A great UGC contest does two things at once: it gives your customers a genuine reason to create, and it gives you content you can actually use afterward, on product pages, in ads, across email and social. The format you choose is what makes both happen. The right prize, the right creative ask, and the right rule turn a giveaway into a reliable source of authentic customer content.
Below are five contest formats that consistently deliver, from broad-reach cash giveaways to results-based campaigns that double as your strongest social proof. For each, you'll get the concept, why it works, exactly how to set it up, and what to watch for. They suit most Shopify stores and can all be run through a contest app like ReelWin, which handles the entry page, submission management, and winner selection in one place, so you can focus on the idea instead of the logistics.
Run any of these on Shopify
Launch UGC giveaway contests without the spreadsheet.
ReelWin handles submission pages, photo and video entries, winner selection, and email automation so you can focus on the contest idea, not the logistics.
| Format | Best for | Prize type |
|---|---|---|
| Cash prize | Maximum submission volume | Fixed cash amount |
| Big discount | Re-engaging customers into a repeat purchase | 50%+ off or free product |
| Review video | Content that converts hesitant shoppers | Cash or discount |
| Show your results | Products with a visible transformation | Meaningful prize for higher effort |
| Recurring monthly | A steady, predictable UGC supply | Rotating monthly prize |
1. The cash prize contest
The idea: Offer a straight cash prize for the best UGC submission. Customers submit a photo or video, and the strongest entry wins a fixed dollar amount.
Why it works: Cash is universally motivating and removes the friction of "do I even want this prize?" A discount only appeals to people who plan to buy again; cash appeals to everyone. That broad appeal is exactly what you want when your goal is volume of submissions, because more entries means more content to choose from and a higher ceiling on quality. Cash also signals you are serious, which tends to pull more effort into each entry.
How to set it up: Pick a prize large enough to feel worth the effort relative to your product and audience, often somewhere between the price of your product and a small multiple of it. Set a clear, single creative ask (for example, "a short video of you using the product"). Define the judging basis in your rules so it is not arbitrary, even if it is just "most creative" or "best demonstrates the product." Set a deadline to create urgency.
Watch for: Cash attracts entrants who do not care about your brand, so quality can be uneven. Counter this by requiring the submission to feature your product in genuine use, and by moderating, you only feature the entries that fit your brand. The off-brand ones simply do not get used.
2. The big discount prize
The idea: Instead of cash, the prize is a high-value discount, 50% off or more, or even a free product. Best submission wins the code.
Why it works: This format is self-selecting in a useful way: the people most motivated to enter are people who want your product, which means your entrants are already warm customers, and the content they produce tends to be more authentic and on-brand than what a cash-only contest pulls in. It also costs you less than cash in real terms (you are discounting margin, not paying out), and the winner usually comes back and spends, so the prize partly pays for itself.
How to set it up: Make the discount big enough to feel like a real prize, a 10% code does not motivate anyone to make a video, which is why this format specifically calls for 50%+ or a free item. Decide whether you are giving a single big winner one large code, or a tiered structure (top entry gets a free product, runners-up get a smaller discount) to reward more participants and keep more people engaged. Keep the creative ask tied to the product so entries double as content you can reuse.
Watch for: Set the code's terms carefully, expiry, minimum spend, single-use, so a high-value code does not get abused. And make sure your margins survive the discount on the winner's order.
3. The product review video contest
The idea: Ask customers specifically for a review video, an honest, on-camera take on the product, and award the best one.
Why it works: Review videos are the single most useful UGC format you can collect. They are the content that converts hesitant shoppers, because a real customer explaining what they liked is the closest thing to word-of-mouth at scale. Running it as a contest solves the chronic problem with review videos, which is that almost no one makes them unprompted. The prize and deadline manufacture the motivation that does not occur naturally.
How to set it up: Be specific about what a good entry covers, prompt customers lightly ("show the product, say what you used it for, and what you thought") so entries are usable without being scripted. A short length cap keeps them snappy and easier to repurpose into ads. Pick a prize that fits your audience; this format works with either the cash or discount prize from above. Crucially, set your contest terms so you have the rights to reuse the videos in ads, on product pages, and in email, this is the format you will most want to repurpose, so the rights matter most here.
Watch for: Authenticity is the whole value, so do not over-script or you lose what makes review content persuasive. Moderate for quality, but resist polishing entries into looking like brand ads.
4. The "show your results" contest
The idea: A themed contest with a specific rule: entries must show a result or transformation, before-and-after, the finished outcome, the product in action delivering its benefit. Best demonstrated result wins.
Why it works: This is the most powerful format for any product where the benefit is visible, skincare, fitness, home goods, food, crafts, anything with a "before and after." Results-based content is inherently persuasive because it shows proof, not just opinion. The special rule also raises entry quality automatically: by requiring a result, you filter out throwaway entries and get submissions that double as your strongest possible social proof. A shopper seeing a real customer's result is seeing exactly what they are hoping to buy.
How to set it up: Make the rule explicit and the judging basis match it, "best result wins," not "best video wins," so entrants know effort and outcome are what is rewarded. Give a clear format (for example, a before-and-after photo pair, or a short video showing the outcome). This format pairs naturally with a meaningful prize since you are asking for more substantial entries. Consider featuring a gallery of the top results afterward, which both rewards participants and creates a powerful proof section for your store.
Watch for: Only use this format if your product produces a demonstrable result; forcing it on a product without a visible payoff falls flat. Be mindful of claims, especially for health, beauty, or wellness products, results from one customer are not promises, so keep your framing honest and your terms clear.
5. The recurring monthly contest
The idea: Rather than a one-off, run a contest every month with a rotating theme. Each month has its own prize, its own creative prompt, and its own winner.
Why it works: This is the format that turns UGC from an occasional scramble into an engine. A single contest gives you a burst of content; a recurring contest gives you a predictable supply month after month, plus a rhythm your customers come to expect and look forward to. Each round is easier to fill than the last, because past winners and featured entries show new customers that participating leads to recognition. It also keeps your brand in front of customers on a regular cadence without you having to invent something new each time.
How to set it up: Decide a monthly theme calendar in advance so you are not improvising. Keep the structure consistent (same entry process, same submission path) so customers learn it once. Feature each month's winner and best entries publicly, which fuels the next round. A tool that lets you duplicate a previous contest's settings makes this nearly effortless to run repeatedly, you clone last month's setup, change the theme and prize, and relaunch.
Watch for: Consistency is the whole point, so do not start a monthly contest you cannot sustain. Begin with a cadence you can realistically maintain (even quarterly), and ramp up. A contest that vanishes after two months trains customers not to bother.
Choosing the right contest for your store
There is no single best format, the right one depends on your goal. If you want maximum volume of content, the cash prize casts the widest net. If you want on-brand entries from real customers, the big discount self-selects for people who actually want your product. If you want content that converts, the review video and "show your results" formats produce your most persuasive assets. And if you want UGC to stop being a one-off effort, the recurring contest is what builds a lasting supply.
Whichever you choose, the mechanics are the same: a clear creative ask, a prize worth the effort, an explicit rule and deadline, and a way to collect and manage every entry in one place. ReelWin is built to run any of these on your Shopify store, you set the rules, prize, and criteria, and it handles the submission page, the entries, and picking winners, so you can focus on the idea rather than the logistics.
Pick the format that matches your goal, give customers a real reason to enter, and you will come away with content you can use across your store, ads, email, and social for months.