9 Summer Contest Ideas (and Which One to Run Based on Your Goal)

You’re posting consistently all year and getting decent engagement. Then summer hits, everyone else is also running a giveaway, and your posts go flat in the noise. It’s not that your audience disappeared. It’s that you’re competing for attention with every other brand that had the same idea.

Most summer contest roundups hand you a list and leave you guessing which type fits your goal. They don’t tell you that a sweepstakes builds awareness but won’t grow your email list, or that a video contest only works if your audience is already active on that platform.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through 9 summer contest ideas and which one to run based on what you actually want to build.

Quick Look: Here are the summer contest ideas covered in this guide:

• 1. Beach Moments Summer Video Contest
• 2. Branded Summer Hashtag Contest
• 3. Local Event Summer Selfie Contest
• 4. Summer Fashion Photo Contest Idea
• 5. Summer Activity Bundle Sweepstakes
• 6. Summer Cooking & Recipe Contest
• 7. Summer Reading & Book Review Contest
• 8. Backyard Makeover Summer Contest
• 9. Summer Caption This Photo Contest

Why Run Summer Contests for Your Business?

Running a summer contest is a proven way to grow your email list. According to HubSpot research, contests can drive up to 34% list growth in a single campaign.

Industry data suggests giveaway posts can generate 2-3x more engagement than standard posts. People are outdoors, attending events, and spending more time on social media, which makes summer one of the strongest windows for a seasonal campaign.

With a well-planned summer promotion, you can:

• Drive more traffic to your website
• Grow your email subscriber list
• Increase your social media followers
• Generate leads and new customers
• Strengthen brand recognition

How Do You Run a Summer Giveaway Contest?

You can run a summer contest entirely on social media, but hosting it on your WordPress website gives you more control, more entry options, and the ability to grow your email list at the same time.

Here’s a quick 5-step plan to get started:

• Pick your prize and theme. Choose something your audience wants that ties into the summer season.
• Set your rules and entry methods. Make them clear, fair, and easy to follow.
• Create your giveaway page. RafflePress is a WordPress giveaway plugin that runs viral contests to grow your email list and social following, and it lets you collect entries from Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and your website all at once.
• Promote everywhere. Share it on social media, send to your email list, and add it to your website.
• Engage and follow up. Respond to participants during the contest and announce the winner publicly.

RafflePress lets you run one contest that builds your email list, TikTok following, and Instagram audience at the same time. Each platform’s entry action is separate, so every participant contributes to your actual growth goals.

For a more detailed walkthrough, see my guide on how to run an online contest.

Which Summer Contest Type Fits Your Goal?

The contest idea that works is the one that matches what you actually want to build. Here’s a quick guide to match your goal to the right format for your seasonal campaign.

Goal	Best Contest Type
Email list growth	Hashtag contest with newsletter entry action
Social followers (Instagram)	Selfie or photo contest
Brand awareness (UGC)	Video contest
Broad reach with low effort	Sweepstakes
Creative engagement	Caption or recipe contest

9 Best Summer Contest Ideas

The most successful summer contests start with a strong idea. If you’re out of inspiration, here are some of the best summer giveaway ideas you can adapt for your business.

1. Beach Moments Summer Video Contest

Your audience is already sharing beach photos all summer. A video contest gives them a reason to tag your brand while doing it.

Your audience will likely be following suit with a beachside vacation over the summer period. You can tap into the summer vibe by running a video contest for the chance to win some summer swag.

Ask your audience to send in videos of their best beach moments, such as sandcastle building, surfing the waves, or even hanging out with family in the sun. You can enter each submission into a prize draw and reward the most creative video with the grand prize.

Check out this example from Blue Planet Surf. They asked users to upload a summer video for the chance to win a giveaway prize of $2000.

I’ve found that video contests get the highest participation when your community is already active on that platform. Don’t start with video if your audience isn’t posting videos about you yet.

RafflePress’s custom giveaway action is an excellent way to run your summer video contest. You can customize the Invent Your Own action and ask users to post their video link to enter.

2. Branded Summer Hashtag Contest

Hashtag contests are a popular summer social media contest, promoting brand awareness with minimal entry effort. They’re one of the fastest ways to generate UGC and spread your brand name across a platform in a single campaign.

Take Metropole South Beach, for example.

Their summer giveaway asked users to follow their Instagram account, like the giveaway post, and share it using the hashtag #metropolesouthbeach. The prize was a 4-day stay in their hotel.

The refer-a-friend mechanic in RafflePress is the real secret weapon for summer hashtag contests. Participants share to earn extra entries without being asked twice, so your reach compounds naturally.

To run a similar summer contest, you can use RafflePress’s Viral Refer-a-Friend giveaway action. It allows participants to share your giveaway on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X (formerly Twitter), and Email.

You can customize the share message for each platform and include your branded hashtag to increase awareness.

3. Local Event Summer Selfie Contest

There are bound to be local events taking place over the summer. Your business can tap into the event hype by running a selfie contest.

In this example, Liverpool City Council invited users to take a selfie at each of the city’s locations for the chance to win various prizes. It’s an excellent way to promote local businesses while helping users enjoy their day out.

You can run this type of contest with RafflePress’s Submit an Image action. Users can upload a selfie directly to your WordPress website to qualify.

You can also ask users to join your email list with the Join an Email Newsletter action.

4. Summer Fashion Photo Contest Idea

Summer is one of the best seasons for showing off your favorite outfits. Inspire your audience by hosting a summer style photo contest, rewarding contestants with the chance to win gift cards for their favorite fashion brands.

