7 Easy Contest Ideas Anyone Can Run (Even on a Busy Day)

Simple contest ideas are my go-to when I need engagement fast without spending hours planning. I’ve used them to grow email lists, boost social media activity, and bring in last-minute sales.

If you want results without a complicated setup, this list is for you. These contests are fun, quick to launch, and easy for people to enter.

Let’s walk through the easiest ways to run a giveaway that actually gets attention.

Quick List of Simple Contest Ideas

Want to skip ahead? Here are some of the easiest contest ideas anyone can run. Click to jump to the one that fits your audience best:

• Social Media Contest: Ask followers to like, share, or follow to enter.
• Caption This: Post a funny photo and let your audience write a caption.
• Photo Contest: Ask people to submit photos using a hashtag.
• Fill in the Blank: Share a sentence with a missing word and ask for creative answers.
• Guessing Game: Have people guess a number, item, or answer to a question.
• Voting Contest: Let your audience vote on entries or favorite products.
• Short Video Challenge: Ask for quick videos around a specific theme.

Why Do Simple Contests Work So Well?

Often, the easiest contests are the best because people are more likely to enter if it’s easy to do so. Essentially, when the requirements are simple, your audience will understand what you’re asking them to do.

For example, Agile’ Marketing Services ran a simple giveaway for their client, Basil Thai Cuisine, to grow their email list.

By giving away five $20 gift certificates, they thanked their customers and increased their email list by 52%! Plus, the giveaway got more people talking on Facebook, with 105 reactions, 11 comments, and 28 shares.

This proves a simple contest can go a long way. You don’t need anything fancy to see real results.

How to Choose the Right Simple Contest Idea

Not sure which one to try first? Think about how your audience already interacts with you. That’ll help you pick a contest that fits naturally.

• If they love photos: Try a hashtag photo contest or caption contest.
• If they prefer quick replies: Go with a guessing game or fill-in-the-blank.
• If you want shares or referrals: Use a “Refer a Friend” contest or short video challenge.

And if you’re just getting started, keep it easy — something you can post and manage in under 10 minutes.

Simple Contest Ideas That Work

Now let’s look at some simple contest ideas that require a little more thought but are still easy to set up.

1. Social Media Contest

A social media contest is a giveaway where the goal is to get people to engage with your brand on social media. To run one, choose a social media platform, and then decide how you want people to enter.

For example, you could ask them to follow your page, like a post, or share something on their own social media account to enter. You can then select a winner randomly or based on specific criteria, such as the best comment or most creative post.

These contests are great when you want fast engagement without sending people off-platform.

For a full walkthrough, see this guide on how to run a social media contest.

2. Fun Photo Caption Contest

In this type of contest, you’ll share a funny or unusual photo and ask your audience to come up with the best caption. The goal is to generate some humor and get your audience to engage with your brand in a fun way.

To run it, pick a photo that’s sure to inspire creativity, share it on your social media channel, and then ask people to comment with their caption ideas. You can then pick the best one or choose a winner at random from the entries.

It’s an easy way to get more comments, laughs, and visibility on your post with one image.

Here are some caption contest examples to get your inspiration flowing.

3. Simple Photo Contest

A photo contest is where you ask your audience to share photos related to a theme, your brand, or your products.

To run one, decide what kind of photos you want people to share. For example, if you sell plants, you could ask your audience to share photos of their plants at home.

Or in this case, a dog breed brand ran with a photo contest for pets:

Then, ask people to share their photos on social media using a specific hashtag. This will make it easy for you to keep track of entries. Finally, pick a winner and award them with the prize.

If your audience loves sharing photos, this is one of the easiest ways to boost both reach and connection.

If you need help setting this type of contest up, see our guide on how to run a photo contest.

4. Fill in the Blank

This type of contest is simple, fun, and easy to participate in.

To run one, come up with a sentence or phrase with a word missing. Then, ask your audience to guess what the missing word is. Make sure the sentence or phrase is related to your brand or has something to do with your products or services.

