How to Run A Photo Contest in WordPress The Simple Way

The first time I ran a photo contest, I was just trying to get more people to share our new product on Instagram. What I didn’t expect was how quickly it drove traffic and email signups too.

If you want to learn how to run a photo contest in WordPress, I’ll walk you through the exact steps I used. You’ll see how to set it up with RafflePress, what to ask for in entries, and how to get people excited to join in.

Quick Summary: How to Run a Photo Contest

What Is a Photo Contest?

A photo contest is a digital marketing campaign where users submit a photo for the chance to win a prize. You can run photo contests on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more.

Why Learn to Run a Photo Contest?

A photo contest will only cost the price of the prize, but there are so many benefits.

Here are just a few reasons why learning to run a photo contest can be a great idea:

Boost visibility – Users creating and sharing content about your brand will boost visibility and raise awareness.
Grow your email list – People can gain extra competition entries by subscribing to your email list.
Grow your social media following – A growing social following will expose you to new followers, which in turn, will help you grow. Entrants can refer a friend to gain even more entries.
Attract new customers and leads – A growing audience will mean more leads and sales.
Increased website traffic – More visibility from the photo contest will translate to more website traffic.
Collect valuable user-generated content – Resharing this content is valuable. People trust other people more than they trust brands. Having this content will help boost social proof.
Increase engagement – Your audience will be connecting with your brand, and they will begin to trust you.
Build positive associations – Sharing lots of photos of happy customers is a great way to encourage your audience to feel good about your brand.

An easy way to successfully run a photo contest is to use the RafflePress plugin. It offers ready-made templates, viral sharing, one-click entries, and so much more. There’s even a free version and a Pro version.

Now you know the power of running a photo contest on your WordPress website, let’s set one up.

How to Run a Photo Contest in WordPress

1. Install the RafflePress Plugin in WordPress

Start by adding the RafflePress plugin to your WordPress site. This gives you everything you need to create and manage your photo contest without touching code.

RafflePress is the best WordPress plugin for hosting a contest. The Pro version has lots of extra features, such as viral sharing, email marketing integrations, and more, so make sure you check it out.

How to run a photo contest in WordPress with RafflePress

To begin, from your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins » Add New.

Then search for RafflePress and click Install Now, then Activate.

Alternatively, you can download the RafflePress plugin file from WordPress and upload it to your site. This guide has a great explanation for installing WordPress plugins if you need help.

RafflePress in the WordPress plugin respository

2. Set a Clear Goal for Your Photo Contest

Before we move on with learning how to run a photo contest, you need to be clear about your contest objective.

Your contest goal should shape every other decision. Choose a goal like growing your email list, promoting a product, or boosting social engagement.

You must be clear about what you want to achieve so you know which metrics to measure to see if your contest was successful.

3. Choose a Prize That Attracts the Right People

A great giveaway prize gets the right people to enter. Pick something closely tied to your product or service so you attract potential customers, not freebie seekers.

The main purpose of this contest will be to increase leads, sales, and customers. You want to avoid people who will unsubscribe/unfollow as soon as the contest is over. So choosing a prize that’s desirable to the RIGHT people is key.

Offering a voucher or gift certificate for your business can be great. These are appealing to all potential customers but are only attractive to people who are interested in your business.

Remember, you don’t want as many entrants as possible; you want the RIGHT entrants.

4. Decide What Type of Photo Entries You Want

Think about what kind of photos you want people to submit. It could be product shots, themed images, or anything that fits your niche.

There are a few options you can consider, such as:

Anything that fits your niche – It could be something specific to your niche. For example, a food blogger could ask for pictures of their favorite cake. While products or services aren’t featured, you’ll be creating engagement.
Photos of your products being used – Asking people to share photos of your product in action is a wonderful way to get your audience to share content. This promotes your products in an authentic way.
Creative use of your product – Creative or unusual photos of your product can really increase engagement and give people inspiration.

