I’m tired of writing the same old crap about local marketing. You know what I mean… “optimize your Google listing,” “ask for more reviews,” “post consistently on social media.”
Blah blah blah.
Last week I watched a struggling pizza joint completely turn their business around with nothing but customer photos and a weekly pizza giveaway. No fancy marketing budget. No social media manager. Just real people showing off their Friday night pizza runs. Their sales went up something like 35% in two months. Not because of some algorithm hack, but because half the neighborhood was posting photos of their kids covered in marinara sauce.
That’s when it hit me. We’re all overthinking this local marketing thing. Your customers already love showing off where they eat, shop, and hang out. You just need to give them a reason to tag you when they do it.
I’ve spent the last few months digging into what works for local UGC contests. Not the generic “share to win” garbage that every business tries once and gives up on. The stuff that gets your neighbors talking and, more importantly, walking through your door.
What Makes Local UGC Contests Different
Here’s the thing nobody tells you about user-generated content: most of it is useless for local businesses.
Some fitness influencer in LA posting about your protein smoothie doesn’t help your gym in Toledo. You need Susan from down the street showing her book club where she gets her post-workout fix.
Local UGC hits different because it’s believable. When I see my neighbor posting about a new restaurant, I give a shit. When I see some random person in another state doing it? I keep scrolling.
The hardware store near me figured this out. Instead of chasing viral content, they just asked customers to show off their weekend projects. Nothing fancy. Use our stuff, take a picture, maybe win a gift card. Within a few weeks, my entire Facebook feed was full of neighbors building chicken coops and fixing decks. Guess where I went when I needed to fix my fence?
The Contest Types That Work
Photo Contests: The Gateway Drug
Photos are easy. Everyone’s already taking them anyway.
I know a pet groomer who runs the world’s simplest contest. “Show us your dog’s glow-up.” That’s it. Before and after grooming photos. Winner gets a free nail trim.
She gets maybe 20-30 entries each month. But here’s what matters: every single entry is a local dog owner showing their friends what their dog looks like after visiting her shop. That’s 20-30 mini advertisements to exactly the right people.
What works:
- Morning coffee pics for cafes (people love their routines)
- “Messy kid moments” for family restaurants
- Before/after anything for service businesses
- Date night shots for fancier places
Keep it simple. The fancier you make it, the fewer people participate.
Video Challenges: Higher Effort, Bigger Payoff
Videos are trickier. People feel weird about them. But when they work? Holy moly.
There’s a dance studio in my town that stopped trying to compete with YouTube tutorials. Instead, they created 15-second dance challenges their actual students could do. Not professional level stuff. Just fun moves that made people look good.
Parents ate it up. Suddenly every soccer mom in town was doing the “Franklin Dance Studio Shuffle” with their kids. The studio owner told me she added two new classes just to handle demand.
Video ideas that don’t suck:
- Quick workout moves (gyms, yoga studios)
- “How I style my [product]” (clothing stores, salons)
- Recipe hacks (restaurants showing off ingredients)
- Pet tricks (vets, pet stores)
The key? Make it achievable. Nobody wants to look stupid on camera.
Story Contests: For When You Want to Cry at Work
Sometimes you want more than just pretty pictures. You want to know why people actually care about your business.
A bookstore owner I know was getting crushed by Amazon. Instead of competing on price, she asked customers to share stories about books that changed their lives. Specifically, books they found in her store.
The stories wrecked me. A widow who found healing in the poetry section. A kid who discovered he wasn’t weird, just dyslexic, through a book the owner recommended. A couple who met reaching for the same cookbook.
She printed the best stories and hung them next to the relevant sections. Sales went up, sure. But more importantly, the whole neighborhood remembered why local bookstores matter.
Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind
Pick Your Poison (Platform)
You can’t be everywhere. I tried. It’s exhausting and pointless.
Facebook if your customers are over 35. Instagram if they’re under 45. TikTok if they’re under 25 and you can handle the chaos. That’s it. That’s the whole strategy.
The dry cleaner using TikTok? Wasting time. The trendy boutique ignoring Instagram? Missing out. Know your people, go where they are.
Hashtags That Don’t Make Me Want to Die
Please, for the love of all that is holy, keep it simple.
Good: #JoesJavaFix #MainStreetEats #YourTownYoga
Bad: #BestCoffeehouseExperienceDowntown2024Contest #ShowUsYourAmazingTransformationJourneyWithUs
If people can’t remember it after two beers, it’s too complicated.
Prizes That Motivate
Cash is great. Free stuff is better. But you know what really works? Experiences people can brag about.
