Instagram has almost 100 million registered users and I believe that they are the network to watch this year (along with Google+). 100 million registered users is not exactly a lot when compared to other social media networks, with Facebook breaking the 1 billion active users late last year, but it is big enough to get brands and businesses to notice that there is potential to build their community there. And like every other social media network, it is these brands and businesses that will drive Instagram. There is only one issue: how businesses can build a following on Instagram. One of the recommended tips is to organize a contest. If you’re planning to organize a contest on Instagram, here are a couple of tips on what you need to get started. Those are five important steps that you need to follow to organize a success Instagram Contest. 1. Goals Having clear goals will help you to make the most out of your contest and you will have a chance to measure it whether it was effective or not. So before you start to organize any social media contest , always start with you need to choose the goal. Examples: Increase followers? Increase sales? Increase awareness? 2. Set up the contest Second step is the most important. Usually it takes some time to plan your contest properly. Here are a couple of tips you may need:

1. Time frame
2. Who is eligible to enter
3. How to enter:
   • Must they follow you?
   • Share photo of a them.
   • Must they tag you?
   • What hashtag to use.
4. How winners will be picked?
5. How many times can they participate?
6. Are there any other conditions?
7. Theme of the photos.
8. Prizes are an important criteria when it comes to planning a contest. Prizes are important to serve as an incentive for people to enter into your contest. You need a large and shiny prize in order to attract a crowd of people.

3. Promote

The next step is to promote your contest. There are a few ways to promote your contest.
• Promote through existing social media networks such as your Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and use existing promotional functionalities like Facebook Promote and Facebook Adverts.
• Email your email lists.
• Put it up on your website.
• Remind those social media networks from time to time just in case people miss it.
• Post on your Instagram. Prior to your contest, you should have built a small network of people to increase awareness.
• Use popular hashtags relevant to your contest.
• Include photo sharing in other social media networks as part of your contest entry requirements.

4. Monitor You are able to monitor all the posts that are being published is by using a tool called Statigram. It’s very useful tool that allows you to find out how many photos have your hashtag included and the number of likes and comments of each photos. 5. Publish winners You have to publish the winner on all your social media networks in order to increase people’s attention and raise the desire to follow you in case you launch one more contest on Instagram.

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• How to get followers on Instagram
• How to Boost Your Number of Followers on Instagram
• Using Instagram for your Ecommerce Business
• 7 Tips for Using Instagram for Business.

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