What Are Some Good Ideas for Skill-Based Contests?
Skill-based contests reward creativity, originality, and effort rather than chance. They work especially well for user-generated content campaigns, product launches, and brand storytelling initiatives.
Here are high-performing skill-based contest ideas:
Creative Writing & Thought-Based Contests
- 25 Words or Less challenges
- Short essay competitions
- Storytelling prompts tied to your product or theme
These formats are effective because they reward clarity, creativity, and persuasion—making them ideal for brands looking to generate authentic customer stories.
Visual & Creative Expression Contests
- Caption a photo
- Share a recipe with a dish photo
- Upload a short-form video
- Submit a user-created design, concept, or game idea
Visual submissions perform well on social media and increase sharing because participants are proud of their creative work.
To collect structured, measurable submissions, use the Question Action for text-based entries or creative prompts. This action works well for essay responses, captions, or idea submissions because it allows you to set character limits and standardize responses for judging.
For visual contests such as recipe submissions or photo-based entries, use upload-based actions to collect media files directly. This makes moderation and judging easier while ensuring submissions are complete and structured.
Skill competitions benefit from structured judging criteria. Clear evaluation standards—such as creativity, originality, or relevance—help ensure fairness and improve participant trust.
A popular example is a recipe contest, where participants submit original dishes and photos for judging based on creativity and presentation.
Skill-based contests stand out because they encourage deeper participation, stronger brand connection, and higher-quality user-generated content compared to random sweepstakes.