The pizza place I mentioned? They don’t just give away free pizza. Winners get to make their own pizza with the owner after hours. Their kids feel like celebrities. Parents post about it for weeks.
Think about what exclusive experience you can offer:
- Personal shopping session after hours
- Cooking class with your chef
- Behind the scenes brewery tour
- One-on-one training with your best trainer
Make them feel special, not just lucky.
Real Examples from Real Businesses
The Gym That Stopped Apologizing for Being Expensive
Local gym, charges 3x what Planet Fitness does. Instead of lowering prices, they ran a “Why I’m Worth It” video contest. Members shared 30-second videos about their fitness journey.
But, you know what? They didn’t focus on weight loss. They highlighted stuff like “I can play with my grandkids now” or “I finally did a pull-up at age 45.”
Every video justified the premium price without saying it directly. New members understood they weren’t paying for equipment, they were investing in results.
The Restaurant That Turned Slow Tuesdays into an Event
Tuesday nights sucked for this family restaurant. They tried discounts, trivia nights, everything. Nothing stuck.
Then they launched “Family Portrait Tuesdays.” Families who posted dinner photos got entered to win Sunday brunch for the whole crew. Simple as hell.
But families started dressing up for their “portraits.” It became a thing. Grandparents started joining. Tuesday became their busiest weeknight.
The owner told me the contest costs him maybe $50 a week in brunch food. His Tuesday revenue went up by hundreds.
The Boutique That Made Shopping Social Again
Small clothing store, getting murdered by online shopping. The owner noticed customers always asked friends “does this look good?” while shopping.
She formalized it. “Style Squad Saturdays” where groups of friends could book mini fashion shows. They’d try on outfits, vote on favorites, post the winners. Best styled group each month won a shopping spree.
Saturday sales nearly doubled. But more importantly, shopping became an event again, not a chore.
Advanced Stuff for Overachievers
Partner Up
Running contests alone is like drinking alone. Sometimes necessary, but more fun with friends.
Find businesses that serve your customers but don’t compete. The yoga studio partnering with the juice bar and activewear shop. The pet store teaming up with the groomer and vet.
Everyone promotes to their list, prizes get bigger, reach multiplies. It’s basic math that somehow most businesses ignore.
Seasonal Without Being Basic
Yes, you can do holiday contests. But please, something more creative than “Share your Halloween costume.”
The landscaper who runs “Worst Lawn in Town” every spring? Genius. Winner gets a complete makeover. Every entry is publicly admitting they need help. It’s vulnerable and brilliant.
The tax preparer who does “Biggest Refund Dance” in April? Tacky? Maybe. Memorable? Absolutely.
Local Influencers
Forget the wannabe models with bought followers. Find the PTA president who everyone knows. The bartender who knows everyone’s business. The hairstylist who’s booked for months.
Give them exclusive previews, special perks, inside information. When they participate in your contest, their actual friends follow.
How to Mess This Up
Making NASA-Level Complicated Rules
“Post a photo between 2-4pm on Tuesdays using three hashtags while standing on one foot…”
Stop. Just stop.
Make it so simple a drunk person could enter. Because sometimes they will be.
Ghosting Your Participants
These people are creating free advertising for you. The least you can do is hit the heart button.
Comment on entries. Share the good ones. Make people feel seen. It takes five minutes and makes all the difference.
Chasing Vanity Metrics
I don’t care if you got 1,000 entries if they’re all from contest-entering bots in Bangladesh.
Ten real customers who actually shop with you beat ten thousand randos every time.
Abandoning the Gold Mine
The contest ends and you forget about all that content? You’re an idiot.
That’s months of social media posts. Website testimonials. Email newsletter content. Print ads if you’re still into that.
Save everything. Repurpose it until people are sick of seeing how much your customers love you.
Making This a Real Thing, Not Just Another Failed Marketing Attempt
The businesses that win don’t run a contest. They create a culture where customers naturally share their experiences.
Start small. Test what resonates. Pay attention to what your customers respond to, not what marketing blogs tell you should work.
That pizza place I keep mentioning? They started with 12 entries their first week. The owner’s mom won (totally rigged, nobody cared). Now they get hundreds of posts every month without even announcing contests anymore. It just became what people do.
Your Move
Pick one idea from this article. Just one. Set aside an hour this week to plan it out.
Don’t need a strategy document. Don’t need board approval. Don’t need perfect graphics.
You need:
- A simple concept
- A clear hashtag
- A decent prize
- The balls to try it
Next month you could be sorting through dozens of posts from real customers showing their real friends why your business is worth visiting. Or you could still be reading articles about local marketing.
Your choice.
But I know which one puts asses in seats and money in the register.