5. Set Up Your Photo Contest in RafflePress

RafflePress incorporates image submissions, which makes it super easy to run a photo contest. How about we learn how to do it?

Scroll down to the Actions option in your giveaway editor and select the Submit an Image action. Then you can do the following things:

Add instructions.
Allow daily entries.
Amend the number of entries per submission.
Make image submissions mandatory.

As the host, you can view the submitted images via the Entries screen. When the contest closes, you can either choose the winner or let RafflePress randomly draw one.

6. Add Contest Details and Entry Actions

Changing up your contest details is pretty easy too!

To add the details of your contest, click the Design box and add the title, description, and image (for Pro account holders) of your prize. Alter the timezone, then set the start and end dates of your contest. If you have more than one prize, simply click the +Add Another Prize button.

You can also customize the entry options. Click the Actions tab, then make your selection, changing the titles and values of each option if you wish.

7. Match the Contest Design to Your Site

Your contest widget should match the design of your website. If it doesn’t, people might be reluctant to enter.

Customizing the design is easy with RafflePress. Simply click the Design tab, and you can make changes to the fonts, button, background color, and layout. If you’re handy with CSS, you can add your own custom CSS too.

8. Add Rules and Customize Entry Settings

Every contest needs rules, and RafflePress makes creating them seriously simple.

Click Settings, then select Giveaway Rules and click on the orange +Generate Rules button.

Enter the details of your contest and click the Generate Rules button.

A simple set of contest rules are then generated for you.

Basic contest rules generated in RafflePress

You can choose to display the contest winners, enable email verification, and much more.

When you’re finished, click Save in the top right corner.

9. Publish the Photo Contest on Your Website

It’s time to publish your contest. To do so, there are the 3 following options:

Giveaway Landing Page – Create a landing page specifically for your contest.
WordPress Shortcode – Using the Classic WordPress editor, you can use a shortcode to embed the contest.
RafflePress WordPress Block – Embed the contest in your post or page using a block in the editor.

To add your contest to a new page or post, click on the + icon to locate the RafflePress widget.

Now select the contest you want to embed.

Select your contest from the drop down list

Then click the Publish button to embed the contest onto your site.

10. Share and Promote Your Contest Everywhere

Now it’s time to maximize those entries. Share your contest in your emails, social media bios, social networks, email signature, and anywhere else you can think of reaching your audience.

To make things a little easier, here’s a list of great contest promotion ideas to get you going.

Remember, keep posting reminders until the contest closes. You could boost entries by sharing some of the photos you’ve received.

FAQ: How to Run a Photo Contest

Can I run a photo contest in WordPress for free?

Yes, you can use the free version of RafflePress to create a simple photo contest. If you want features like photo uploads, email list growth, or bonus entry actions, the Pro version is a better fit.

What kind of prize should I offer for a photo contest?

The best prize is something related to your business. A product, gift card, or service works better than a generic item like an iPad. You want to attract people who are likely to become customers.

Can users upload photos directly in the contest form?

Yes. RafflePress Pro includes a “Submit an Image” action so users can upload photos directly to your contest entry form. It’s an easy way to collect user-generated content.

How do I pick a winner for a photo contest?

You can pick a winner manually or let RafflePress choose one randomly. This depends on your contest rules and whether you want to judge based on creativity, votes, or just participation. Here’s how to pick a giveaway winner.

How can I promote my photo contest to get more entries?

Share it on social media, in your email list, on your website, and in any online communities your audience uses. For ideas, check out these contest promotion strategies.

You’ve now learned how to run a contest for photos and get more leads for your business. What are you waiting for? Download RafflePress today to start creating your first giveaway and reap the benefits of an engaged audience.

And if you want to learn about other types of contests, take a look at these tutorials:

We hope you found this article helpful. And if you did, check out our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Stacey Corrin Writer

Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.

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How To Run A Photo Contest in WordPress The Simple Way