That’s what Sequin NYC did in this example. They partnered with a complimentary brand giving users the chance to win a stunning dress and earrings combo.

To enter, users had to post a photo on Instagram with their brand hashtag and follow both brands’ profiles.

Adding a public voting element takes this further. When entrants share their photo to collect votes from their own followers, each participant essentially promotes your contest to their entire audience.

You can follow suit by using RafflePress’s Submit an Image action. You can also boost your Instagram engagement by including bonus actions to view your Instagram profile and your Instagram post.

5. Summer Activity Bundle Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are the easiest contests to run. They require minimal effort to enter, and you can tailor them to any theme you like by choosing a high-quality prize.

In Vtech’s sweet summertime sweepstakes, users could enter to win promotional products from their range of children’s toys. They also chose the winners randomly to ensure everyone had a fair chance of winning.

The low barrier to entry in a sweepstakes means you’ll get higher volume, but lower intent. It’s the right format for awareness goals, not for building your email list with qualified leads.

For ecommerce brands, a bundle of your best summer products makes a natural prize. It introduces winners to your full range and gives non-winners a reason to browse.

You can choose giveaway winners randomly with RafflePress’s random winner picker. When your giveaway is over, simply click the “Choose Winner Now” link, and it will pick a winner randomly from your pool of qualifying entries.

6. Summer Cooking & Recipe Contest

Does your audience love to get creative in the kitchen? Let them unleash their creativity by cooking up a storm with a summer recipe contest.

You can run this type of contest by asking participants to share their favorite recipes in the comments to win promotional items. RafflePress’s Leave a Comment action is ideal because it only takes a few clicks to enter.

Alternatively, you can get users to post a quick TikTok or Instagram Reels video of how they did it. TikTok short-form recipe content has grown significantly and now outperforms static image posts for food and cooking topics.

Use the Invent Your Own action in RafflePress and ask users to post the link to their TikTok or Reels video to qualify.

You can also add bonus entries to follow you on TikTok and other social media platforms for more chances to win.

7. Summer Reading & Book Review Contest

If your audience includes a crowd of voracious readers, you can get them involved in a summer book review contest. Whether they’re relaxing by the pool or traveling, you can ask users to choose a book from their summer reading list and review it for the chance to win promotional gifts.

Toppsta ran a summer book review contest for kids to win up to £3000 in book tokens. They even had a review pack that kids could download.

Don’t have the budget for such a grand prize idea? Don’t worry!

With RafflePress, you can easily run a book review giveaway for any budget. One of the best ways to do it is with the Write a Blog Post giveaway action. Participants can publish the review on their own blog and post the link in your giveaway widget for the chance to win.

You can reward the lucky winner with a bundle of best-selling books or an Amazon gift card.

8. Backyard Makeover Summer Contest

Summer is the best time of year to get your green thumb out and make some garden improvements. Why not use the good weather to inspire your audience with a garden makeover contest?

You can ask contestants to create a Pinterest board of their dream garden or challenge them to transform their garden and submit a photo of the results.

Robert’s Nursery took the latter idea, asking users to send a photo for the chance to win $10,000.

If you’re going down the Pinterest route, don’t forget to ask participants to follow you on Pinterest for an extra chance to win.

9. Summer Caption This Photo Contest

Last up is a summer contest idea anyone can join. Choose a summer-themed photo relevant to your brand and ask participants to create a funny caption.

Telus International Philippines did that in this example. Participants had to create a fun and friendly caption matching their summer-themed critter. The prizes included an iPod shuffle, branded t-shirts, and other promotional items.

Use the Answer a Question action in RafflePress to run your caption contest. For example, you can ask, “What is your caption” and users can enter their response for the chance to win.

FAQs About Summer Contests

What prizes work best for summer giveaways?

Popular summer giveaway prizes include travel vouchers, outdoor gear, gift cards, beach accessories, and seasonal food baskets. Choose something that fits your audience and ties into the summer theme. The closer the prize matches your brand and what your audience actually wants, the more targeted your entries will be.

How long should a summer contest run?

Most summer contests perform best when they run for 1-3 weeks. This gives you enough time to promote the giveaway without losing momentum. Longer than three weeks and people assume they have plenty of time, which usually means they never enter.

What’s the difference between a summer contest and a sweepstakes?

A contest requires skill or judgment, like submitting a photo or writing a caption, and a winner is chosen based on merit. A sweepstakes selects a winner randomly from all entries, with no skill required.

Do I need official rules for a summer giveaway?

Yes. Always publish clear contest rules including eligibility, deadlines, entry methods, and how the winner will be chosen. This builds trust and ensures you comply with legal requirements. Many states and countries have specific rules around contests and sweepstakes, so publishing rules protects both you and your participants.

How do I promote a summer contest to get more entries?

Share your contest on every platform you’re active on the day it launches. Email your list, post on social, and add a banner to your homepage. RafflePress’s refer-a-friend entry action turns every participant into a promoter. Entrants get extra entries for sharing, which compounds your reach automatically.

Start Your Summer Contest with RafflePress

If your summer posts have been going flat in the noise, a well-matched contest can change that fast. Over 200,000 WordPress sites run their giveaways with RafflePress, and the goal-matching table above shows exactly which format to pick.

Get started with RafflePress today and have your first contest live before the end of the week.

For more small business tips, check out our blog. Here are a few of our favorite relevant posts:

• 9 Father’s Day Giveaway Ideas Your Customers Will Love
• How to Use Contest Marketing to Grow Your Business
• 15+ Best Promotional Giveaways to Easily Market Your Brand

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