This format works especially well when you want lots of quick replies without needing fancy visuals or setup.

5. Guessing Game

A guessing game contest is one that requires your audience to guess the answer to a question, or the number of items in a jar. This kind of contest is very engaging, but it’s also very simple.

To run one, make sure the question you’re asking is relevant to your brand. If you decide to ask them to guess the number of items in a jar, for example, make it visually interesting and easy to see.

Then, ask your audience to share their answers with a comment on social media.

Use this when you want something interactive that gets people thinking and commenting fast.

6. Voting Contest

A voting contest involves two steps:

First, run a contest where you ask your audience to submit content on a specific theme. Then, post the content you received and ask your audience to vote for their favorites.

Alternatively, you can simply ask your audience to vote for a favorite product you sell, like Flanigans did in this example:

To make this easy, you can use a social media poll or a simple survey tool. This will help get the most engagement from your audience by involving them twice.

This is a smart option when you want your audience to feel involved in choosing something, and come back to see who wins.

7. Short Video Contest

A short video contest is exactly like a photo contest, except your audience will submit short video clips instead of photos.

To run one of these, ask your audience to post a short video on a specific topic. Ask them to share their video on their social media platforms using a specific hashtag so you can find their entry easily.

In this example, the University of Malaya used this idea to raise awareness about prostate cancer:

It shows that even short video contest can boost your engagement and help you get your brand (or cause) out there.

If your audience is already active on TikTok or Instagram Reels, this can be a powerful way to spread your message organically.

Take a look at this guide to learn how to run a video contest.

Best Prize Ideas for Simple Contests

You don’t need a huge prize to get attention. In fact, smaller but relevant prizes often work better, especially for quick contests.

• Gift cards: Always popular and easy to deliver
• Free product or service: Great if you’re promoting your own brand
• Exclusive discount: Works well for ecommerce stores or memberships
• Shoutouts or features: Perfect for artists, creators, or communities

The key is to offer something your audience will actually care about, not just something expensive.

How to Run Simple Contest Ideas on Your Website

While there are many ways to run a contest, they often involve a lot of complicated steps and rules that can be overwhelming.

Running a contest directly on social media might seem simple at first, but it quickly becomes difficult to manage all the entries and keep track of the people who have entered. And while using a web-based giveaway tool is another option, you don’t have full control over your data or the design.

So, what’s the best way to run a simple contest?

The easiest way to manage your contest is to run it directly from your own website, where you can have full control over the design and how you capture entries.

If you have a WordPress website, one of the easiest ways to run your simple contest ideas is by using a dedicated giveaway plugin like RafflePress. It makes setting up contests incredibly simple and easy.

Here are just some of the benefits of using RafflePress to run your contest:

• Easy Drag-and-Drop Builder: Makes it super simple to create your contest without any coding knowledge.
• Pre-built Templates: Provides a variety of giveaway templates to help you quickly create different types of contests.
• Variety of Entry Actions: Supports a wide range of entry options, such as following on social media, leaving comments, and more.
• Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensures your contest looks great on any device, like phones and tablets.
• Full Control: Gives you everything you need to run and manage easy contest ideas from your own site.
  

For help getting started, see our guide on how to run an online contest in WordPress using RafflePress.

Simple Contest Ideas FAQs

Want even more ideas? Here are a few bonus collections you can explore based on the season, platform, or campaign type.

• Video Contest Ideas
• Twitter Giveaway Ideas
• Social Media Contest Ideas
• Photography Giveaway Ideas
• Instagram Story Giveaway Ideas
• Facebook Giveaway Ideas
• Small Business Giveaway Ideas
• Easter Giveaway Ideas
• Halloween Giveaway Ideas
• Summer Contest Ideas

Run Your Simple Contest with Confidence

Running a contest doesn’t have to be hard. Even the simplest ideas can lead to real results.

Now that you’ve seen what works, from photo captions to short videos,you’re ready to launch something fun, fast, and effective.

And if you’re using WordPress, RafflePress makes the whole process even easier.

Ready to run a simple, yet effective contest?

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