Do you know that user-generated content, such as social media challenges, get 7x more engagement than brand-generated content? While Instagram is India’s #1 platform for dance, dialogues, fitness-based challenges, there are cooking challenges, voiceover skits, and skill dare that gain high engagement on YouTube.
What started on YouTube in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with people sharing videos of themselves doing daring things has turned out into a key social media marketing strategy in 2025 to boost brand presence, fuel engagement, and go viral.
In this blog, we’ll get into the details of social media challenges, whether they make sense for your brand, and how to measure their impact effectively.
What are Social Media Challenges?
Social media challenges are interactive campaigns where users are encouraged to perform a specific action, record it, and share it using a branded hashtag.
These campaigns put a viable impact in audience’s day-to-day lives and emerge as a fun, creative, and an effective way for self-expression.
Some of the popular challenges that once got extremely viral on social media include:
- #InMyFeelingsChallenge
- #GuacDance by Chipotle
- #IcBucketChallenge
- #RenegadeChallenge
- #FlipTheSwitchChallenge
- #DontRushChallenge
- #ThousandDollarCrocs
Are Social Media Challenges Worth Your Time and Efforts?
Before you doubt social media challenges can do any good for your business, we must tell you that even established brands like Samsung and Colgate have once sworn by the potential of social media challenges.
Remember Samsung’s #VideoSnapChallenge that drove millions of UGC entries and resulted in product demo virality? Also, recall Colgate’s, the famous toothpaste brand, #MakeMomSmile challenge that resulted in millions of views and allowed the audience to connect with their brand emotionally.
While these were some of the social media challenges campaigns that got viral in India, there were #GuacDance, a social media challenge by the brand Chipotle, #InMyDenim by Guess, and #EyesLipsFace by ELF.
While these are examples of established brands, there are start-ups and small businesses alike that have benefited from these social media challenges.
However, it doesn’t mean that any business running a social media challenge campaign can go viral. The key to success lies in the formation of the right strategy, detailed planning, and perfect timing, complemented by the expertise of professionals. Without those, even the best ideas may fail.
Benefits of Social Media Challenges
Drives Visibility Almost Instantly
Challenges encourage user-generated content (UGC), which increases engagement and widens your brand’s reach organically.
Suddenly, people start to talk about your brand and with exposure on social media, you start to attract attention from audiences across the globe.
Tap into Virality
If the idea takes flight and your challenge becomes popular, it wouldn’t take long to get viral and attract attention beyond your existing audience.
Boost your Brand’s Identity
Social media challenges are a fun way to showcase your brand’s personality and connect emotionally with followers. Whether it’s playful, inspirational, or purpose-driven, challenges ensure that your brand becomes more relatable and memorable to your audience.
Community Building
With more and more people participating in social media challenges, it results in the formation of a community where participants have shared experience that brings them closer to your brand. This results in strengthening brand loyalty and encouraging interaction.
Tips by Experts for the Success of Your Social Media Challenge Campaign
When to Launch a Social Media Challenge?
When it comes to launching the social media challenge, you need to be conscious about when to kick off the campaign. Here are some of the best times when you should consider running it-
- Launch around the major holidays, festivals, or events that are related to your brand to increase the relevance and tap into the existing buzz.
- Make sure your campaign doesn’t coincide with a similar campaign of a competitor to receive all the attention.
- Launch your user generated content challenge during times your target audience remains active.
Generate excitement about your challenge a few days before launch with sneak peek, influencer engagement, countdowns, and more.
Social Media Challenges Might Not Work. When?
- Not aligned with brand values – A trend that doesn’t match your brand values or appear inauthentic might get lacklustre attention.
- Low participation – Poorly executed or complex challenges may result in minimal engagement.
- Copied Ideas – Unoriginal or saturated ideas might not work well. Think of a fresh, creative concept that reflects your brand’s unique voice, values, or interests.
What tools can work to increase the engagement of your social media challenge?
If you decide to run or participate in a challenge, tracking performance is crucial. Here are the tools and metrics to use:
What Tools Should You Use for Social Media Challenges?
- Meta Business Suite / Instagram Insights – Track engagement, hashtag performance, and reach on Facebook and Instagram.
- Twitter/X Analytics – Monitor impressions, retweets, and hashtag usage for challenge tweets.
- TikTok Analytics – If running a challenge on TikTok, use in-platform analytics for video views, shares, and hashtag metrics.
- Hashtag Tracking Tools – Tools like Keyhole, Brand24, and RiteTag help measure the reach and sentiment of your challenge hashtag.
- Google Analytics – Track referral traffic from social platforms to your website or landing page tied to the campaign.
What Metrics Should You Monitor When Doing Social Media Challenges?
- Number of user-generated posts using your hashtag
- Total reach and impressions of the challenge
- Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares)
- Follower growth during the challenge
- Website traffic or conversions generated from challenge participation
Final Verdict
Social media challenges can be a powerful tool for brand exposure, community growth, and engagement. However, for them to be truly worth your brand’s time, they need strategic planning, clear objectives, creative execution, and proper tracking with analytics tools.
At RankON Technologies, we are a trusted social media marketing agency that help brands create smart, ROI-driven social media campaigns, including interactive challenges that deliver measurable results. Get in touch with our social media experts today and let’s build a campaign that goes beyond the scroll!
Get in Touch!Check our Social Media Management PlansFAQs on Social Media Challenges
Social Media Challenges are indeed a good idea for small businesses seeking exposure. However, make sure you keep the challenge simple, authentic, and aligned with your audience.
Having a social media agency to handle your challenge campaign can create a big difference. You can take advantage of their knowledge and expertise to make your campaign successful.
Think of a good, original idea that aligns with your brand.
