offer prizes that are enticing yet relevant to your audience to attract potential customers and not just general entrants.

Simple Mechanics: Keep the competition entry process simple – typically involving liking a profile, tagging a friend, and sharing the post in stories.

Engage through DM’s: Personalize the experience by sending DM's to participants, encouraging them further and building relationships.

Collaboration Limits: When collaborating with other businesses, ensure there are no more than five participants to avoid overcomplicating the entry process.