When it comes to successful and eye grabbing websites with millions of members, there are hardly any which can compete with the behemoth names Pinterest. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, what makes Pinterest so different and so popular among people of all ages. That is, Pinterest isn’t just used to connect to others. But to take a peek at their lives, what they want, what they create and what they want to create.

Pinterest is definitely a creative outlet for many, allowing them to do things like create mood boards, be inspired when it comes to arts and crafts, among a wide range of other things. So, it makes sense that Pinterest would have contests to engage more and more and more on a daily basis. Lets look deep about what is Pinterest contest and how to run a Pinterest contest.

What is a Pinterest contest?

As the name suggests, this is a simple contest that an individual or a company hosts of the website and invites members to participate for a certain goal. It is an amazing way for companies or small start up business who are just new in the market, to increase their company’s exposure and to engage more people and thereby increase their client base.

The idea is to host a simple contest where companies ask individuals to pin something original and the bets pin wins something.

What are the business benefits of running a Pinterest contest?

• If you are selling a brand or a product, this is the perfect way to get more exposure. Start a hashtag and ask contestants to use it, describing the product, and see your sales skyrocket in just a few days.
• With more people come more ideas, which, if you are in the creative business, is such a blessing. Constant two-way interactions will help you exchange ideas, opinions which will ultimately lead to image improvement.
• Lastly, you get to promote your own company in every single Pinterest competition that you hold.

Essential rules of holding a Pinterest contest:

Pinterest contests have been a thing for some time now. Which means that they have blown up all over the globe, which, in turn implies that it comes with certain ground rules. Of recent, Pinterest has come to establish a few firmer rules in order to make sure that this feature is not misused by any company.

Let’s look at some of the most essential rules which you need to know:

• De-clutter: Pinterest asks companies to encourage quality over quantity, which means as a business venture holding the contest, ask your contestants to send in one good quality pin instead of ten mediocre pins.
• Keep it interesting: People tend to get bored easily, which is why you need to keep it short and interesting. Ask your contestants to send in high quality pins with good resolutions.
• No spamming: Like any other good social media website, Pinterest doesn’t like spamming which is why you have to take serious anti-spamming measures before the competition begins.
• Titles: From this year, you have to come up with better names as Pinterest will not let you title your competition as “Pin It to Win It”.
• Be clear: Nothing is more frustrating that unclear instructions for a competition, which is why it is important that you lay down the ground rules for your competition in a clear and lucid manner which is very easy for the contestants to understand.

Running a successful Pinterest contest:

Let’s take a look at some strategies and tips that can help you host a successful Pinterest competition and attract more individuals.

“Pin It to Win It”:

Although you can no longer use this kind of name for the competition, what you can do is still use this kind of process. What you basically do here is pin a lot of stuff from your own company, or perhaps things that you are aiming to sell and ask your contestants to pin the ones which they like the best. Put on more and more of your pins in this kind of competition so that not only will your people have more options to choose from, but it will also showcase more of your own products.

Target Audience

Knowing your target audience is a must for any new up and coming business. The more you understand your audience, the more you know what they want, which means you can market their desired products to them in the way that they want, which in turn will also increase demand.

Another great way to get more exposure is by asking contestants to make mood boards based on a certain theme and featuring your products. For instance, if you sell bridal clothing, you can ask people to make a wedding mood board featuring designs from your company.

Make sure that the contest is very easy to enter, so that more and more people will participate. This way, you get to interact with a large number of people, who could be your potential clients and you get to know their email ids.

Make sure that the people who come to your Pinterest page know what your company is about. This is to make sure that they know what products you have, what you do and increase their interest in your company.

Create Landing Page

Creating a landing page is so important when it comes to hosting a successful Pinterest competition and making sure that it brings you more exposure. Try to make sure that the content is attractive and that when the contestants are trying to enter into the competition, they are redirected to your official webpage. This is certainly a great way to increase traffic.

Explain to your contestants that the judging will be done on a creative basis, and make sure that it is done so. Of late, Pinterest seems to be done with the “more pins mean a win rule”, which makes sense considering that it is trying to keep the spamming to a minimum. Do not ask for votes in terms of repins or likes.

Create a hashtag

This may seem like a weird idea at first, but never underestimate the power of a hashtag on social media. Simply create a hashtag for your competition or the products that you are using for the competition and ask all of your contestants to use this hashtag every single time that they make a pin.

Stick to one topic at a time for one competition. Allowing for multiple themes and topics at the same time will only result in a cluttered and confusing mess for your participants.

What NOT to do for a Pinterest contest:

• Holding a voting competition. As of this year, Pinterest has made this a serious rule that you cannot ask your contestants to keep voting for a certain pin.
• Do not set a generic name. The name is what interests the individual in the first place about the contest, which is why you need to make sure that the name of the competition is eye catching and flashy enough to attract more individuals.
• It’s never a good idea to borrow from some other company’s Pinterest competition, especially if it is a popular company. Chances are that the people who are regulars on Pinterest, have come across this idea and know of it.
• Don’t make things too complicated. People do not have the patience or the time to go through large details and difficult things. Keep it simple and keep it clean, and trust us, this will attract contestants like you would not believe!

The Conclusion:

Having a Pinterest competition is an amazing way to get to know your audience, increase the client base and at the same time, increase the exposure that your company is getting, which is why when it comes to social media, more than Facebook, it is Pinterest which is making heads turn right now.

Like we mentioned before, hosting a Pinterest competition need not be as intimidating as people make it sound. All of it is about the small details and making sure that you are following all of the rules. To make sure that you do, it is always a good idea to head to the official website and give the rules a thorough reading.

Tell us what you think about this. Are there any niftier tricks that can help you host a successful Pinterest competition which we missed out on? Do leave us some comments in the section down below and let us know.